The
contest for Best Film Editing is always closely associated with Best
Picture. Since editors and directors work pretty much hand in hand,
the editors branch of AMPAS tends to nominate based on quality of the
films as much as quality of just the editing. On top of that, the
film to win Best Film Editing is often well liked enough that it
almost always wins multiple categories (last year's victory for The
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo being among the rare exceptions). And
since editing can be such an invisible art at times, the winning film
is usually required to have the “most” editing, rather than the
“best”, to earn the Academy's attention.
But sometimes, a film can have both the "most" and the "best" editing, and that's the case with this year's frontrunner Argo. William Goldenberg's artful tension building really stands out, especially in the riveting opening sequence and the heart-pounding final act. Add into the equation that Argo is clearly the most beloved nominee on the ballot, and it seems like a very likely winner indeed. The win would be a hard earned one. With wins from BAFTA and ACE already in his back pocket, the smart money is clearly on Goldenberg.
If
there's a spoiler lurking to ruin Goldenberg's night, it may be Life
of Pi, whose presumed reputation as this year's craft giant may
become a self-fulfilling prophecy if voters are feeling particularly
lazy. Tim Squyres did as good a job as he could have given the
intrinsic challenges of assembling the hundreds of striking images
for this odd narrative, and he deserves a great deal of credit for making
the majority of the film work.
With
Lincoln representing his eighth trip to the big show, Michael Kahn is
the most nominated editor in Oscar history, seven of those
nominations coming for his legendary collaborations with Steven
Spielberg. His work on Lincoln truly exemplifies the
“invisibility” of the craft. The cutting is not showy, not
dazzling, but is incredibly effective. For a two-and-a-half hour
movie of guys talking to be so perpetually engaging is as much due to
him as it is to Tony Kushner's excellent script. Lincoln would
actually make a very handsome winner, but is probably bringing up the
rear in this race.
The
nods for Jay Cassidy and Crispin Struthers for Silver Linings
Playbook is extremely important for the film's Best Picture
chances. When it looked like the rom-com's biggest roadblock would be
a lack of craft nominations, the editors came through and validated
it with this key citation. It's not a bad choice either. The film's
skillful shifts in tone owe a lot to Cassidy and Struthers' carefully
chosen rhythms. That said, a win would be surprising. Comedy's
rarely get nominated, let alone triumph, in this category.
Finally,
the film that looked from the outset of awards season to be the one
to beat here is Zero Dark Thirty, edited by Dylan Tichenor and
– hey, look who it is – William Goldenberg. Piecing together
reams of footage into a dense, suspenseful thriller was a mammoth
feat; one that even the Academy may be hard pressed to overlook.
While the movie itself is obviously not as well liked as its
competition, it does have the advantage of boasting the “most”
editing. Remember how The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
surprised last year: It was the only Editing nominee not also up for
Best Picture, but it's flashy splicing was enough for the Academy to
make an uncharacteristically free-thinking choice.
Will
win: Argo
Runner-up:
Zero Dark Thirty
Should
win: Argo
Should
have been nominated: Looper
