Keeping pace with Hollywoods perpetual awards horserace.
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I dont think its in the mix for Best Picture, an Academy member told me aboutAnoraback in January.
But it wasnt just the nominations that spurred doubts aboutAnora.
Its a bit too risque for Best Picture, this member told me.
To start, we need to flash back to last May.
But the Palme dOr win, from a jury headed by Greta Gerwig, truly kickedAnorainto overdrive.
Usually, a film this raucous and raunchy might struggle to be taken seriously.
That speaks to another difference from Bakers earlier work.
Its got a more sympathetic protagonist thanRed Rocket, and none of the freak-show undercurrents ofThe Florida Project.
Anoraalso had another benefit thatThe Florida ProjectandRed Rocketdidnt namely, that it was coming afterThe Florida ProjectandRed Rocket.
Baker is older than youd think, and hes been working longer than you think.
His first feature,Four Letter Words, came out back in the year 2000.
Hed always been respected in indie circles.
(Talk about a fucking avatar of purity, the filmmaker Kel ONeill once told me.)
Three films and nine years later, hed finally become a known quantity in the mainstream.
Once voters are comfortable with a filmmaker, they make more allowances for their idiosyncrasies.
This is a matter of timing, and its hard to predict.
InAnorain particular, the most extreme elements benefit from Bakers knife-edge command of tone.
From the jump, it seemed like the kind of movie that would benefit from the Oscars preferential ballot.
In a self-fulfilling prophecy, it was the consensus pick to become the consensus pick.
Anoraspent the fall atop the Best Picture leaderboard, which is usually a perilous place to be.
But that setback may have been a blessing in disguise.
As Neons unquestioned No.
1 priority, the film was also carefully shepherded.
These are not the safe, down-the-middle Oscar winners of yore; they are gritty, scrappy movies.
In the end,Anoras heart and energy proved appealing enough that voters didnt hold anything against it.
As one Oscar strategist repping the competition told me, This is a feel-good movie.
You come out of it feeling hopeful about humanity.
