USA: Martin Scorsese, nominated for his seventh Oscar for "The Departed," is the likely winner in the best director category at the Academy Awards this Sunday.

Record ID: 474459

  • Title: USA: Martin Scorsese, nominated for his seventh Oscar for "The Departed," is the likely winner in the best director category at the Academy Awards this Sunday.
  • Date: 23rd February 2007
  • Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (RECENT) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) SCOTT MANTZ, FILM CRITIC FOR "ACCESS HOLLYWOOD," SAYING: "I think it's a movie that I think people admired more than they liked, and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu is obviously, he knows what he's doing, he knows how to make a very visceral, engaging, challenging movie, but his technique is more of the same with this movie, it's his third using multi-characters and overlapping stories, and I think that the more he does that, the more pretentious it seems."
  • Embargoed: 10th March 2007 12:00
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  • Location: Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Reuters ID: LVA12W5NCTCZFSPWK8Q37IHFKPSA
  • Story Text: Veteran film director Martin Scorsese is the odds-on favourite in the best director category at the Oscars this Sunday, with his nomination for "The Departed" being his seventh for the award, which he has yet to win.

    It's a tight race for this year's best director category at the Oscars, but is the competition no match for a industry legend who some say is past due for the coveted award? Martin Scorsese has been the odds-on favourite this past awards season, winning both the Golden Globe and Directors Guild Awards for achievement in direction, both good signs in determining who will take home the Oscar. The veteran director has been nominated for the Oscar seven times, but has yet to win the award.
    "'The Departed' finds him back in the crime genre, I think you can just tell that he's comfortable, he's in his element. Scorsese directing 'The Departed' is like coming home at the end of the day and putting on your favourite pair of slippers. It's his comfort zone, and he excels at that genre, and it shows because it's such an assured film," said Scott Mantz, film critic for Access Hollywood.
    Scorsese is competing against fellow film veteran Clint Eastwood for "Letters from Iwo Jima," Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu for "Babel," Stephen Frears for "The Queen," and Paul Greengrass for "United 93." Mantz believes you can count out Greengrass for the award, as his film's subject matter might be unsettling to some Academy voters.
    "I think that the situation was just unresolved. When you look at movies about Pearl Harbor, about Titanic, those movies came out when we knew what happened, where the war was over, it was a done deal, it was a closed book. I mean, 9/11 is still very much open and people just are disturbed by it, as they should be. But there's no denying that it's a well made film," Mantz told Reuters.
    Although he has been very busy in recent years directing several academy award winning films despite his age, Clint Eastwood will likely not win the award for best Director, because the Academy may want to share the wealth.
    "'Million Dollar Baby,' 'Flags of Our Fathers,' 'Letters from Iwo Jima,' I mean, he's unstoppable. I can't wait to see what he does next. The problem is that he just won for best director, and you know, he already has another one, so I don't think that as much as the Academy loves him, I think they're not going to, I don't think that they're going to award him again that fast," said Mantz.
    Helen Mirren has won just about every award for her role in "The Queen," and her probable Oscar win for best actress will likely overshadow that film's chance for winning best picture and best director.
    "Look, it's a very straightforward film, it's very well directed, it's very well written, the screenplay is terrific, but I think that movie really is all about Helen Mirren's performance, so she's going to win," said Mantz, on "The Queen."
    "Babel" won the Golden Globe Award for best picture drama in January, and it may be a contender in the best picture Oscar category, but Mantz doubts Inarritu will take home the directing award, given the competition with Scorsese.
    "I think it's a movie that I think people admired more than they liked, and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu is obviously, he knows what he's doing, he knows how to make a very visceral, engaging, challenging movie, but his technique is more of the same with this movie, it's his third using multi-characters and overlapping stories, and I think that the more he does that, the more pretentious it seems," Mantz explained.
    The Academy Awards will be handed out on Sunday, February 25.
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