As the dance numbers are perfected, the polythene seal is pulled back on the red carpet, and Jack Nicholson is given his annual respray and tune-up, one question about the Academy Awards lingers in the air, pertinent but unasked. What, in their 86th year, do the Oscars actually mean?
在一切就緒，塑膠套從紅地毯上移走，傑克尼克遜一如往年重新噴灑和熱身。一個關於學院獎的問題繚繞在空中，適切但並未提出。在這第86年，奧斯卡實際的意義是?
Sensible answers could fall anywhere in between “diddly-squat” and “the nearest thing we have to an objective measure of quality in commercial cinema”. But in a year where two unusually strong front-runners, 12 Years a Slave and Gravity, offer equally impressive but wildly different accounts of what film can achieve, the question seems especially worth asking.
Perhaps it’s healthiest to see the Oscars not as the last word on what matters in film, or even the first, but as the industry’s annual snapshot of itself at what it believes to be its best - a kind of communal selfie that will hopefully be looked back on with pride rather than through parted fingers.
That’s why I hope 12 Years a Slave is named Best Picture on Sunday night, even though I think Gravity is, by a hair’s-breadth, the better film. Does that make sense? Maybe not. In another 86 years, we’ll know for sure.
或許最健康看待奧斯卡不是視為電影重要元素中最好的，或是最差的，而是產業本身每年自認為最好的縮影 - 一種共有的自畫像，回頭看將會帶著驕傲而非慘不忍睹。
That’s why I hope 12 Years a Slave is named Best Picture on Sunday night, even though I think Gravity is, by a hair’s-breadth, the better film. Does that make sense? Maybe not. In another 86 years, we’ll know for sure.
這是為什麼我希望自由之心在周日晚上被宣布是最佳電影，即使我認為地心引力以毫米之差更好。這合理嗎?也許不。再過86年後，我們將一定會知曉。
Best Picture(最佳電影)
“It’s time.” That two-word slogan has appeared all over the campaign literature for 12 Years a Slave, reminding voters that a Best Picture win for Steve McQueen’s slave-trade drama would echo far beyond the photocalls and speeches. It’s a sharp tactic, but not a dishonest one: McQueen’s film just feels too important, both artistically and historically, for the top prize to go anywhere else.
"時候到了" 這句兩個字的台詞出現在所有自由之心的競選文宣中，提醒投票者合影和演說遠比不上一個最佳電影獎對Steve McQueen這部奴隸交易戲劇更好的回應。這是個很犀利的戰略，但並無不實：McQueen的電影太重要了，不論是藝術上或歷史角度上，使的這個大獎不能去其他任何地方。
Will Win: 12 Years a Slave
Should Win: 12 Years a Slave
Best Director(最佳導演)
I’ve used the phrase “feat of direction” to describe Gravity before, and it’s that skin-prickling sense of a filmmaker being present in every frame and camera-movement that gives Alfonso Cuarón the clear edge in this category. That he hasn’t lost a single significant directing prize this awards season also helps.
我過去曾用"執導的壯舉"來描述地心引力，就是那每個畫面和攝影機移動中所呈現讓你毛骨悚然的拍攝，給Alfonso Cuarón此類別的明顯優勢。而他在這一頒獎季內未失一個重要的導演獎也會有幫助。
Will Win: Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity)
Should Win: Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity)
Best Actor(最佳男主角)
Matthew McConaughey’s painfully spindly frame in Dallas Buyers Club is just the latest milestone in his ongoing career reboot. The Academy loves physically transformative performances, and he’s given them one they can’t ignore. I far preferred Leonardo DiCaprio, whose performance in The Wolf of Wall Street draws on a rich tradition of corrupted American Dreamers dating back to the gangster pictures of the 1930s. But the bluster and bad language will have turned too many voters' stomachs for him to be a serious threat.
麥康納在藥命俱樂部(Dallas Buyers Club)中痛苦消瘦的畫面是在他接下來的生涯重啟中最新的里程碑。學院愛身形上轉變的表演，而他給了一個他們無法忽視的。我更喜愛李奧納多在華爾街之狼中描述腐敗美國夢想家爆富的傳統中的帶我們回到1930年代的流氓形象。但咆嘯和髒話會讓許多投票者對他倒胃口，是嚴重的威脅。
Will Win: Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)
Should Win: Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf of Wall Street)
Best Actress(最佳女主角)
Cate Blanchett has dominated all discussion of this category since last August, and it’s true that her performance in Blue Jasmine, complex, brittle and theatrically attuned, is a terrific piece of craft. But the nominations have also worked in her favour: her rivals seem mostly to be there on name-recognition grounds, and far better work from less-established talent was overlooked.
凱特布蘭奇自從去年八月就在此類別的討論中佔有絕對的地位，而的確他在藍色茉莉(Blue Jasmine)中複雜、堅強易碎且戲劇上合拍的表現真是棒極了。但提名也對他有利: 他的對手大多沒有那麼突出，許多沒那麼成熟人才的更好作品被忽略了。
Will Win: Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)
Should Win: Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)
Best Supporting Actor(最佳男配角)
Michael Fassbender towers over his rivals here, but he soured on the campaigning process after his hard work promoting Shame two years ago failed to bear fruit. It would be lovely if that kind of thing didn’t make a difference, but it seems likely that Jared Leto, who’s perfectly good in Dallas Buyers Club but even better at lunches and photocalls, will come out on top. Barkhad Abdi, who won the Bafta for his work in Captain Phillips, feels like a longer shot here.
麥克·法斯賓達豎立在其敵手之上，但在其兩年前在努力推銷性愛成癮的男人未果後就對競賽流程頗有微詞。假如這件事不會有影響就太好了，但傑瑞德·萊托在藥命俱樂部中完美的表現，尤其是其在餐聚和合影時的表現會讓他拔得頭籌。巴克哈•阿布迪以其菲利普斯船長中的表現贏得英國影藝學院電影獎，看來在此沒有進一步可能。
Will Win: Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)
Should Win: Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Slave)
Best Supporting Actress(最佳女配角)
In the Academy Awards’ history, only two actresses have won Oscars back-to-back: Luise Rainer and Katharine Hepburn. If Jennifer Lawrence wins again on Sunday for her scene-stealing work in American Hustle, she’ll be the third, and with the Golden Globe and Bafta already taken care-of, it looks increasingly likely. But it's Lupita Nyong'o, as 12 Years a Slave's field girl Patsey, whose performance burns itself onto your soul: it's probably too tough for voters to take, but she's the stand-out in an uneven group.
在奧斯卡的歷史中，只有兩個女演員曾連續贏得奧斯卡: 露薏絲·蕾娜和凱瑟琳·赫本。假如珍妮佛勞倫斯在週日以其在瞞天大騙局中搶眼的演出再次贏得，他將是第三位，在贏得金球獎和英國影藝學院電影獎後，看來越來越可能發生。但露琵塔·尼詠歐在自由之心中農女的表現烙印在在你的靈魂中: 對投票者來講太難選了，但他實在太突出了。
Will Win: Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle)
Should Win: Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave)
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