Amid the global threat posed by the novel coronavirus, political developments in the United States, squabbling and blame-throwing among Philippine officials, and many other issues around the world, the Academy Awards—Sunday night in the US and Monday morning local time—provides a welcome distraction for film lovers in many countries.
This year, as always, the contenders for the top awards deal with varied subjects. For example, among those vying for Best Film, one is an adaptation of a literary classic about four sisters, one deals with the disintegration of a relationship, another follows soldiers on a life-or-death communication mission, yet another follows an actor during a certain period in Hollywood. Another nominee explores the psychological descent of a famous character, one deals with cars; yet another, with an aging mobster, and one with a family that tries to con its way into the lives of the affluent.
This is not to say, of course, that only the Oscar-nominated films are the only ones worth watching or knowing about. The US is just one country, and many other countries have their own movies that reflect and showcase their own contexts, realities and mindsets. In truth, nobody can ever claim to be able to judge what the best movies are simply because no one has seen all the movies produced all across the globe—and they increase in number as we speak.
Nonetheless, the fact that filmmakers keep producing movies wherever they are, whatever the subject and however grand (or measly) the budget points only to the fact that people continue to be enamored of them for their own reasons. Sometimes, we identify with characters; at other times, we get fascinated at how foreign and different a character is from us or the people we actually know. People also simply follow their favorite actors no matter the roles they play. There is always a curiosity about stories, whether these were stories that truly happened, or could possibly happen, or are so bizarre they take us out of our current environment and transport us to a different world.
It is always a good thing when something makes us look inward and examine ourselves, or think about the world around us, or empathize with others, or simply imagine.