Mark Kermode’s Secrets of Cinema: Oscar Winners

Synopsis

In this documentary, filmed in the lead-up to the 2019 Oscars, renowned film critic Mark Kermode looks at the past century of cinema history to try and define what elements are most likely to result in a Best Picture winner at the annual Academy Awards. Since their inception in 1929, the Oscars have rewarded all sorts of films from a variety of genres, but there are commonalities to be found. Kermode looks at six different types of potential Oscar winner, with sections exploring each of these – War is Hell; All Singing, All Dancing; Ordinary People; The Champ; Body and Soul; Extraordinary People – which uses clips from award-winning films throughout cinema history to better demonstrate each of these tropes. From toe-tapping musicals to underdog stories and portrayals of figures from history, there are many roads to an Academy Award.

Films featured within this documentary include:

Wings (1927), It Happened One Night (1934), The Apartment (1960), West Side Story (1961), The Sound of Music (1965), Rocky (1976), The Deer Hunter (1978), Ordinary People (1980), Chariots of Fire (1981), Platoon (1986), Rain Man (1988), Forrest Gump (1994), Gladiator (2000), A Beautiful Mind (2001), Chicago (2002), Million Dollar Baby (2004), The Queen (2006), Slumdog Millionaire (2008), The Hurt Locker (2008), The King’s Speech (2010), The Artist (2011), The Iron Lady (2011), Lincoln (2012), 12 Years A Slave (2013), The Theory of Everything (2014), Spotlight (2015), Moonlight (2016), Darkest Hour (2017).