New Delhi:
The true story of how a king beat a speech impediment with therapy. The true story of a how one young man built a cyber empire worth billions. The true story of how a hiker survived being crushed under a rock for 5 days. The true story of how a small time boxer beat the odds to achieve sporting glory. Real life is intruding into the glamorous world of the Academy Awards this year, and it won't be for the first time.
King George VI, who found himself on the throne on the abdication of his elder brother, was faced with the daunting prospect of overcoming a nervous stutter to be able to address the British public. Helped along by a speech therapist who remained a lifelong friend, his story is chronicled by actors Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush in The King's Speech. The Royals have long been Oscar favourites, as have other historical figures. Elizabeth I went to the Oscars not once, but five times. Cate Blanchett played her twice, Judi Dench played her in Shakespeare In Love and won Best Supporting Actress. Jean Simmons played the Virgin Queen in Young Bess and a toddler Elizabeth appears at the conclusion of Anne Of A Thousand Days.
Elizabeth's father, serial husband Henry VIII's much married life has also been documented at the Oscars. Charles Laughton won Best Actor for his portrayal of the monarch in The Private Life of Henry VIII. He later reprised his role in Young Bess. Richard Burton, married multiple times himself, played Henry VIII in Anne Of A Thousand Days. Robert Shaw played the king in a supporting role in A Man For All Seasons, opposite Paul Scofield as Sir Thomas More. Playing Henry II in The Lion In Winter gave Peter O'Toole one of his 8 Oscar nominations. Star in the making Emily Blunt, followed her The Devil Wears Prada box office pyrotechnics with a visit to The Academy as The Young Victoria. Modern royalty was given a facelift by Helen Mirren who won Best Actress for playing Elizabeth II in The Queen.
In 1996, The Academy gave history two thumbs up with a 5 award haul for Braveheart. Mel Gibson did not win the acting prize for playing Scottish hero William Wallace but did take home Best Picture and Best Director. The Scottish highlands also found an Oscar champion in outlawed clan leader Rob Roy, played by Liam Neeson.
The Academy have always had a special corner for sporting heroes and underdogs. This year's The Fighter and 127 Hours exemplify the capacity of the human spirit to endure. In The Fighter, boxer Micky Ward struggles with the challenges of his working class life and the vagaries of his cocaine addicted brother, and trainer, Dicky Eklund. 127 Hours is the inspiring story of Aron Ralston who was trapped under a falling rock for days and was forced to amputate his own arm to escape death. In 1980, Robert De Niro established himself among the Hollywood pantheon winning Best Actor for playing boxer Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull.
Boxing was also taken to the Oscar ring by Russell Crowe who played Jim Braddock in Cinderella Man, Denzel Washington who played Rubin Carter in The Hurricane and Will Smith who played Muhammad Ali in Ali. Horse racing had a rare Oscar moment when Seabiscuit, starring Tobey Maguire and Jeff Bridges, was nominated for 7 awards in 2004
The modern virtual world is given a reality check in The Social Network which charts the extraordinary journey of Facebook creator, Mark Zuckerberg. Unlike The Fighter and 127 Hours, The Social Network is an unauthorized biography of Zuckerberg, who has disputed much of the film as incorrect. But true or false, the film serves to remind us of the power of one. Much like Sir Richard Attenborough's Gandhi, chronicling the life of the Mahatma, which scored 8 Oscars in 1983, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor. In 1994, Schindler's List had a seven Oscar haul including Best Picture and Best Director for Steven Spielberg. Liam Neeson narrowly missed the Best Actor for playing Oskar Schindler in the true story of how a German businessman saved over a thousand Jewish lives in the Holocaust. Sen Penn won his second Best Actor award in 2009 for playing gay politician-activist Harvey Milk. In 1971, biopic Patton won seven Oscars including a Best Actor nod for George C. Scott who played the eponymous war hero. Scott famously refused his Oscar, setting the stage for Marlon Brando who did the same two years later. But perhaps the most famous real person on screen was Erin Brockovich, made more famous by being virtually unknown before her story went to Hollywood. Single mother, legal clerk, environmental activist - Erin Brockovich was the role that finally brought an Oscar to America's Sweetheart, Julia Roberts.
And never does art better imitate life when it depicts the life of artists. The life and loves of country star Johnny Cash brought in a Best Actor nomination for Joaquin Phoenix and a Best Actress win for Reese Witherspoon as June Carter who Cash eventually married. Adrien Brody was catapulted from absurdity to Oscar glory for the Holocaust themed memoir of Jewish musician, Wladyslaw Szpilman in The Pianist. Geoffrey Rush, later to be among Hollywood's most feted actors, came out of nowhere to win for disturbed pianist David Helfgott in Shine. Judi Dench and Kate Winslet were both nominated for playing novelist Iris Murdoch, while Jim Broadbent won Best Supporting Actor for Iris. Philip Seymour Hoffman won Best Actor for bringing to life Truman Capote - the controversial, gay author from the American South - in Capote. Marcia Gay Harden won Best Supporting Actress for playing Lee Krasner, the long suffering wife of artist Jackson Pollock, played by Ed Harris who was also nominated, in Pollock. In 1985, Amadeus, the biopic of composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, swept the awards with 8 wins including Best Actor, Best picture and Best Director.
The next year, the life and times of Dutch author Karen von Blixen was chronicled in the film adaption of her autobiography, Out Of Africa. It won a slew of awards including the Oscars for Best picture and Best Director. Other notable mentions from the world of art were acting nominations for Robert Downey, Jr. in Chaplin, Salma Hayek as Mexican artist Frida Kahlo in Frida, Johnny Depp as Peter Pan author J M Barrie in Finding Neverland and Christopher Plummer as Russian literary force of nature, Leo Tolstoy in The Last Station
This year too, there seem to be Oscars in store for real life. But will it be a stuttering monarch, a nerdy entrepreneur, a down and out boxer or a young man who falls prey to dangerous landscape?
King George VI, who found himself on the throne on the abdication of his elder brother, was faced with the daunting prospect of overcoming a nervous stutter to be able to address the British public. Helped along by a speech therapist who remained a lifelong friend, his story is chronicled by actors Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush in The King's Speech. The Royals have long been Oscar favourites, as have other historical figures. Elizabeth I went to the Oscars not once, but five times. Cate Blanchett played her twice, Judi Dench played her in Shakespeare In Love and won Best Supporting Actress. Jean Simmons played the Virgin Queen in Young Bess and a toddler Elizabeth appears at the conclusion of Anne Of A Thousand Days.
Elizabeth's father, serial husband Henry VIII's much married life has also been documented at the Oscars. Charles Laughton won Best Actor for his portrayal of the monarch in The Private Life of Henry VIII. He later reprised his role in Young Bess. Richard Burton, married multiple times himself, played Henry VIII in Anne Of A Thousand Days. Robert Shaw played the king in a supporting role in A Man For All Seasons, opposite Paul Scofield as Sir Thomas More. Playing Henry II in The Lion In Winter gave Peter O'Toole one of his 8 Oscar nominations. Star in the making Emily Blunt, followed her The Devil Wears Prada box office pyrotechnics with a visit to The Academy as The Young Victoria. Modern royalty was given a facelift by Helen Mirren who won Best Actress for playing Elizabeth II in The Queen.
In 1996, The Academy gave history two thumbs up with a 5 award haul for Braveheart. Mel Gibson did not win the acting prize for playing Scottish hero William Wallace but did take home Best Picture and Best Director. The Scottish highlands also found an Oscar champion in outlawed clan leader Rob Roy, played by Liam Neeson.
The Academy have always had a special corner for sporting heroes and underdogs. This year's The Fighter and 127 Hours exemplify the capacity of the human spirit to endure. In The Fighter, boxer Micky Ward struggles with the challenges of his working class life and the vagaries of his cocaine addicted brother, and trainer, Dicky Eklund. 127 Hours is the inspiring story of Aron Ralston who was trapped under a falling rock for days and was forced to amputate his own arm to escape death. In 1980, Robert De Niro established himself among the Hollywood pantheon winning Best Actor for playing boxer Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull.
Boxing was also taken to the Oscar ring by Russell Crowe who played Jim Braddock in Cinderella Man, Denzel Washington who played Rubin Carter in The Hurricane and Will Smith who played Muhammad Ali in Ali. Horse racing had a rare Oscar moment when Seabiscuit, starring Tobey Maguire and Jeff Bridges, was nominated for 7 awards in 2004
The modern virtual world is given a reality check in The Social Network which charts the extraordinary journey of Facebook creator, Mark Zuckerberg. Unlike The Fighter and 127 Hours, The Social Network is an unauthorized biography of Zuckerberg, who has disputed much of the film as incorrect. But true or false, the film serves to remind us of the power of one. Much like Sir Richard Attenborough's Gandhi, chronicling the life of the Mahatma, which scored 8 Oscars in 1983, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor. In 1994, Schindler's List had a seven Oscar haul including Best Picture and Best Director for Steven Spielberg. Liam Neeson narrowly missed the Best Actor for playing Oskar Schindler in the true story of how a German businessman saved over a thousand Jewish lives in the Holocaust. Sen Penn won his second Best Actor award in 2009 for playing gay politician-activist Harvey Milk. In 1971, biopic Patton won seven Oscars including a Best Actor nod for George C. Scott who played the eponymous war hero. Scott famously refused his Oscar, setting the stage for Marlon Brando who did the same two years later. But perhaps the most famous real person on screen was Erin Brockovich, made more famous by being virtually unknown before her story went to Hollywood. Single mother, legal clerk, environmental activist - Erin Brockovich was the role that finally brought an Oscar to America's Sweetheart, Julia Roberts.
And never does art better imitate life when it depicts the life of artists. The life and loves of country star Johnny Cash brought in a Best Actor nomination for Joaquin Phoenix and a Best Actress win for Reese Witherspoon as June Carter who Cash eventually married. Adrien Brody was catapulted from absurdity to Oscar glory for the Holocaust themed memoir of Jewish musician, Wladyslaw Szpilman in The Pianist. Geoffrey Rush, later to be among Hollywood's most feted actors, came out of nowhere to win for disturbed pianist David Helfgott in Shine. Judi Dench and Kate Winslet were both nominated for playing novelist Iris Murdoch, while Jim Broadbent won Best Supporting Actor for Iris. Philip Seymour Hoffman won Best Actor for bringing to life Truman Capote - the controversial, gay author from the American South - in Capote. Marcia Gay Harden won Best Supporting Actress for playing Lee Krasner, the long suffering wife of artist Jackson Pollock, played by Ed Harris who was also nominated, in Pollock. In 1985, Amadeus, the biopic of composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, swept the awards with 8 wins including Best Actor, Best picture and Best Director.
The next year, the life and times of Dutch author Karen von Blixen was chronicled in the film adaption of her autobiography, Out Of Africa. It won a slew of awards including the Oscars for Best picture and Best Director. Other notable mentions from the world of art were acting nominations for Robert Downey, Jr. in Chaplin, Salma Hayek as Mexican artist Frida Kahlo in Frida, Johnny Depp as Peter Pan author J M Barrie in Finding Neverland and Christopher Plummer as Russian literary force of nature, Leo Tolstoy in The Last Station
This year too, there seem to be Oscars in store for real life. But will it be a stuttering monarch, a nerdy entrepreneur, a down and out boxer or a young man who falls prey to dangerous landscape?
