Giving Scorcese his due

By James Hutchinson

The recent release of the Academy Award Nominations left me with a feeling of cautious delight. I was pleased upon hearing that Martin Scorsese's latest film, "The Aviator," garnered 11 nominations. This is despite one of the Academy Awards' most egregious travesties of never having decorated Martin Scorsese with an Oscar. Yes, that is the esteemed auteur who brought us some of the best films in American cinema such as "Taxi Driver," "Goodfellas," "Raging Bull" and "The Last Temptation of Christ."

If I could take a brief moment to expound the virtues of this great American director, I would like to mention his deft ability at encapsulating an essence. Whether it was the heyday of the mafia in "Goodfellas," or the sense of moral alienation in post Vietnam America depicted in "Taxi Driver," Scorsese captured both the elan and the message of the era. There is a sense one gets watching his films, that you are experiencing cinema in its pure form. The merging of story, visuals and sound has rarely been so elegantly executed as it has in his films.

Scorsese is not the only great auteur to have been unlucky in the Oscars. In fact, it seems to be a Hollywood pattern of neglecting some of cinema's finest directors.

Such venerable film greats as Alfred Hitchcock, Ingmar Bergman and Stanley Kubrick have never won the coveted Best Director award. Martin Scorsese has lost twice to actor-cum-directors: first to Robert Redford in 1980 then to Kevin Costner in 1991. Oddly enough, Scorsese may lose to yet another actor turned director next month as he will go up against Clint Eastwood's praiseworthy film "Million Dollar Baby."

However, there is reason to be hopeful about Scorsese's chances in this year's Oscar race. The Academy has displayed honorary reverence for those it has deprived in years past. The most recent example of this occurred when Peter Jackson took home the dual honors of Best Director and Best Picture for the last film in his Lord of the Rings trilogy, "Return of the King." Since Jackson had been nominated but did not win either award for the previous two films in the trilogy, the Academy awarded him and his film overwhelmingly last year. Given the fact that Mr. Eastwood already has a Best Picture award under his belt with his 1992 film "Unforgiven," the Academy might want to settle its dues with Scorsese this year.

As the aging boxer Jake La Motta said in "Raging Bull" about his desire to be a winner "A horse, a horse, a kingdom for my horse." Put me down for 10 on "The Aviator."

* James Hutchinson's column appears once a month. He can be reached at jehutchinson@scu.edu.