Bille August – This Had Oscar Buzz

We’re back after our May Miniseries and it’s Tonys week! Rather than a musical, we’re talking about a movie that disappointed in part because it wasn’t a big screen version of the Broadway smash… In 1998, director Bille August brought a condensed version of Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables to the screen. With Liam Neeson headlining as the legendary man imprisoned for stealing a loaf of bread, Jean Valjean, the film is a hyper focused version of Hugo’s sprawl that is nevertheless a droning bore.

This episode, we talk about August’s two Palme d’Or wins and what this story loses by focusing so closely on only the Valjean/Javert storyline. We also talk about Neeson’s period between his sole Oscar nomination and becoming an action star, Geoffrey Rush cementing his typecast here, and Uma Thurman back-to-back misfires in Batman and Robin and The Avengers.

Topics also include this year’s Cannes, Shine as forgotten Oscar winner, and Claire Danes backbackback again.

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By today’s standards, this week’s film stands out for its gobsmacking cast of Meryl streep, Gleen Close, Jeremy Irons, Antonio Banderas, and Winona Ryder. But back in the 90s, The House of the Spirits caught attention as both an adaptation of Isabel Allende’s beloved novel and the biggest acquisition Miramax had ever landed. Set over decades in Chile with mild mysticism and political revolution, the film whitewashed and condensed the novel into a poorly received epic long forgotten by year’s end – with Miramax enjoying their biggest success yet in Pulp Fiction.

The film was the follow-up to back-to-back Palme d’Or wins for director Bille August, after The Best Intentions and the Oscar-annointed Pelle the Conqueror. This episode, we look to Palme d”or winners for a round of Alter Egos as we discuss the film’s many problems. We discuss the false narrative of Streep vs. Close among Oscar obsessives, Ryder as a quintessentially 90s star, and Streep’s early 90s roadblocks.

Topics also include “an abundance of juices”, Irons’ expanding set of false teeth, and Close’s Oscar chances this year.

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Tag: Bille August

390 – Les Miserables (1998)

135 – The House of the Spirits