BAFTA nominations
The BAFTA nominations are an oddity, acknowledging films yet to be released in the UK in a desperate attempt to seem relevant. A few years ago they moved the nominations and awards to a date preceeding the Oscars, traditionally viewed as the end point to award season, as they struggled to attract stars to attend or garner press coverage.
Today’s nominations include nods to films such as ‘Frost/Nixon’ and ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ which have yet to be released in the UK. There are some very flexible release date rules clearly. Also, intriguing is the inclusion of ‘In Bruges’ which despite being written and directed by an Irish man (playwrite Martin McDonagh) and having Irish leads is included in the ‘Best British Film’ category. Maybe such matters are dictated by where the money comes from. Similarly, ‘Hunger’ must be suffering from a personality disorder, it being nominated for ‘Best British Film’ by BAFTA and ‘Best Irish Film’ for this years IFTA awards. And only two technical awards for the most successful British film of 2008 – ‘Quantum of Solace’. The nomination for Best Visual Effects clearly suggests they left the cinema before the atrocious CGI in the finale.
Find the BAFTA nominations in full here.
Find the IFTA awards here.
Also, recently announced are the Directors Guild Nominations, including a welcome nod for Chris Nolan for ‘The Dark Knight’. Will the academy acknowledge his work next week with an Oscar nomination?
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I don’t think it’s all that strange, In Bruges being nominated for Best British Film. The lead roles were originally written for cockney actors, and Martin McDonagh was (dispite his indeniable Irish blood) born and raised in London, so my question is; if Colin and Brendan hadn’t been cast, but cockney actors, would people still consider it an Irish film? I think not.
It also seems that McDonagh is only Irish to the people when and where is convenient. Plenty of times when he wrote plays that were considered controversial, there were Irish complaining that he was stereotyping Ireland as a Londoner. I think it’s impossible to decide wether McDonagh himself can be considered fully Irish or not. I don’t think that it matters. I think it’s the combination of the two, that co-inspires the brilliant things he’s done so far, so; good for him.
Production of In Bruges was also a shared one, and in fact not entirely Irish. There was British, American and Irish money in it.
So again; if Colin and Brendan hadn’t stepped in, and the leads had been played by actors in cockney (similar to Ralph Fiennes’ role) then would it still be considered an Irish film by some? I think not. I think In Bruges deserves better than be categorized in either nationality because it’s obviously a brilliant COMING TOGETHER of the two, as McDonagh himself is.