Episode 7 Film 2013

Hello and welcome to Film 2013 with me Claudia Winkleman. And me Danny

Leigh. We are live, get in touch by tweeting or email. Coming up: Tom

Hanks and Halle Berry make a connection in Cloud Atlas. What are

you doing in here? Love and loss for Ben Affleck in Terrence

Malick's To The Wonder. Gongs and glad rags, it's Oscar time again.

You will procure me these votes. Plus, Robbie Collin and Xan Brooks

Brooks are here to chat all things Oscar. First up is Cloud Atlas,

based on the best-selling novel by David Mitchell. The film was shot

by three directors and chronicles six narratives with actors playing

multiple roles. This is the Cloud Atlas secretaries at the time?

doubt there are more than a handful of coppice in South America. I know.

It I know I know. It That is it. The music from my dream. I imagined

us meeting again and again in different lives and different ages.

The thing that got me about the screenplay when I read it was this

idea we are all connected it doesn't matter when we are alive or

not. If you want to call it something more like reincarnation,

that is not as important to me, we are connected by the things we

create and the decision that is we make. These forces begin long

before we are born and continue after we perish. We live in a world

where cinema is not allowed to have the same, kind of, of expansiveness

that cinema once had or that literature has ever had. The

history of literature is a history of full of philosophical

investigation, but we never are allowed in cinema to talk about

philosophy, explicitly. Yesterday, my life was headed in one direction.

Today, it is headed in another. agree on, you know, so many

substantial issues in regards to art and how we imagine cinema to be

and what we long for in cinema nowadays. We feel it's probable

going to triple the potential for something exciting if we do it the

three of us. It was very democratic. Film-making is a social art form.

And, this is a natural extension of that. Action! The idea of making a

movie where one person got to play four or five, sometimes six

different characters really excited me. Where we didn't always

understand it, or we weren't always aware of how we were connecting to

one another, they always knew that. Fear, love, the phenomenon that

determine the course of our lives. Everything has been thoroughly

processed and yet I believe that what we have also been able to do

is, like, leave things open to the audience. There is not a tiny

single spot that I feel we've been lazy with. There is a natural order

to this world and those who try to up-end it do not farewell. Cloud

Atlas will have passionate fans and detractors. Everyone who sees this

film will see it with their jaw hanging open. As a book it was

subtle and gorgeously written. As a film it is an unhinged, feel-good

extravaganza. It is three hours long, give it or take. It cost $100

million. It all feels like what would happen if you abducted a

large group of actors and locked them in a fancy dress shop. You

would come back in the morning they would have made Cloud Atlas. It's

wildly imaginative, wildly ambition. It's also, if we are being honest,

wildly ridiculous, from time to time. I have to be honest, it has

been a little while since I have seen a film this stoneed. I think

that is why I liked it. That is interesting. I thought it was...

Hats off to them. It is a big old ride. It is long. It, sort of,

careers around a bit. I think you just have to give them points for

bravery. I love this tweet. Some people, like you say, very anti.,

"disjointed and confusing, way too long, weirdly entertaining a sort

of, "spot the actor film", now I need to read the book. ." It is

spectacular. The acting has to go big. You have 13 actors playing the

whole of humanity across thousands of years. Some of the cast scope

better than others. Tom Hanks is having a good time. I have to say

I'm not convinced he always knew there was a camera rolling. That is

a good thing. The book, you could take it as a series of short

stories. Everything has been cross cut here you are settling into a

story about a love struck young composer in Cambridge when Hugo

Weaving comes up from the future. That is distracting. I liked that.

It was good value-for-money. As a night out... That sounds weird, I

would say, go, it is bonkers, go. have never seen anything quite like

Cloud Atlas before. That is not meant to sound like a backhander.

There are things I admire about it and applaud about it. Not sure I

would want to sit next to it on the bus. Now it's time for To The

Wonder, Terrence Malick's latest film about life and love. You shall

love, whether you like it or not. Emotionless, -- emotionss, they

come and go like clouds. Love is not only a feeling, you shall love.

To love. To love is to run the risk of failure. The risk of betrayal.

You fear your love has died. You, perhaps, it is waiting to be

transformed into something higher. It's instantly recognisable. It's

filled with beauty and a sense of rapporteur in nature. It is filled

with voice overs as well asking us questions, as we just saw like,

"what is this love that loves us" which is what we asked ourselves

standing in the chip chip shop. This a movie where at moments you

are watching a masterclass in cinema. Moments you are watching

something which is genuinely profound. There are other moments

when you are watching something that should be projected at the

perfume counter at a duty-free shop. There are other sections that are

solemn. I loved it. I don't know how to say that when I look at you.

Terrence Malick is great. It spoke to my 20-year-old self where I

wandered around, I didn't actually. I would have liked to have wandered.

Looking over your shoulder? Yes. You go, this is not how women are.

Women don't give up their children for men. They are not clinging.

They don't run in fields. That is not how we work. We like jobs,

eating and working. Then I realised how he did men. Here is one tweet,

"it seemed like I was one of a handful at the press screening who

wasn't exasperated." I will see it again. I think it's horribly

miscast. Ben Affleck is a talented man, but an actor who can express

great emotion just by standing silently stair -- staring into the

middle distance is he is not. I had no idea what was going on with him.

He was confused, unwell. Olga Kurylenko spends 95% of the film

running through fields looking over your shoulder. It is a strange

because Terrence Malick has made a beautiful and thought-provoking

film. His lead actors look like shop dummy ries coming to life.

Next, Terence Stamp and Vanessa Redgrave star in Song for Marion.

have entered us into a choir competition. Hello. What are you

doing here? We are singing. Better get someone who can sing then.

me your rock-and-roll. It's about two old age pensioners, married,

completely devoted to each other. She joins a choir. He's just

jealous. Bomb gone off in here. are making cakes. Did grandad tell

you he came to hear me singing? wouldn't call it singing. Hip-hop.

Like the kids. Why don't you join in. Like this.

# Grandad's rap, it's so crap... # Who taught you that word? Grandma,

she says she keeps having to crap. I don't know what is wrong with

your lot, completely crackers. OK. His life is suddenly empty,

doesn't have any reason to do anything really. Then, the Gemma

Arterton character insist there is is something in him that he isn't

acknowledging. Enjoy yourself? It isn't me. Let everyone see you.

The exciting thing for me was the redemption. This is a man, very

late in life, who suddenly has the realisation that there is something

within him that is really alive. Would you like to sing? All right.

You're a dark horse, Arthur. Even if I fall flat on my arse, I'm

going to do the song. It would be easy to snipe and take pot-shots

for it being predictable and broad and sentimental, it is all of those

things. It is all of those things endearingly. I spent the first half

of the film waiting for it to turn into a Mike Leigh movie. It didn't

do that. It is not that kind of film. It is softer like the

Calendar girls or The Full Monty. I think life is short. This film is

actually gentle and I think it's heartfelt. I think it takes nerve

really to make a fill thm sweet. Redgrave is absolutely brilliant.

We had so many tweets about it, "as funny as it is hard breaking. The

veterans command the centre stage". You were impressed? It is all about

the performance. Terence Stamp can carry a movie. Vanessa Redgrave is

always Vanessa Redgrave. Gemma Arterton is very strong here.

Fantastic to see Christopher Eccleston. I wish Christopher

Eccleston made more movies. He is good when he does. The

relationships between Christopher Eccleston and Terence Stamp as

father and son feels real. All those characters who may be

cartoonish on the page feel very well real. That means the film can

get away with being sentimental. It has something true at the heart of

it. What is your Film of the Year? My book of the week would be Cloud

Atlas. I would encourage everyone to get. It is a mighty thing. All

three of the films are, as Cloud Atlas would say, interlinked. They

are heartfelt, Cloud Atlas gives you the most bang for your buck.

was going to say see To The Wonder? Because it is Malick, you have to

keep up with what he is doing. Read Cloud Atlas. The Oscars take place

this Sunday here's a quick reminder of who is leading the race. It can

only be the 85th annual Academy Awards. Leader of the pack is

Steven Spielberg's Lincoln. Two- time Oscar winner, Daniel Day-Lewis

is hoping to do the triple and become the first actor to win three

Best Actor Academy Awards. He will need them, no-one has ever won an

Oscar for a lead role in a Steven Spielberg movie. Some things you

can rely on. Lincoln composer John Williams gets his 48th nomination.

11 more and he will tie with record holder Walt Disney. Next is Life of

Pi with 11 nominations, seven of which are in the technical

categories. It is the fourth film in Oscar history to achieve such a

feat. Les Miserables and Silver Linings Playbook are both on song

with eight nominations. Les Miserables is the first musical to

be nominated for Best Picture since Chicago in 2002. Silver Linings

Playbook has been recognised in all four acting categories. Everybody.

With its Best Picture nod could be a contender for the big five. The

last film to be nominated was Reds. Argo has seven nominations.

want to come to Hollywood and act Ben Affleck is the most prominent

2013 Oscar snub. Django Unchained and zero DUP 13

may both have five nominations apiece but their directors Quentin

Tarantino and Kathryn Bigelow did not make the cut. Skyfall failed to

get into the best picture race. Amour also has five nominations,

including one for 85-year-old Emmanuelle Riva for best actress.

She is up against the nine-year-old start of peace of the sudden wild.

They are the oldest and youngest nominees ever -- Beith of the

southern wild. There are just four days left until the big decisions

are made. Here with us now I'd journalists

Robbie Collins and Xan Brooks. Thank you for coming in. Is it a

good year? It is not an obvious year, is it? It is certainly an

exciting year if you want a close race where all the challenger

seemed to have a glass jaw. Nobody seems to have the complete

advantage. Lincoln was leading the race at Bath does and then coming

up short. It seems as if Argo has the momentum -- at the BAFTA ors.

The Michael Haneke is up for best picture, Emmanuelle Riva for Best

actress, it has nominations in all four categories. There is an

offensive Western from Quentin Tarantino and then Lincoln which is

a period piece. Oh great year for diversity in the top category.

Usually it is the either / or at this pace. Now there are seven or

eight film swirling around. Last year, we all knew it was the Artist.

It played at Cannes in July and everybody said that will win, job

done. This year, there was some real momentum behind Argo at

Toronto and then when the nominations were announced and Ben

Affleck was snubbed for Best Director, people thought it would

not win. Since the 1930s, only one film has won best picture without a

Best Director which was Driving Miss Daisy. Let's just remind

ourselves of the films which were nominated in best picture category.

You really believe this story? Osama Bin Laden? Yes.

If you are right, the whole world will want in on this.

Without Richard Parker I would have Bull's eye. What is your name?

When life reaches out at the moment like this, it is a sin if you do

not reach back. You have to do everything you can. It you stay

positive you have a shot at a silver lining. There are millions

in bondage and unborn millions to come. I have got an idea. They are

Canadian film crew for a science fiction movie. Will fly out as a

film crew. You have a better idea than this? This is the best idea we

have, by far. I see everything that made me.

# life has killed a dream. Hydra in. Can I just say, massive

generalisation, men and women, you three were sobbing. Nine-year --

nine films in best category this year, last year there were 10. What

is missing? The Master. It is the 10th film which should be there. To

would you agree? A wholeheartedly, yes. It is a film made for film

lovers and incredibly informed. It draws on the traditions of American

cinema. The performances from Robert De Niro and Orson Welles

found all these incredible things from film history, the fact that

the academy has not recognise that, even though it is tricky without

the resolution at the end which people crave, to me it is

disappointing. I remember at the time I came out, we thought, that

has got to be it, the opening shot alone. It is this weird thing off

films Peking and trusting. It peaked at the Venice Film Festival.

We said there surely it is the best film of the year. I think it was a

bit too wild and strange for the Academy. What de we think will win?

I have the latest odds and it looks like Argo. Affleck is not nominated

for best director. A what looked like an open race a week ago has

narrowed down to our cost. I think it risks being... I think it risks

becoming a trivia question in a pub quiz in 20 years' time, what won

the best Oscar in the year that the Life Of Pi and Lincoln came out? No

one will get it and no one will remember what Argo was. Is it the

best film of the year? Of course it is not. People have a great deal of

affection towards it. Something very worthy like Lincoln, the

costumes are great, the production design is terrific, when you are

filling out nominations that is easy to choose. When you fell out

your ballot paper and think which of these films are excited any in

the cinema, Argo is a film which connected people. We should

remember that the people who voted in the Academy only had to put in

their ballot papers on Tuesday. All the BAFTAs and all these other

things, will they think, we snubbed Ben Affleck, it should win? Yes, I

think he will. Of the Academy think they are being radical in going for

Argo, it is a bit out there, not respectable history like Lincoln.

If they wanted to be really radical they could give the best picture to

Zero Dark 30 odd Django Unchained. This happens all the time at the

Oscars. Look at the year Crash won. It was interesting but not two gay

cowboys. Ang Lee also missed out that year. There is Lincoln and

Life Of Pi, it seems you would all be delighted with Life Of Pi?

silly. It is strange to talk about it being underrated when it has 11

nominations but a lot of those are in the technical category and there

is a risk it could be shunted aside. The worst anyone says about Life Of

Pi is it is mushy. That is not criticism I accept. It could have

been a career killer for Ang Lee. It was the book which should not be

adapted. I think Life Of Pi is a triumph. I completely agree. Ang

Lee took a book which was considered none the adaptable. It

is very cinematic. When you see it you sink -- you think it is

designed to be on the big screen. Ang Lee's achievement is much more

so than Ben Affleck. There is also a resistance to the Life Of Pi

because the Academy think it is too sentimental. Is there a feeling

that they like George Clooney, they like Ben Affleck, is there a

feeling that he deserves this? certainly have a sentimental streak

and they have their darlings. Clooney is also -- almost becoming

the Jack Nicholson of his generation. He is the one the

camera cuts to and the one the host is making jokes about and he is

laughing along with it. One of the things about the Oscars is as well

as shining a light on great films, it can destroy a film for me. I

liked Argo when I saw it back in the autumn. The more we are told it

is the Oscar favourite, you think no, surely not. You have gone off

it! You like it before it was cool. Absolutely. It reminds me of the

Booker Prize where traditionally the book which has won the Booker

Prize is a book which nobody has hated. It has been a compromise and

a fudge. I think Argo risks going down in history as the film nobody

hated. The for going on to best director, I have to ask you what

would you like to win? In the absence of the mast I think it

should be Life Of Pi. Life Of Pi. would go Django Unchained. Left me

$:/STARTFEED. If David O'Russell wins I will hear you from my house?

I'm boycotting any conversation about Silver Linings Playbook.

Lincoln, it should be? Yes. With Barack Obama beginning his second

term, that feels like the completion of the process that was

started with the events that happened in Lincoln. I think,

perhaps, there will be a move to reward Spielberg in that sense.

There is the sense that the Best Director Oscar is seeing as a

runner up prize, a, "thanks for trying" prize. There are lots of

people not on this list like Bigelow or Tarantino, are you

disappointed by their omissions? is strange. Could you have a

parallel list. Affleck not tkwg going on -- being on that. That is

notable. They are saying that Argo is the Best Film of the year, the

only thing bad about it was the idiot behind it. OK. Let us remind

ourselves who is up for Best Actor and Best Actress. You look nice.

How did Tommy die? It was an ordinary day. You know me, I was in

shape to fly. Do you have a problem saying that? Things that are equal

to the same thing are equal to each other. The only way to defend

ourselves is to attack. Calm down. It will be OK. He is dangerous.

# Gave me hope # When hope was gone hbg he gave me

strength to turn it on... # There are two narratives about the

You have a problem? I have a problem? You say more inappropriate

things than appropriate things. and my daddy, we stayed right here.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. First things first, actor,

Daniel Day-Lewis, done. Am I wrong or right? That is a done deal.

can move on to Best Actress. There is a lot of love for Emmanuelle

Riva., "Emmanuelle Riva deserves all the awards. If she doesn't win

the whole thing is a farce." Another one here, "if Jennifer

Lawrence doesn't win they should scrap the ceremony." It is either

or? Jennifer Lawrence has been the frontrunner for months. She was the

frontrunner for a very long time. Emmanuelle Riva was named the Best

Actress at the BAFTAs. I hope Oscar voters have gone away and look at

Amour and see the complexity and depth of that performance that

outclasses every nominee on that list. She is second odds on, if you

like to win. Who would you like it to go to? I would like it to go to

her too. She has the momentum. It is the best performance of the

bunch. It is an astonishing piece of work. She has the sentimental

value as well of being, celebrating her 86th birthday on the night of

the Oscars. Sh shouldn't matter. The the Academy likes a good news

story. Shame to get her from Paris to send her all the way home.

will be voting for Emmanuelle Riva while. Why she has picked up these

nominations, and her could-star hasn't had a nomination anywhere. I

find it pusleing because it was a film about a couple. Best

Supporting, that is Hathaway. There has been support for Amy Adams.

Hathaway they will give the Oscar for Best Musical Performance not

Best Supporting Actress. Who is Best Actress? It could be Tommy Lee

Jones. It could be De Niro. He is gunning for. This it has been 30

years since his last one. Who are we putting our money on? Tommy Lee

Jones. We are back next week. We will review Stoker, Broken City,

Arbitrage and Caesar Must Die. Playing us out tonight, West Side

Story our opportunity to dance. In 1962 it was nominated for 11 Oscars

and won 10, making it the musical with the most Oscar wins. A record