Advertisement
Pay Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain
This month MovieMaker reviews two books about "Influence."
The Phantom Empire
by Geoffrey O'Brien
W W. Norton & Co., New York, 1993 $20.00
"Instead of visions modern people see movies, which wear off a good deal faster." -- Geoffrey O'Brien, The Phantom Empire
"A spectator can avoid certain movies, but not The Movies." So writes Geoffrey O'Brien in his observation of the cinematic experience, The Phantom Empire, which takes an a priori view of the power and influence that movies have over society. In it, O'Brien examines the interior processes by which the viewer observes, ingests, and exploits the flickering issues/04/images on the screen.
O'Brien does not cite any specific film theorists, but his work obviously owes to the writings of Hugo Munsterberg, Sigmund Freud, Laura Mulvey, and Noel Burch (only the last of whom is credited). The Phantom Empire does not contain footnotes, a bibliography or an index, except for an index of the films cited. It points to the emphasis he places on an emotional relationship with film, rather than a theoretical one.
O'Brien reflects on a wide range of topics, from film spectatorship and genres, to Italian and British filmmaking. His observations on - the roles that memory and history play in the assimilation of cinematic information are especially worth reading.
He notes that "history is compounded by our cinematic experience" and offers the notable example of raconteur/President Reagan's frequent substitution of movies for history. O'Brien's point is that for Reagan-and for us-movie memories are no less valid than reality: they enhance reality.
One of the stumbling blocks to enjoying The Phantom Empire lies in navigating O'Brien's flowery prose. His messages are often buried in similes, allusions and metaphors. I frequently found myself wishing that he would lay off the poetry and get to the point.
The greatest hurdle that O'Brien sets up for himself and his readers is his pretense that The Movies are the dominant carriers of meaning in society. His narrow scope that avoids serious discussion of video and television isolates film in a deceptive vacuum of influence. Then again, O'Brien is not out to prove anything. The Phantom Empire is a kind of "come along with me for a cinematic journey" book.
No facts, no figures- just movies.
Behind the Oscar, The Secret History of the Academy
Awards
by Anthony Holden
Plume/Penguin, New York, 1993 $14.95
At first glance, Behind the Oscar, The Secret History of the Academy Awards, looks like one more whipping of a dead horse.
A disclaimer that the book is neither endorsed by nor affiliated with the Academy o£ Motion Picture Arts and Sciences seems to confirm it.
But author Anthony Holden, who has written biographies of Laurence Olivier and Prince Charles, is a meticulous researcher and obviously relishes his subject. He has written a lively account of Oscar's checkered history from the founding of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in the 1920's through the Silence of the Lambs sweep in 1991. In between is a year-by-year, blow-by-blow documenting of two decades of studio politics, infighting, and vote control, and 40 years of super-hype which began in the 1950's with the national telecasts and the rise of independent filmmakers.
The motivation for the backroom shenanigans and big spending has been recognition of achievement and merit. Its money. Win or lose, a nomination usually means at least a 20 percent boost at the box office, and is often a launching pad for careers.
According to Holden, the Academy was born when Louis B. Mayer decided to build a beach house. He found that because of union contracts it would be prohibitively expensive to use his MGM craftsmen to design and construct it. Recognizing the growing strength of the unions, he called some of his cronies together to create a "mutually beneficial" organization to unite the various craftspeople, actors, writers, and others who comprise the movie industry. The result was the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Beneath the seemingly lofty ideals rested the more pragmatic purpose of controlling talent, and making it more difficult for technicians to strike studios.
Two years later the Academy Awards were introduced. The ceremonies began as small, intimate dinner parties which sputtered through the 30's and 40's. Gradually taking on a life of their own, they were rescued from oblivion by television and became the annual exercise in self-aggrandizement that we see today.
But the annual telecast is merely the tip of an iceberg which floats around for several months before the main event. Interest snowballs thanks to studio maneuvering, and a promotion campaign which by 1991, was spending over $7,000,000 annually to promote nominations as well as a series of lesser awards shows.
The Price Waterhouse count appears to be about the only thing Hollywood doesn't try to influence. Enough free thinkers and maverick winners have given the awards a degree of respect and integrity which they probably don't deserve and may not have.
If nominees come a cropper at the Oscars, we needn't feel sorry for them. The Oscars have fostered a host of lesser known shows which hand out enough awards to fill an automobile showroom while building momentum for the big night. In the weeks before the Oscars, nominees can win awards from the New York and Los Angeles Film Critics, the National Board of Review, the National Society of Film Critics, and a Golden Globe from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. They may also be honored by the Director's, Writer's, and Publicist's Guilds, independent filmmakers, film editors and sound recordists. Failing at all of those, they may end up with recognition no one wants-an annual Golden Raspberry Award presented on Oscar eve for the year's worst achievements in film.
At 480 pages of text, plus another 180 of lists, the book contains more Oscar trivia than anyone else ever thought of or will remember. The lists include every winner and loser in all major categories, plus rankings of most nominations, most wins, oldest and youngest winners and nominees, wins and nominations by genre and several other groupings and categories.
There are also chapters on the Lifetime Achievement Award and other Oscars, which have usually been given as consolation prizes; forays through the Hollywood blacklists; and actors, directors, and producers who were never honored by the Academy. Holden's continuing analysis of studio thinking and psychology and the kinds of films and performances which tend to win and lose takes on the trappings of handicapping a horse race. It also serves as a primer for anyone interested in betting on future awards. Scattered throughout are memorable quotes such as Joan Crawford's "When they sign you up for one of those special awards, you know its time to cash it in," to Groucho Marx's comment, during the blacklisting era, that Moses' name had to be removed from the Ten Commandments' writers credits because he'd crossed the Red Sea.
By the end, the reader is likely to feel that the
only time an award was given solely on merit may have been in 1948
when Sir Laurence Olivier's Hamlet was named best picture. Even
that was due somewhat to the votes of a rebellious membership. Holden
concludes: "If film is an edited version of life, the Oscars
are generally given to those who interpret life as Academy members
would like to see it-not necessarily as the rest of us, mere moviegoers,
would like to see it, and least of all as it is." MM
SHARE THIS STORY |
TAGS |
Digg
StumbleUpon
Facebook
Del.icio.us
Reddit
YahooAdvertisement
COMMENTS | POST A COMMENT 
- Comment by دردشة الحب on 3/23/11 at 1:23 pm
This story was published in the March 1994 MovieMaker Magazine. The headline was:
Pay Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain / This month MovieMaker reviews two books about "Influence."
Order this issue | Subscribe to MM
posted 05.25.12
posted 05.22.12
posted 05.15.12
SITE DELIVERY OPTIONS
