Welcome to another edition of Over/Under Movies, the podcast in which we choose one overrated film and one underrated film — similar in tone, genre, style, or however we may see fit — and we discuss them.
With Oscar season kicking into high gear, my co-host Oktay Ege Kozak decided this would be a good time to revisit three Best Picture winners that, while beloved in their own rights, may not be discussed as frequently as others.
We begin with the first Best Picture winner, F.W. Murnau‘s “Sunrise,” a straightforward tale about a man and a woman who rekindle their marriage throughout a series of events during a day out in the city. Notable for its innovation in 1927, we discuss the masterful way the film blends different styles and tones to create a satisfying, simple narrative.
On a more dour note, we switch gears to the 1945 Best Picture winner, Billy Wilder‘s “The Lost Weekend.” Revered, but potentially one of the lesser sought-after films in Wilder’s career, the film stars Ray Milland as an alcoholic writer who goes on a four-day bender instead of visiting the countryside with his brother and girlfriend. As great as “Requiem for a Dream” and “Trainspotting” are, we bring up how the films un-stylized, relenting frankness of addiction and alcoholism make this such an affecting, but difficult-to-watch drama.
Closing out our mini-three-act structure within itself, we end with the 1955 Best Picture winner, director Delbert Mann and screenwriter Patty Chayefsky‘s “Marty.” This slice-of-life drama features a career-best Ernest Borgnine as the titular Marty, a thirty-something New York butcher who is hounded by his mother, his friends, and his own self about not being married and being hard-pressed to find a bride. We discuss how this film is a precursor to walk-and-talk dramas like “Before Sunrise,” as the majority of the film is Marty and Clara (Betsy Blair) — a woman Marty meets at a dance hall — spending an evening together. We also note how it achieves the perfect balance of being both of its time and ahead of its time.
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