I didn’t realise until recently that in my own discordant and inadvertent way I’ve been recapping the decade. Yes I have, I’ve been posting my assessment of each of the past ten years. So far I’ve covered 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 – five years, which is actually not bad. It’s always interesting to do retrospectives and even though this often ends with me unintentionally letting you know what my top 100 will look like I’m going to continue the trend and jump to 2003. The information is already here on my computer, so what the hell?
So for today, let me take a look at the technical aspects of the year, I’ll eventually post on the acting and then on the films. Bear with me.
Costumes
Cold Mountain
Down with Love
Girl With A Pearl Earring
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
The Missing
Art Direction
Cat in the Hat
Cold Mountain
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl
Peter Pan
There was a freakishly large amount of period films in 2003. Maybe not the typical period films, but those films with the lush costumes and rich sets. Many films that had both still couldn’t catch a break, noticeably Big Fish and Master & Commander. The Lord of the Rings was a shoo in for sets, and that sort of went without saying. I was toying with the idea of giving Down With Love the costume award [like the designers were biting their nails waiting on the results].They sure had the original side of their jobs down, but eventually it was Cold Mountain which I’m sure sounds really generic, but it was either them or The Lord of the Rings, and Cold Mountain had that lived in effect that made it look all authentic.
Visual Effects
Big Fish
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl
Need I explain this? I hope not. The Lord of the Rings was just a visual spectacle, in the best way possible. A picture would belie the grandiosity of it all, but I'm going to put one anyway.
Sound
Big Fish
Kill Bill
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Master & Commander
Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Pearl
So this was easy too, although I must say Pirates had some exceptional technical work. But The Lord of the Rings took it, again.
Cinematography
Big Fish
Cold Mountain
Kill Bill
The Lord of the Rings: Curse of the Pearl
Master & Commander
Editing
Big Fish
Cold Mountain
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Missing
Mystic River
It seems so blase, but once again it's The Lord of the Rings. I don't know why people were all in a tizzy when it swept the [technical] awards. It's not like it didn't deserve the majority of them.
Score
Big Fish
Cold Mountain
Finding Nemo
Girl With the Pearl Earring
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
All these films, even the loathsome Girl With A Pearl Earring, had excellent scores and I can only imagine how tough it was for the voters...then again, maybe no. It came down to The Lord of the Rings as a major force, but eventually Yared's Cold Mountain score won me over.
Original Song
"Scarlet Tide" from Cold Mountain
"You Will Be My Ain True Love" from Cold Mountain
"Into the West" from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
What were your technical thoughts in 2003?
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