Categories One-by-One: Production Design

[Sabin]

I think it's a three-way race of unlikely contenders.

Were I to not see these films but have them described to me, I would assume this race would be The Irishman's to lose (historical epic) with Jojo Rabbit close behind (comic writer/director's take on Nazi Germany). Having seen all these films, it's a competition between the big and the quaint. The Irishman and Jojo Rabbit tackle lofty material but they feel quaint and subdued compared to the competition.

There aren't a lot of precedents for 1917, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, or Parasite to take this award. As I wrote in Best Costume Design, I think voters are just going to remember Once Upon a Time in Hollywood having more Production Design than it does for the same reasons that La La Land won this category over Hail, Caesar! or Fantastic Beasts: they vote for their memory of the film, not a scene-by-scene account.

Ironically, the best analog that I can see for 1917 is Mad Max: Fury Road. Both are throttling, video game-like experiences trekking through terrain where it's unclear what is production design, what is visual effects, and what is location scouting. The second best recent analog I can think of (excluding Saving Private Ryan of course) is a movie that lost to Mad Max: The Revenant.

This raises a question of how many Oscars is Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is going to end up winning. Brad Pitt has this one in the bag. Production Design and Costume Design are good bets (if not sure shots). What about screenplay? Is that so assured as well? This feels like a movie that wins three Oscars as opposed to four. But that's for another post...

[Mister Tee]

I'm going to have to challenge your premise here: I think this is definitely a three-way race.

Which is not to disparage The Irishman or Jojo Rabbit, the two films I do quickly eliminate. Both are well-designed, and, were either closer to the top of the best picture race, their design elements could come into consideration. But neither has an eye-popping quality (like, say, Great Gatsby or Black Panther) to elevate them on the basis of achievement alone. (Had more of The Irishman taken place in the 40s, it might have had a shot, but the 50s/early 60s have never been very photogenic.)

Parasite's chances here basically come down to 1) How much do you love Parasite and want it to win everything? and 2) How much do you love that house? No one's thinking of the basement apartment, or various locales in the early portion of the film, when they consider this category. They're focused on that big, beautiful living room, kitchen, and backyard, with a special nod to that Gothic basement. This is not normally the stuff of a production design win -- and the film is already working under the handicap of being in Korean -- so, I'd say if the film wins here, its best picture chances are excellent.

I may have aged to the point where what strikes many as period design feels like the day before yesterday to me. Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood deals with a time when I was on the edge of adulthood. Yes, I recognize that styles have changed much since, but I can't look at a 1969 re-creation and be wowed by it. Quentin's film has won most of those lower-tier critics' prizes, but I'll note that much of their voting members skews young, and they may be more impressed by the film's look than an Academy membership (whose demographic is closer to mine) would be. The film is definitely in strong contention, but I don't think it's a slam-dunk.

An I'm not sure how you can toss off 1917 as contender simply by saying war films don't usually win this category. War films also don't usually wow you with their designs. To me, this film really popped on on the production design level: the intricately designed trenches, the no-man's-land, the sudden appearance of a farm-house on barren landscape, the bombed-out village -- I found the production design worked hand-in-hand with Deakins' cinematography. If 1917 has the overall power it seems to have (based on PGA/DGA/Globes), it could easily grab this award as part of a sweep or even mini-sweep.

I say it's a photo finish between 1917 and Hollywood, with Parasite a dark horse.

[anonymous1980]

The nominees:

The Irishman
Jojo Rabbit
1917
Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood
Parasite

This is another interesting category to talk about. I guess we can safely eliminate The Irishman and Jojo Rabbit. They're handsomely mounted productions but unless they're sweeping to a Best Picture coronation, these types of nominees don't typically win. Speaking of that, 1917 is poised to become a technical juggernaut on Oscar night. This could bring it along for the ride. However, this category typically favors the pretty and war movies are definitely not that.

I think the race comes down to Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood and Parasite, two of the most talked about production design achievements of the past year. Much has been written about how they painstakingly recreated Hollywood/L.A. in the late 1960's for whole blocks at a time, without using CGI in Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood. While this category hardly ever honors contemporary production design, much has been written about how the house in Parasite was built from scratch and how intricately and impeccably designed it was.

For now, I think Hollywood takes it by a hair but it wouldn't surprise me if Parasite somehow triumphs.