Oscar Winning Movies 2014: The stories with a difference

A memoir of the struggles of a nineteenth century slave, a man who falls in love with his computer, an insight into the life of backup singers, the story of a lady who took to recreation at the worst of times, an old-time novelist going down the memory lane on a walk down the road, a positive attempt at treating an impossible human condition, and an account of an AIDS patient fighting out his tough times. Such are the themes of the Oscar winning movies of 2014-the ones that made it large at this year’s Academy Awards.

What is the most striking is the range of offbeat films we get to know about every year. Thanks to the Oscars! In fact, many people who claim to have fine tastes and do not have time every Friday to watch the most widely anticipated film of the week, just wait for the list of the Academy Award winning movies or at least have a look at the Oscar nominations movies to choose their brand of picks to invest time on. Not that those who use this method don’t miss out on some really good movies, but such is the trustworthiness and reliability of the selections of the Academy Awards.

Another common aspect with all the Oscar winning movies was the fact that most of the movies that got recognition were based on real life events. Filmmakers are now turning to reality rather than fiction for inspiration. Most of the films portrayed powerful characters, their strength and courage to fight through tough situations.

All the stories were unconventional and not the usual happy-go-lucky kind of fairy tales that mass audiences would enjoy. Here’s a  brief look at the award winning movies and the themes they are based on.

(1) 12 Years a Slave, the movie that won the best film award this year, is a true story based on the life of Solomun Northup, a New York negro, who is trafficked and sold to a New Orleans plantation owner to work on his estate. The film focuses on his 12 year-long struggle before he finally gains independence and returns to his family. With music by the legendary Hans Zimmer, the movie turns out to be a gripping account of the miseries of racism at its peak.

In a world freer and more democratic than ever to sit back and look at such issues of the past, the makers of the film ensure that the presentation is good and the fine treatment of such a delicate issue is why I’d suggest you to watch it rather than just read this. The film also won Lupita Nyong'o the award for best actress in a supporting role and best Writing – Adapted Screenplay for John Ridley.

(2) Her, which won the award for best original screenplay, indeed boasts of a unique story, in which a man who is a master of an intelligent computer falls in love with its operating system and its female voice. This film proves that with the evolution of technology and the scope of human imagination widening, man will have enough places to find love in the future.

(3) 20 Feet from Stardom, which won this year’s best documentary, focuses on the lives of background singers, the ones who really matter, but whose efforts often go unnoticed and names get lost forever in the background.

(4) The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life, which won the best short subject documentary, is based on the life of Alice Herz-Sommer, the world’s oldest holocaust survivor and pianist. The film emphasises on the power of music and its influence on the lives of people, how it started as something that would save her life to something she couldn’t live without. The great lady died just a week before the ceremony, but this recognition has certainly made her immortal, if she wasn’t already.

(5) The Great Beauty, an Italian film which won the best foreign language film, is based on how a once-famous author walks down the lanes and looks back at the most precious moments of his life, reliving each of his memories to the fullest.

(6) Helium, which won the award for the best live action short film, is another inspirational story of a man who helps a child dying in the final stages of his life to look at things positively by filling his mind with an imaginary world filled with balloons, to the extent that the boy spends the last moments of his life imagining himself as indeed a part of this imaginary world.

(7) Frozen, which won the award for best animated feature film and best original song, is the story of a princess who fights all odds in a kingdom cursed with eternal winter to rescue her sister with the aid of her friends and others who help her in this mission. The story shares elements with Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale The Snow Queen.

(8) Mr. Hublot, which won the best animated short film, is a futuristic film that again shows how odd characters develop an attachment for each other, and I better not write more, else I might take more time than you would to watch this 9-minute movie.  

Other Oscar winners including acting performances also brought the stories with a difference to the forefront. Here’s a look at them:

(1) Dallas Buyer’s Club, which earned Matthew McConaughey a best actor award, is based on the life of Ron Woodroof, who is diagnosed with AIDS and takes to all sorts of desperate measures to cure or rather prolong it. In the process, the brash and boisterous cowboy develops sympathy towards people of various sexualities, and runs a club where he sells the same drug that cured him, though against law.

Jared Leto, who played a transgender woman in the film, won best actor in a supporting role. The film also won an award for best makeup and hairstyling.

(2) Gravity, the space fiction starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, is a depiction of how astronauts stuck in space post a mid-orbit destruction try fighting their way back to earth. The film ended up with a majority of the technical awards and ended up as the film with the maximum Oscar wins this year, including a best director award for Alfonso Cuarón.

(3) Blue Jasmine, the film that won Cate Blanchett a best actress award, is a princess to pauper story of a girl, the challenges she faces in this phase and how differently she starts looking at life.

(4) The Great Gatsby, a period drama based on the life of a highly-inspiring business magnate and his influence on other’s lives, rightly won the award for best costume design and best production design.