My dream ballot: part two

OK, I explained the deal with this yesterday, when I covered the technical categories. What follows are the names and films that I, in a perfect world, would like to hear announced by Sid Ganis and Forest Whitaker bright and early tomorrow morning. (Or tomorrow afternoon, in my case … living across the Atlantic does have occasional advantages.)

Once more, my personal ballot takes no notice of Academy rules, eligibility squabbles, or whether or not anyone believes they have a shot in hell. For me, they simply represent the finest achievements I saw in 2008, with all the subjectivity that entails. Feel free to argue, or share your own distant hopes for tomorrow — however faint — in the comments.

Best Picture
“The Class”
“Gomorrah”
“I’ve Loved You So Long”
“Synecdoche, New York”
“Wendy and Lucy”

OK, so this won’t comes a surprise to anyone who read my Best of 2008 list, but these remain for me the year’s five most clear-cut masterworks. I’ve already made the case for each of these nominees at greater length, but for now, let me say that they are all notably linked by their startling humanity and strength of characterisation. The Academy will inevitably focus on works more formally elaborate than most of those listed here, but from where I’m standing, none were more emotionally rewarding. (As it happens, my honourable mentions here get their due in the next category.)

Best Director
Laurent Cantet, “The Class”
Matteo Garrone, “Gomorrah”
Mike Leigh, “Happy-Go-Lucky”
Steve McQueen, “Hunger”
Kelly Reichardt, “Wendy and Lucy”

No slight intended to my two Best Picture nominees not cited here, but two Brits at opposite ends of their filmmaking careers provided some of the year’s most fearless, idiosyncratic direction. Mike Leigh’s highly unorthodox, improvisatory technique may be common knowledge by now, but that doesn’t make it any less miraculous: the manner in which he orchestrates disparate, frequently disorganised vignettes into a wholly unified thesis on the human condition is something few others could achieve.

McQueen, meanwhile, was the year’s most exciting discovery, matching a stunning visual sensibility with a surprising intuitiveness as to when to hold back and shift the spotlight to his performers. Space doesn’t allow for a fair discussion of Reichardt’s no-nonsense poetry, Garrone’s limber juggling of multiple narratives or my probable winner Cantet’s impeccable perceptiveness and timing. And in a tight shortlist of six, Charlie Kaufman only really lost out because I expect him to move on to even greater accomplishments.

Best Actor
Mathieu Amalric, “A Christmas Tale”
Francois Begaudeau, “The Class”
Michael Fassbender, “Hunger”
Sean Penn, “Milk”
Mickey Rourke, “The Wrestler”

If, as I’ve remarked before, it wasn’t the best of years for cinema, the art of film acting was rather better served, and this powerhouse selection of male star turns proves it. Three of them exist of the centre of generous performance showcases: Mickey Rourke clearly pulled on a lifetime of personal disappoinment nd brute physicality to craft a character destined for the history books, while Sean Penn and Michael Fassbender each overcame my personal indifference to biopic performances by looking inward to create a person, as opposed to a portrait.

For the last two slots, I look to two very different French ensemble pieces. Begaudeau put the lie to the notion that playing oneself is in any way easy, reflecting and conducting his fellow non-professional cast members in a richly layered performance, while Amalric was a razor-sharp presence, cutting through the chaos of “A Christmas Tale” with true movie-star panache. In a very deep field, props are also due to Colin Farrell, Philip Seymour Hoffman (for “Synecdoche”), Richard Jenkins and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Best Actress
Sally Hawkins, “Happy-Go-Lucky”
Melissa Leo, “Frozen River”
Kristin Scott Thomas, “I’ve Loved You So Long”
Michelle Williams, “Wendy and Lucy”
Elsa Zylberstein, “I’ve Loved You So Long”

Thrillingly, there was no less richness and diversity to be found in this year’s female contenders, as the year threw up an unusually large selection of actress-driven projects. Four of these I could jot down without needing to go over my notes: you’ve already heard me wax lyrical over the staggering poise of Kristin Scott Thomas, the heartbreaking restraint of Michelle Williams (who surely takes my informal prize for best body of work in 2008), and the kaleidoscopic range of Sally Hawkins — the latter a performance that keeps presenting new facets to me.

Meanwhile, Melissa Leo grabbed her first film lead with the laid-bare ferocity of an actor given a once-in-a-lifetime shot, proving, as some of us already knew, that she’s a truly great actress. The fifth slot presented a number of options, but I ultimately decided to promote Elsa Zylberstein from the supporting category, for so bravely responding to, and filling the silences of, her on-screen sister. She narrowly places ahead of finely etched work by Tilda Swinton in “Julia” and fellow Frenchwomen Catherine Deneuve (“A Christmas Tale”) and Juliette Binoche (“Flight of the Red Balloon”).

Best Supporting Actor
Josh Brolin, “Milk”
Brendan Gleeson, “In Bruges”
Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight”
Eddie Marsan, “Happy-Go-Lucky”
Frederic Pierrot, “I’ve Loved You So Long”

Probably the least populated of this year’s acting categories, which is not to say that the notable work that did present itself was somehow lacking. Much as I like to avoid the obvious, only the most contrarian of viewers could fail to respond to Heath Ledger’s mammoth incarnation of the Joker. Channelling Hannibal Lecter and Jack Lemmon in equal measure, the ultimate testament to this performance is that it feels like it’s been around forever.

No less riveting for me, however, was Marsan’s taut, tense, tragic inhabitation of a hate-fuelled nobody, while Josh Brolin located devastating internal conflicts in a slightly flatly written character. Gleeson and Pierrot both earn spots for their dignity and humour in portraying characters weary of life itself, and for supporting their commanding co-stars in the most literal and generous of ways. Michael Shannon came this close to my list, while Ralph Fiennes (“In Bruges”) and Gianfelice Imparato (“Gomorrah”) were very much in the mix.

Best Supporting Actress
Patricia Clarkson, “Elegy”
Samantha Morton, “Synecdoche, New York”
Kate O’Flynn, “Happy-Go-Lucky”
Marisa Tomei, “The Wrestler”
Michelle Williams, “Synecdoche, New York”

I surprised myself in this category, both with the unexpectedly large pool of talent I wound up considering, as well as with some of the choices I finally felt compelled to make. The fact that I disliked “Elegy” intensely didn’t detract from the luminous grace, wit and sensuality Clarkson brought to her extended cameo in the film — a masterclass in crafting a silk purse from a sow’s ear of a character. Tomei’s character may have been more sharply written, but she still deserves bouquets for the terseness and candour with which she dodges the “tart with a heart” stereotype.

It was obvious that “Synecdoche”‘s dazzling female ensemble would be in play here, and while Morton’s aching vulnerability made for one of the year’s most complex performances, I was also impressed by Williams’ sweet-to-bitter polarities. Finally, in a film bursting with lovely miniature characterisations, O’Flynn was a tiny but invaluably pithy comic presence as the protagonist’s sardonic younger sister. I can’t believe that doesn’t allow room for the exquisite Hiam Abbass (“The Visitor”) or the ladies of “Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” but there you go.

Best Original Screenplay
Arnaud Desplechin and Emmanuel Bourdieu, “A Christmas Tale”
Mike Leigh, “Happy-Go-Lucky”
Martin McDonagh, “In Bruges”
Philippe Claudel, “I’ve Loved You So Long”
Charlie Kaufman, “Synecdoche, New York”

An exciting field this year, spanning both the sprawling, heady multi-character study of “A Christmas Tale” and the considerably more disciplined domestic drama of “I’ve Loved You So Long,” both to equally elegant effect. Meanwhile, two of the most distinctive writers in the business came up trumps once more: Kaufman poured his soul into his most complicated, self-reflexive work yet, while Mike Leigh’s purported freewheeling improv-based scripting belies the immense cleverness and specificity of his language. Finally, “In Bruges” combined genre-oriented jokiness with literary artfulness to announce a fierce new voice in Martin McDonagh. Honourable mentions: “Frozen River,” “The Wrestler,” “Summer Hours” and “Vicky Cristina Barcelona.”

Best Adapted Screenplay
Francois Begaudeau, Robin Campillo and Laurent Cantet, “The Class”
Roberto Saviano, Maurizio Braucci, Ugo Chiti, Gianni Di Gregorio, Matteo Garrone and Massimo Gaudioso, “Gomorrah”
Elisabeth Perceval, “Heartbeat Detector”
Justin Haythe, “Revolutionary Road”
Kelly Reichardt and Jonathan Raymond, “Wendy and Lucy”

A disappointingly thin field this year, but the achievements of Begaudeau and Saviano (not to mention their respective co-writers) in reconceptualising their respective true-life experiences and investigations for the screen stood head and shoulders above the rest; in particular, the fusion of organised narrative and spontaneous conversation in “The Class” expanded the possibilities of adaptation.

Elsewhere, “Wendy and Lucy” spun an impressively affecting, full-bodied character arc from the wispiest of sources, and while I confess I haven’t read the novel that inspired “Heartbeat Detector,” it was still one fascinating head-trip of a screenplay. Finally, “Revolutionary Road” may not have full caught every social resonance of Richard Yates’ magnificent novel, Haythe deserves credit for the ingenuity with which he realised two deeply internalised characters.

Best Foreign Language Film
“The Class”
“Gomorrah”
“Heartbeat Detector”
“Il Divo”
“I’ve Loved You So Long”

A category that wouldn’t exist in a perfect world, but since the point of this post is to replicate the Academy’s template, there you have it. To be honest, since the majority of the Best Picture slate also falls under this category, it would make more sense to have a Best English Language Film category — in which case, congrats to “Happy-Go-Lucky,” “Hunger,” “In Bruges, “Synecdoche, New York” and “Wendy and Lucy.”

Best Documentary Feature
“Citizen Havel”
“Man on Wire”
“My Winnipeg”
“Of Time and the City”
“Trouble the Water”

I confess to not having seen some of the year’s most-discussed titles in this category, but then most people didn’t see the fascinating, impossibly intimate political portrait “Citizen Havel” either, so it balances out. Elsewhere, while I didn’t think “Man on Wire” was the field-slaying achievement the precursors would have you believe, it was still a grandly entertaining piece of work, while “Trouble the Water” manages its own high-wire feat of balancing the personal and the rhetorical in its unique investigation of a well-covered tragedy. Rounding out the category are two vividly impressionistic works from the auteur gallery: Guy Maddin’s elliptical, haunting “My Winnipeg” and Terence Davies’ soaring Liverpool study “Of Time and the City” are both deeply felt valentines to their creators’ respective home territories.

Best Animated Feature
“WALL-E”
“Waltz With Bashir”

The Academy has been known to reduce one of its three-strong categories to a lean field of two. So, not having seen the Tapley-endorsed “Bolt,” nor having been greatly impressed by anything else in the medium this year, I exercise that right here. I’ve already made my affection for “WALL-E” quite clear, and while “Waltz With Bashir” remains one of those frustrating works that I greatly admire without being able to love, its bold visual beauty and thematic courage cannot be denied.

So, that’s the lot. I don’t expect to be discussing a lot of these names after tomorrow’s announcement, but for those that miss out, I hope the ringing endorsement of a lowly London-based blogger is some consolation.

For those who like playing the numbers game, after yesterday’s tech ballot, that leaves “Synecdoche, New York” as my top nominee with 8 mentions, while “The Class,” “I’ve Loved You So Long,” “Happy-Go-Lucky,” “The Wrestler” and “The Dark Knight” all manage 6 apiece. Oh, would that were the case tomorrow.