Will 'The Ghost Writer' win multiple Oscars?

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Will 'The Ghost Writer' win multiple Oscars?

By JEN YAMATO
FILM.COM

This Friday, Summit Entertainment opens the taut and riveting film The Ghost Writer, a political thriller about possible conspiracies surrounding a disgraced former British Prime Minister (Pierce Brosnan) as seen through the eyes of the man tasked with ghostwriting his memoirs (Ewan McGregor). It's sharp and menacing, in the vein of great '70s thrillers like 3 Days of the Condor, with standout performances by the likes of Brosnan, McGregor, and supporting players Tom Wilkinson and Olivia Williams. Camera work by Oscar-nominated cinematographer Pawel Edelman and a spirited score by Alexandre Desplat lead its technical achievements, while real-life allusions to former PM Tony Blair make for amusing (but fictional) off-screen parallels. On many counts, it could be considered a near perfectly-executed thriller: smart, pointed, and always one step ahead of the audience.

And then there's the man who directed it: Roman Polanski, Holocaust survivor, Oscar-winning director of such modern classics as Rosemary's Baby, Chinatown, and The Pianist -- and the most divisive figure in Tinseltown in recent months, thanks to the three-decades-long legal and media firestorm over his 1977 statutory rape scandal. That Polanski completed post-production on the film while under house arrest in Switzerland is a feat in itself; that the resulting film is such a tightly wound symphony of moving parts and performances is truly impressive. Under any other circumstances, a director completing such a project so successfully under duress would be the story of the year. But in 2010, it may get buried altogether.

That would be a shame, since The Ghost Writer is the best film I've seen all year. (Granted, it's February and we haven't seen much to speak of. But still.) The film opens in limited release this Friday, but if box-office returns and reviews prove buoyant enough it may earn an awards season campaign later in the year. That, however, feels like a big "if," since February is terribly early to release a film with any Oscar prospects, even for a slow-building campaign. (Summit's current Oscar contender, The Hurt Locker, began its long-simmering journey with a limited release in late June.) Even then, is Hollywood ready to look past Polanski's personal life far enough to honor his art?

I'm willing to go out on a limb and name The Ghost Writer a worthy entry for the 2011 Oscars in multiple categories, with the caveat that every year's Academy Awards race really comes down to the depth of that year's field of films. Looking forward to 2010's slate, we can guess at other potential candidates: the Tilda Swinton Italian drama I Am Love, Lisa Cholodenko's Sundance charmer The Kids Are All Right, Chris Nolan's Inception, the Coen brothers' True Grit ... along with the prestige films that have yet to be slated. But if 2010's Oscar nominees are any measure, The Ghost Writer and its individual parts are at least as good, if not better than, many of this year's leading nominees. Below are the categories I'd wager The Ghost Writer could compete in come 2011.

Best Picture
Given the new-in-2010 rule allowing 10 nominees in the Best Picture category, it would seem there'd be room for The Ghost Writer. With its Hitchcockian twists and turns and real-world political themes, it's got a story that feels alternately big and yet personal enough to earn Academy support. And if I'm wrong on this, it means we'll have theoretically gotten 10 pictures better than The Ghost Writer, which would make for a very good year at the movies indeed.

Best Supporting Actress
Olivia Williams may be best-known as the hot teacher from Rushmore, but she gives a career-making performance in The Ghost Writer as Ruth Lang, the intelligent, prickly, and alluring wife of Brosnan's character. Her mercurial performance is one of the best supporting turns in years, leagues ahead of the majority of performances that earned nominations this year. (With the possible exception of Mo'Nique. She might win in a fight against Olivia Williams's Lang, but barely.)

Best Adapted Screenplay
Original novelist Robert Harris worked with Polanski to adapt his book, The Ghost, for the screen. As a result of their collaboration, the film feels organic, every move perfectly plotted to jump off the page as if it were written to live and breathe on film. Polanski previously notched a Best Adapted Screenplay nod for Rosemary's Baby.

Best Original Score
The film's debt to the thriller genre is evident in its score, which goes a long way in building tension and mystery throughout the film. Alexandre Desplat blends the most dramatic of orchestral sounds -- pounding timpani, sinewy strings -- in homage to predecessors like Bernard Herrmann, evoking the haunting, ominous sounds of the '70s while on-screen drama plays out against a modern setting. What's more, Desplat has become one of Hollywood's go-to composers for memorable scores (he's earned Oscar nods for The Queen, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and last year's Fantastic Mr. Fox) so the Academy should be accustomed to looking to his work for consideration.

Best Cinematography
Shot in gorgeous, muted tones, The Ghost Writer feels at times as if the camera itself is a cognizant participant in the intrigue that unfolds; kudos go to cinematographer Pawel Edelman, who earned a previous Oscar nomination for his work on Polanski's The Pianist. The film is simply well shot and composed, the kind of visual text cineastes can and will devour frame by frame. (Plaudits also go to editor Herve de Luze, who also teamed with Edelman and Polanski on the Oscar-winning The Pianist.)

Best Director
Here's the toughest call to predict. How does the Academy feel about Polanski? Granted, they didn't mind his legal troubles in 2003, when The Pianist nabbed three Oscars, including the award for Best Director. (Harrison Ford accepted the Oscar on Polanski's behalf.) But the media heat is considerably hotter now than it was seven years ago, thanks to renewed efforts to extradite and try Polanski in California. He almost certainly couldn't participate in an Oscar campaign, an essential part of any successful awards season run. So it might come down to the film itself -- is Polanski's direction extraordinary enough to warrant a groundswell of Best Director sentiment? I'd argue no; though it's a taut piece of entertainment, The Ghost Writer lacks the compelling personal element that made The Pianist resonate so strongly. (The issue of Brosnan's character being extradited for a surprise trial on the world stage is a humorous connection to Polanski's recent exploits, but is not quite as forceful a theme and is far more divisive.) But for a film completed under such unusual circumstances with so many worthy contributions helping it come together so well, maybe Polanski would settle for good reviews, a decent box-office take, and awards in any category.