Ideological Oscar

As the stage is set for the 97th Academy Awards ceremony to be held at the Dolby Theatre (formerly known as the Kodak Theatre) in Los Angeles on Sunday, a sense of trepidation fills the air. It's a year when the prospect of life imitating art has gotten too close for comfort, as the US deals with the anxiety of yet another four years under the new administration.

As Hollywood plans on hosting its most glamourous night, the event promises to pay homage to stories of the human condition from which it might be next to impossible to separate the question of politics. Among the frontrunners for the golden statuette this year is the papal drama set in the Vatican, Conclave, which is up for eight Oscars, including Best Picture. The film delves on the premise of the appointment of a new Pope (something that has a real-world, topical immediacy in the aftermath of Pope Francis's illness). The slow-burn thriller briefly touches upon several unappetizing aspects of the Church including allegations of sexual abuse of minors by the clergy, as well as the question of racism inherent in religious functionaries in first world nations when dealing with their peers from the global south.

One of the film's standout moments occurs inside a darkened auditorium where one of the candidates vying for the top papal vacancy bursts into a rant against members of another religious community, mirroring the prejudices and reservations of a cocooned continent that is suddenly having to deal with migrants of colour and other 'undesirable' elements. The big reveal of the film is something that has split audiences and readers of the book on which the film is based, right down the middle. While on that topic, yet another film that is nominated for as many as 13 Oscars is the go for broke cartel musical Emilia Perez, whose Karla Sofia Gascon has become the first openly transgender actress to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress. The recognition is certainly in line with an underlying theme of a few films this Oscar season, namely body image and self-identification.

French filmmaker Coralie Fargeat's body horror feature The Substance is an anomalous addition to this year's contenders. The film turns the spotlight on the idea of female allure, its ephemeral nature and the lengths that those in the entertainment industry go, to hold onto that temporary idea of relevance is chock-a-block with meta references to our unrealistic expectations of beauty. For the cinephiles, the film owes a lot to the works of David Cronenberg, a director who is known to be the father of body horror, with films like The Fly, Videodrome, and A History of Violence to his credit. Ironically, the 81-year-old has never been nominated for an Academy Award, and not that he would remotely care.

Speaking of which, there are not many reasons for India to cheer this time around. A film that we could have hopefully sent as our official Oscar entry, Payal Kapadia’s All we imagine as light was sidelined in favour of Laapataa Ladies by our esteemed jury on account of being a European film disguised as an Indian feature. As expected the latter film fell through the cracks of the Oscar jury. And while we are at it, let’s not forget The Seed of the Sacred Fig, a political drama directed by Mohammad Rasoulof, an Iranian director in exile in Germany, whose film is Berlin’s official entry to the Best Foreign film category. Something to chew on as we consider the nature of politics in cinema.