by Nathaniel R
VICTOR / VICTORIA
Last month I had the pleasure of rewatching Blake Edwards 7-time Oscar-nominated musical comedy Victor/Victoria (1982). The occasion was to prep for a conversation with our friend Ben Miller for his podcast "Target Audience" in which Ben invites a guest to discuss a movie that they feel was made for them for all kinds of differing reasons, beauty being in the eye of the beholder...
The fun of the podcast is, if you ask me, the non-divisive joy of discovering how different you are than whoever is talking that week while simultaneously realizing how alike you are the capacity for loving a movie. Isn't it curious how art made by multiple people for audiences of millions can feel so personal and/or hit us in such a way that it kind of imprints until it feels like it's part of your identity?
My initial list of suggestions for the episode was looooong but I settled on Victor/Victoria because...
- musicals are the best movie genre
- Blake Edwards & Julie Andrews were on my mind due to that new documentary Blake Edwards: A Love Story in 24 Frames
- The 80s was a decade that hadn't been covered much on Target Audience
- And finally it is my mandatory Actressexual duty to explain to people again that either Terri Garr (Tootsie) or Lesley Ann Warren (Victor/Victoria) were the rightful winners of the 1982 Best Supporting Actress Oscar; it's not "a crime to look at Lange" (as they so famously argued in one of the most hilarous movies of the Aughts), but it is a crime to give her an Oscar for Tootsie with those two performances in the room.
If you've never listened to Target Audience before and enjoy this episode, I have three recommendations. The episodes on "American Psycho" with Manish Mathur, "My Best Friend's Wedding" with Ronaldo Trancoso, and "West Side Story" with Fritz and the Oscars are all top notch conversations! If you have listened to this podcast before, recommend a favourite episode in the comments.
Otherwise you should obviously indulge in Victor/Victoria feelings in the comments. What do you make of its seven Oscar nominations?