Summary:
- Ridley Scott’s last chance at the Oscars fails desperately as he manages to win only three nominations for Napoleon.
- The director is a shining star among those unfortunate elites who have been exceptional despite not ever winning the Oscars.
- Since eternity, Scott has tried every method in the book to get his hands on the coveted award but has been snubbed time and again.
With nearly fifty years of experience working with a diverse tapestry of cinema, Ridley Scott’s illustrious career is scarred by just one glaring omission – The Oscar.
The director’s long-drawn quest for the Best Director Oscar has only caused him disappointment, and ‘Napoleon’ is no exception. Despite boasting Joaquin Phoenix and a tightly woven historical plot, the film failed to give 86-year-old Ridley Scott what his heart desires the most.
With a few exceptions like Alfred Hitchcock, Martin Scorsese, Clint Eastwood, and John Huston, hardly any director has maintained the perfect balance of consistency and creativity at the highest level like Scott, especially at an age when the average Joe looks forward to a retired life in his beach house.
Long before ‘Napoleon’s’ backfire, the Oscars had been sidestepping Scott like a dubious puddle. It’s a real head-scratcher why he’s often left in the shadows, especially when you look at his impressive filmography.
For instance, his first film, ‘The Duellists’ was a stunning debut, but got smothered because he was a nobody back then.
The biggest irony of Ridley Scott’s career is that his greatest attribute has often been the reason for his incessant snubbing at award shows.
His diversity and curiosity to tackle new genres, be it crime dramas, fantasy, or novelty categories like ‘cyberpunk,’ makes him a unique director. However, this trait has also confused people over time, which has hurt his award prospects.
For example, ‘Alien’ was snubbed in 1980 because science fiction was considered undignified and a child’s genre back then.
It wasn’t until the 1990s that Scott really caught the attention of the film industry’s heavyweights, earning praise for his feminist-driven narrative in ‘Thelma and Louise.’ ‘Black Hawk Down’ and ‘Gladiator,’ also received warm welcomes in the fraternity, but victory eluded Scott once more.
Yet, he made history when ‘Gladiator’ clinched the Best Picture award, a feat not achieved in fifty years, especially notable as it didn’t secure wins in the writing or directing categories.
However, the biggest snub came when ‘A Beautiful Mind’ didn’t receive the Oscar in 2002, and it was instead given to Ron Howard for the war film ‘Black Hawk Down.’
Things never got better from there on. Even though ‘The Martian’ was a hit at the Oscars with a Best Picture nod and six other nominations in 2016, Scott himself was left out in the cold without a nomination.
It’s almost as if the Academy’s coldness towards him is starting to affect his actors. Take Edward Norton’s performance as King Baldwin in ‘Kingdom of Heaven,’ for instance. It was outstanding, but the Oscars didn’t even bat an eyelid.
Scott’s love for unconventional genres took a backseat since his desperation for winning that final accolade started peaking. If the voters wanted social commentary, he’d give them a social commentary. If the trend was biopics, he’d have a biopic script ready.
However, even that recipe didn’t work out for the man, and he earned no Oscars for ‘The Last Duel’ or ‘House of Gucci.’
If you don’t think it matters to him, think again. In a famous interview with The New Yorker, he grumbled bitterly about the Oscars.
if I ever get one, I’ll say, ‘About [expletive] time!’
With an unending list of near-misses, it’s starting to look like the academy voters are intentionally snubbing him. Therefore, the man played the final gamble this year by making ‘Napoleon.’
Ridley Scott chose Joaquin Phoenix as the eponymous character because he’s arguably this generation’s most critically acclaimed actor. Moreover, history shows that directors have always opted for Napoleonic epics to hoist their names among the greats in the industry.
Napoleon’s use as a cinematic fodder to rise to the top started as early as 1927 with Abel Glance’s silent masterpiece.
Then came a wave of biographical films, each one packed with the crème de la crème of Hollywood, like Marlon Brando’s ‘Désirée,’ the 1956 epic ‘War and Peace,’ and the 1970 film ‘Waterloo’, with the largest mock battlefield at that time.
However, the ‘Napoleon’ plan completely backfired, and the film earned merely three nominations in the design and effects category at the 2024 Oscars.
The idea of an Honorary Oscar has been associated with Ridley Scott’s name for a long time, but the man is probably too proud to accept that honor.
On the bright side, not winning an Oscar will put him in the elite list of directors who have been exceptional even without ever winning the coveted award. We talk about juggernauts like Akira Kurosawa, Orson Welles, Stanley Kubrick, Sidney Lumet, Alfred Hitchcock, and Ingmar Bergman.
Do you think Ridley Scott will ever win an Oscar? Comment your thoughts down below.
No Comments on Ridley Scott’s Last Shot at Oscar Glory Falls Desperately Short Again!