As a seasoned cinephile who’s witnessed the evolution of cinema from the black-and-white era to the age of digital spectacle, I find myself constantly amazed by the Academy’s quirks and peculiarities. The recent predicament surrounding Hans Zimmer‘s masterful score for Dune: Part Two is yet another instance that leaves me scratching my head in disbelief.
Hans Zimmer, the innovative composer behind the scores for films such as Interstellar, The Dark Knight, and both Dune movies, expresses his thoughts on Denis Villeneuve’s sequel being deemed “ineligible” for next year’s Academy Awards. Zimmer contributes to the ongoing discussion by acknowledging that there seems to be an issue with the rules. In a conversation with Variety regarding the score for Dune: Part Two, the composer promptly addresses the impending ineligibility concern, labeling it as an “unusual predicament.
In other words, please focus on shaping and progressing your themes throughout a five-hour duration, rather than considering yourself unsuitable for the task. Remember, this is more about crafting an engaging movie than personal eligibility.
“I might face an unusual predicament… Unlike Jack Sparrow from ‘Pirates of the Caribbean,’ this situation is unique. In contrast to ‘Dune: Part One’ and ‘Dune: Part Two,’ which are parts of one continuous story, altering the theme for characters wouldn’t be appropriate here. I had already conceived the final note for the second part before even writing the first note of the first part, and throughout the process, I had a clear vision in my mind about how to unfold the overall narrative.
The composer appears unfazed by the current circumstances, as Dune: Part Two remains eligible for Oscar nominations following its previous win in the first part of Dune. Interestingly, some critics argue that Dune: Part Two surpasses the original film, particularly in terms of its score composition. Zimmer further expressed his concerns about the eligibility rules at the Oscars, commenting on a genuine issue within the industry.
The tale I presented was deemed inappropriate. It seems you’re suggesting that this narrative style isn’t suitable for our purpose. Even “The Lord of the Rings” employed such a narrative method, as they divided one large and heavy story into three volumes due to its extensive nature. Similarly, we had to separate the first part of our tale into multiple sections.
Here’s the thing, I’m not going to win an Oscar for the second one if I won an Oscar for the first one, which I did, right? That’s not the point. My point is be careful about these rules because what you’re doing is in the back of the studio’s mind, the Oscars are important, and you’re influencing the way you are saying whether we can create art or not. You’re saying you can’t do that because we won’t allow art to be nominated. We should have the freedom to find ways to create whatever comes to us. Denis made the right choice by splitting a heavy-duty book into two parts.”
The Absurdity of the Academy’s Rules
I’ve found myself in this situation before, and it seems history repeats itself with the Academy. Previously, submissions for the Best Original Score category have been turned down on multiple occasions due to various factors. This includes artists working on sequels who incorporate bits from earlier works or make choices that elevate their score. I believe it’s a rather illogical stance for an organization striving for progress in all aspects of filmmaking.
It’s hard to even imagine John Williams not being nominated for all his Star Wars films (he was nominated for several films in the franchise) or his Indiana Jones films, just because the iconic themes were present in all the entries. To highlight the absurdity even more, some of the other films that have been ineligible in this category include Jóhann Jóhannsson’s score for Arrival, which was disqualified because it included pieces of Max Richter’s “On the Nature of Daylight,” The Dark Knight, which was removed from the race because too many composers participated in the making of the film, and even The Godfather score, composed by Nino Rota, which was disqualified because it had parts of the music he used in the 1958 film Fortunella. Ironically, years later Rota would win an Oscar for his work in the sequel The Godfather Part II.
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2024-11-29 16:31