The other night the BAFTAs proved that this has become a one horse race. The King's Speech won both best British film and best overall film, which hardly ever happens with that awards body, not to mention a whole ton of acting awards. But there is one little ripple in the water that is keeping hope alive for my horse in this race - even the British thought that David Fincher was the best director of the year for The Social Network. The Academy may well follow suite, but with Tom Hooper winning the DGA all bets are still off. But one has to ask themselves, if David Fincher is in fact the best director of the year than shouldn't his film be considered the best of the year? Film is, after all, a director’s medium and Fincher in particular is a stickler for complete control over his projects. He is a perfectionist in the vein of Stanley Kubrick often demanding up to 99 takes out of his actors and hundreds of feet of footage to wade through with his editors to find the perfect take and consequently the perfect edit. There have been splits between Best Picture and Best Director before. The most recent and notable was when Ang Lee won Best Director for Brokeback Mountain but lost Best Picture to Crash. It was one of the most shocking, upsetting, and unforgettable moments in Academy Award History. Crash was the safer film that everyone could get behind. Its message was simple - racism is bad. Brokeback Mountain was a complex and emotional drama about Homosexuality, homophobia, societies perception of homosexuality, and, at its center, it was the doomed love story of two men. It sent Academy members running for the hills because they were confronted with a controversial and timely piece of cinema that demanded their attention. It was punished because of that and denied the award it so richly deserved. Brokeback Mountain was and still is a landmark in American Cinema. I believe that The Social Network will face a similar fate come the 27th. And yes, I do believe that The Social Network IS a landmark in American filmmaking. Read on after the jump.
The Social Network is very much about the here and now. It is about social media and how it affects our lives every day. It is about how people now do indeed live on the Internet and how powerful of a tool it can be in both progressing our society and turning it on itself. I am a part of the generation that Mark Zuckerberg belongs to and I would say that for better or for worse the film accurately portrays our generation. From the drunken college parties, to the influence of social media on our every day lives, to chasing our dreams, to young straight male misogyny, to the loneliness that Mark Zuckerberg and several other characters feel within the film - it is a movie that defines a generation. Some people my age have refuted this claim because it doesn't exactly paint a pretty picture, but why should it? Facebook has changed the world and it all started with those of us in college who were on it everyday sharing our pictures, status's and stories with fellow college students and a few strangers. Now we continue to be on facebook and our information is shared with the entire world. There is no way to escape social media because my generation relies on it and is addicted to it. The film is about the start of that addiction and the story of how Mark Zuckerberg became one of the most powerful people on the planet - all with a simple idea and, more importantly, a computer.
The Social Network is about the American Dream and how the pursuit of that dream can hurt just as many people as it may end up helping. Mark Zuckerberg is a classic American antihero. The basic plot structure of The Social Network is as old as storytelling itself, but the context and its execution are completely modern and timely. In twenty years when we look back on The Social Network we will realize that we are seeing a part of our history depicted on screen that changed the world. It is a movie of the here and now, but also for future generations to see how it all started. Technology will only move forward. Social networking will only grow. Future generations will be connected in a way that Mark Zuckerberg and others could never have possibly thought of when they were creating The Facebook. I remember when The Social Network was announced everyone asked why? Why make a movie about facebook? Even worse was when the trailer came out and many thought it looked even dumber than it sounded because it was taking itself so seriously. Well that was the point wasn't it? It was serious. I think that many people were in denial about how much the world had changed because of facebook. The movie illuminated that change and its story of how it came into being was dramatically charged and completely fascinating.
The criticism that has been leveled at The Social Network is that it is a cold film with no emotion and no one to root for. This argument has come out of the fact that so many people have attempted to point out the film's importance. No one likes being told what to vote for. The truth is Mark Zuckerberg's actions may not be admirable, but they are understandable. The writing and directing works hard to make you care about Mark. And with the aid of Jesse Eisenberg's remarkably complex and understated performance you do end up caring about him. And if you didn't you wouldn't be able to sit through the film. Yes, there is Andrew Garfield playing Eduardo who is essentially the person you feel the most for, but he is a supporting role. He doesn't carry the weight of the film on his shoulders. We may not be able to fully forgive Zuckerberg from fucking over his friend, but we can feel his hurt and his pain. I have never bought the argument that the film has no emotion because it is full of emotion. These characters are in their young 20's going through a roller coaster ride and their emotional baggage is thrown up all over the screen. The film perfectly captures what it is like to be young and experiencing a whole new world - college and the Internet.
And let's talk about Jesse Eisenberg because without him the film would be a hard sit. Zuckerberg does a lot of despicable things, but Eisenberg has such a natural puppy dog charisma about him that you can't hate him. He conveys so many emotions at once and plays so many different tactics while being confined to Sorkin's wonderful but dialogue specific screenplay. The truth lies behind Eisenberg's eyes in every scene, so while we the audience may not know Zuckerberg's true intentions the actor himself definitely does. It's such a focused piece of acting that to be honest I'm a little surprised he is even nominated. Subtle work like this doesn't win awards and that is exactly why he will lose to Colin Firth's blubbering come Oscar night. Firth's performance, as good as it is, is big and grand and exactly the kind of thing the Academy goes for. I have no doubt that Firth's effort in playing a man with a speech impediment was a daunting task, but playing a character who on paper is so unlikeable and creating a dense and layered performance out of that is also quite a feat of acting. In short, Eisenberg had the harder job and he deserves all the praise he has gotten and more.
The technical elements of the film are beautifully realized and come together to form a wonderful whole. The score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is haunting and decidedly electronic and modern - it fits perfectly with a film about technology and power. The sound design is remarkably crafted and edited. The perfect example of this comes in the very first scene where Zuckerberg and his girlfriend sit in a crowded college bar talking over a hundred other people. Their dialogue is completely discernable, but they make you work at it because so are several other people around them. It forces the viewer to pay attention right from the start and quickly makes them realize that they are going to have to keep up with Sorkin's wonderful word banter. The cinematography has a gritty realism about it with it's neon lighting and dark color palette the fits the mood perfectly. The editing flows back and forth from flashback to present day flawlessly and its rhythm does nothing but enhance Sorkin's screenplay. Everyone involved is at the top of their game.
But at the end of the day The Social Network has two real stars - David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin. The film could not have been possible without either of them. They rely on each other and compliment each other completely. Fincher understands Sorkin's wordplay and story structure. He knows how important the rapid pace of dialogue is to the story. Fincher never once gets in the screenplay's way with unnecessary flourishes or strange angles. He is dedicated to telling this story as efficiently as he can. And yet his unique style is present throughout the entire picture. You know you are watching a David Fincher film, but it seems like something out of another lifetime. It is the most grown-up piece of filmmaking he has ever made and much of that can be attributed to the wonderful material. There are no flights of fancy here, no serial killers on the loose, no aliens running about, and no weird men growing up backwards. This is a film about real people and the consequences of their actions and Fincher handles it like it is the greatest story ever told. It is a perfect piece of direction and a perfect marriage of script and director.
The Social Network is the best film of the year and it is a landmark piece of American filmmaking that deserves to be placed next to other important social commentaries such as Citizen Kane, All the President's Men, Network, Brokeback Mountain, and There Will Be Blood. It will be a shame if such an important piece of cinema loses to what is essentially a nice little piece of British revisionist period cinema. This is not 1996 Academy, and The King's Speech is not The English Patient, nor is it one of the Merchant and Ivory films that you used to love to nominate. It is a crowd-pleaser through and through. I know that makes it easier to vote for. But sometimes it is better to use your head rather than your heart. We all know that The Social Network is the better and much more important film. It is also the piece that will stand the test of time. You cannot say that about The King's Speech. I implore you Academy, make the right decision. Give The Social Network the award for Best Picture. Then years from now you will be able to say you awarded one of the most important films of its time. And that will truly be something to be proud of.
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