Siân Heder’s scrappy, jugular-piercing crowd-pleaser about a hearing teenager growing up within a Deaf family upsets Jane Campion’s brooding psychological drama, the clear-cut, pre-Oscars favorite for best picture.
In “The Power of the Dog,” a swaggering man of the West — authoritative, domineering, seemingly invincible — comes face to face with a most unexpected adversary, someone who looks harmless but turns out to be anything but. There’s a certain irony, then, that after looking like a clear-cut favorite for much of this past awards season, Jane Campion’s brooding psychological drama finally fell victim to its own powerful underdog Sunday night.
They might highlight still other factors from this season: a movie industry desperate for a feel-good winner in feel-bad times. A contest that somehow boiled down to the lesser of two evils, or streaming services, in which voters ultimately opted for the Apple+ release rather than allowing Netflix’s “Dog” to have its day. The toll of a so-called streaming revolution that ultimately benefited “CODA’s” televisual style and diminished the effect of “Dog’s” stunning compositions.
That’s my way of saying that although I liked and was moved by “CODA,” I don’t think it’s a great film or even remotely one of the year’s best movies. It’s a sweet, well-acted, shrewdly calculated, cinematically rudimentary drama that means to empty the viewer’s tear ducts at all costs, and on that score it is wildly successful.
“The Power of the Dog,” as it happens, has also drawn its share of complaints on representational grounds. I know more than a few movie critics who consider Campion’s movie a deeply homophobic, regressive depiction of masculine mores in 1925 Montana. At the opposite extreme, we’ve all heard plenty from Sam Elliott, who surely and depressingly speaks for many when he rejects the movie for injecting queer subtext into the hallowed ground of the American western.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Oscars 2022: Hosts kick off Oscars by taking aim at McConnell, Florida parental rights billThe 94th Academy Awards are being held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday, March 27. Amy Schumer, Regina Hall and Wanda Sykes are co-hosting the awards show.
Read more »
At a pugnacious Oscars, Apple's feel-good 'CODA' triumphsAfter a movie year often light on crowds, the Academy Awards named an unabashed crowd-pleaser, the deaf family drama “CODA,” best picture Sunday, handing Hollywood’s top award to a streaming service for the first time.
Read more »
At a pugnacious Oscars, Apple's feel-good 'CODA' triumphsAfter a movie year often light on crowds, the Academy Awards named an unabashed crowd-pleaser, the deaf family drama “CODA,” best picture Sunday, handing Hollywood’s top award to a streaming service for the first time
Read more »
Oscars 2022: “CODA” wins best picture Oscar, marking a streaming firstAfter a movie year often light on crowds, the Academy Awards named an unabashed crowd-pleaser, the deaf family drama “CODA,” best picture Sunday, handing Hollywood’s top award to a streaming service for the first time.
Read more »
Oscars 2022: 'CODA' takes home best picture at Academy AwardsThe 94th Academy Awards are being held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday, March 27. Amy Schumer, Regina Hall and Wanda Sykes are co-hosting the awards show.
Read more »