LAFCA embraces "Drive My Car" and "Power of the Dog"
Sunday, December 19, 2021 at 12:31PM by Nathaniel R
The rivalry between the New York Film Critics Circle and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association is an abstraction. The two groups aren't at war though occassionaly their choices do feel like responses to each other, critical volleys if you will. Plus they're the two groups most likely to grab the attention of Oscar voters due to their high profile, coastal presence, and esteem.
This year they're co-signing each other naming Drive My Car the film of the year with Power of the Dog a close second taking the Director prize. They also agreed on supporting actor (sort of), too. Their full awards and more comments after the jump...
FILM Drive My Car
This is the sixth subtitled winner of this category in their 47 year history... but ALL of those have been this century, in the past 22 years, beginning with Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (2000).
Jane Campion has been winning Director Prizes since Venice this year. Can she win the Oscar, too?
DIRECTOR Jane Campion, Power of the Dog
This is the fifth time a woman has won their Best Director prize and the first was, you guessed it, Jane Campion herself for The Piano (1993). That's a gorgeous callback. We don't want to assume Campion is winning the Oscar to avoid disappointment but it sure would be beautiful.
ACTRESS Penelope Cruz, Parallel Mothers
LAFCA has a reputation for loving non-English language performances in this catregory. Cruz is the 11th "subtitled" woman to win. But here's a fun trivia note. The very first winner of this category back in 1975 was a foreign actress, Italy's Florinda Bolkan for A Brief Vacation.
ACTOR Simon Rex, Red Rocket
This is a nice get for Simon Rex whose motor-mouthed amorality is truly memorable but not the easier awards sell. Cláudio also wrote him in a FYC article.
SUPP ACTRESS Ariana DeBose, West Side Story
"Anita" continues to be the quintessential supporting actress awards-magnet role. It will usually win the actress playing her either a nomination (Debbie Allen) or a win (Rita Moreno, Karen Olivo). Oddly the only time that hasn't happened is the first time; the legendary Chita Rivera was not Tony nominated originating Anita on Broadway. How strange is that? But everyone else who has played Anita on Broadway or on film since has been nominated (if eligible).
SUPPORTING ACTOR [TIE] Vincent Lindon, Titane AND Kodi Smit McPhee, Power of the Dog
ANIMATED FILM Flee
NYFCC gave this film their non-fiction prize while LAFCA opted for animation, keeping us right where we've been wondering if the Danish film will have trouble at the Oscars where it has buzz for three different categories (International, Doc, Animated) but each of those categories could well assume that the other groups will take care of honoring it.
NON-FICTION FILM Summer of Soul
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM Petite Maman
SCREENPLAY Drive My Car
CINEMATOGRAPHY Power of the Dog
EDITING Summer of Soul
MUSIC/SCORE Parallel Mothers
PRODUCTION DESIGN Barb and Star Go To Vista Del Mar
Dont mind me. I'll just be over here weeping that they stole my idea with Production Design and now when I nominate Barb & Star it in the Film Bitch Awards everyone will think I'm copying them. Curses! (True Story: I keep a list all year for each category so it's always been in my mix)
NEW GENERATION [TIE] Shatara Michelle Ford, Test Pattern and Tatiana Huezo, Prayers for the Stolen
The Gotham favourite and Mexico's Oscar submission split this prize. If you missed our interview with Huezo you can check that out here.
EXPERIMENTAL FILM AWARD The Works and Days (of Tayoko Shiojiri in the Shiotani Basin)
CAREER ACHIEVEMENT Mel Brooks
Reader Comments (14)
I heard this is the first time NY and LA have agreed on best film since The Social Network - anyone have stats on this? Or how often they've matched?
Greg F -- Here are the years they agreed:
2021, DRIVE MY CAR
2018, ROMA
2014, BOYHOOD
2010, THE SOCIAL NETWORK
2009, THE HURT LOCKER
2005, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
2004, SIDEWAYS
1998, SAVING PRIVATE RYAN
1997, L.A. CONFIDENTIAL
1995, LEAVING LAS VEGAS
1993, SCHINDLER'S LIST
1990, GOODFELLAS
1986, HANNAH AND HER SISTERS
1983, TERMS OF ENDEARMENT
1979, KRAMER VS KRAMER
So, 15 out of 47 years when they both associations existed and gave out awards. They match roughly 32% of the time.
The Barb and Star production design win is inspired and richly deserved! Love it!
I do not understand the cinematography hype for The Power of the Dog - is it for the landscapes? I found it flat, digital, and beige. I don't know if it's just poor cgi, but something is off on a lot of the wide shots of the towns and houses against the mountains. I'm also getting tired of the film winning everything - yes, I also have it in my top 10 because it is great but please spread the love more. Anyway, my cinematography win would go to The Green Knight.
Would love to see Drive My Car, but Minneapolis still does not have a date listed. Which is crazy because I feel this city had a great arthouse culture a few years back and then the pandemic closed most of the arthouse theatres for good. :(
I'm happy to see Petite Maman win best foreign film. It's my favorite movie of the year so far, but I feel as though it's not getting much attention because it wasn't chosen by France to compete for International Film, and it's kind of been buried by Neon. If you have a chance to see it, see it!
I'm very excited to check out Drive My Car. chasm301 our best arthouse theater here in Milwaukee just announced they were getting it on a date "TBA in 2022", so it appears it is getting a major enough release to play in the mid-sized Midwestern cities, it's just a question of when.
LA's editing prize to "Summer of Soul" is fantastic. That's the Oscar nomination I am hoping for this year. They continue to be the precursor body I love the most, even if they rankled me with the Small Axe choice last year.
It's always a tossup between LA and the National Society for best prizes....
And Vincent Lindon and Barb and Star are picks that will be hard for NatSoc to beat.
I do love the LA Film Critics Association as I thought they were going to go for Licorice Pizza considering it's a film by PTA and set in LA but they always tend to surprise you and I like that.
Yes to the love for Barb and Star.
Here are the LAFCA runners-up, also noteworthy.
Picture - The Power of the Dog
Director - Hamaguchi, Drive My Car
Film not in the English language - Quo Vadis, Aida?
Screenplay - P.T.A., Licorice Pizza
Actress - Reinsve, The Worst Person in the World
Actor - Cumberbatch, The Power of the Dog
Cinematography - Fraser, Dune
Supporting Actress - Ellis, King Richard
Supporting Actor - n/a (tie)
Editing - Jurgensen, Licorice Pizza
Production Design - Deverell, Nightmare Alley
Score - Greenwood, The Power of the Dog/Spencer
Documentary/Nonfiction - Procession
Animated Film - Belle
And a Special Citation to the L.A. Rebellion filmmakers for their contributions to cinema. (Major figures include: Charles Burnett, Larry Clark, Julie Dash, Zeinabu Irene Davis, Jamaa Fanaka, Haile Gerima, Alile Sharon Larkin and Billy Woodberry.)
Hamaguchi is getting the lone director nomination, I guess.
So... PETITE MAMAN was actually their second Best Foreign Language Film since they awarded Best Film to DRIVE MY CAR, right?
absolutely thrilling to finally see someone give Penelope Cruz her rightful award this year. she's astonishing in Parallel Mothers, so assured and textured. we're probably taking her craft for granted, otherwise it's inexplicable that she hasn't received more attention yet. maybe it's also just a matter of not enough people seeing it yet: it's one of those performances like Rampling in 45 Years and Cotillard in Two Days, One Night: if you see it, you can see the enormity of what Cruz is doing with seeming effortlessness.
I also don't get why the cinematography of The Power of the Dog is being celebrated. It was nice looking and fitting, but I agree that the drone shots were in a completely different visual language and even looked fake.
Is The Power of the Dog cinematography being hyped & celebrated because it’s be a female cinematographer? Haven’t seen it yet, but maybe the ‘push’ is to get the 1st ever female Oscar win in that category.
It's being hyped because it's a beautifully shot film. Deserves all its accolades IMO.
Claudio - thank you for the list!