In this week when we are told that the planet has about 50 more years to live, a self-congratulatory industry beanfeast doesn’t really seem relevant or appropriate. That said, it’s hard not to get swept along in the tidal miasma that represents awards season at this time of year.
I usually try to see as many of the usual suspects as I can in order to nod sagely or expostulate that yes I agree or no, it was the wrong decision, when an actor glides, stalks, staggers or stumbles up onto the stage at the BAFTAS or Oscars. Of course if a decision goes my way, it is the correct decision. If it doesn’t it was undoubtedly wrong. However all is irrelevant because this year my best intentions have gone awry and I missed most of them.
Despite my existential angst, I was able to nod sagely at a win for best actor Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury. When we came out of seeing the film we got into conversation with a gentleman who had been involved in the music industry and said he had been at Freddie Mercury’s 21st birthday party. Now that is impressive. I think Malek is too young to have done anything but watch Freddie on youtube which makes him impressive too.
I saw Roma which I loved although feminist interpretation of this film is not exactly positive, one critic claiming that it ‘glorified servitude’; the implication I suppose being female servitude since there are not really any significant male roles in the film. Mmm! Not sure about that one. I think it was just Alfonso Cuaron making a film about his home and childhood in Mexico and the two women who raised him which I imagine he is entitled to do. Also I regret watching Roma on Netflix even though they paid for it because this is a film that needs to be watched on a cinema screen.
Staggering on to Mary Queen of Scots. So much blood and gore. Yes I know that it was how they behaved. And yes Saoirse Ronan is great and woman in a man’s world and the whole nine yards. And yes I know David Rizzio was stabbed 57 times and yes you can still go to Holyroodhouse and see the plaque in the chamber where it happened. In fact it claims on the Palace website that you can still see bloodstains on the floor. But do I really need to?