Sometimes it happens that in the same Oscar tradition several films with the most brilliant scripts meet. Then the Hollywood Academy finds itself in the difficult situation of being able to choose only one of them to help the top film, leaving a string of great feature films that lost the chance to win an Oscar not because they were bad. because of the luck of competing with other heavyweights. These are some of the films with such great writers and terrible fortunes.
The Great Dictator (1940)
In this film, Charlie Chaplin sought to “laugh at Hitler.” But when he wove his life, actor and film, among many other disciplines, he showed that he would never have done it if he had known that the death camp was going to be: “He was not mocking the murderous madness. The Nazis. The Oscar winner for the best screenplay in his year was ‘Philadelphia Story’.
The Great Carnival (1951)
Billy Wilder signs the script for this film which he directed. The tape is a harsh criticism of sensationalist journalism and its lack of scruples, which is manifested in this case in the face of the pain and death of the man trapped in the cave after the fall. It is based on two real cases, namely W. Floyd Collins, who was trapped in a cave he had discovered, and Kathy Fisci, a girl who fell into a well. The movie was a flop at the time, but time has finally put it in the place it deserves.
General de la Rovere (1959)
Directed by Roberto Rossellini and written by Sergio Amidei, Diego Fabbri and Indro Montanelli, this Italian production tells the story of a bandit who is hired by the Nazis to carry out the Italian resistance by pretending to be one of their leaders. But the criminal is consumed by his morals and finally becomes a good-faith resisting hero.
My Night with Matilda (1969)
Eric Rohmer is the director of this film and also the author of its script. The third is his “Six moral stories” and the main narrative weight is in three characters, who deal with the topics of marriage, morals, and religion. She was nominated for an Oscar, although she didn’t make it in the end.
The prudent hare of the bourgeoisie (1972).
Luis Buñuel, in addition to directing this film, wrote the script with Jean-Claude Carrière. The tape tells how a group of six upper-class men go to dinner, but encounter a series of obstacles, some real and some imaginary, that keep them in the way again and again. “The Wise Rabbit” did not win an Oscar for Best Screenplay, but it did win one for Best Foreign Language Film.
The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)
This film directed and written by Woody Allen talks about an impossible love, a relationship that breaks the barrier between reality and fiction, which is called the “fourth wall”. An American waitress turns to movies as a method of escape from her life and, having seen the same tape over and over again, the protagonist lowers the screen to meet her. But the character’s absence causes problems for the director, who approaches the couple to try to solve the problem. In the end, the protagonist must make a decision that will mark his life and the barrier between the real world and the one on the screen.
Back to the Future (1985)
The popular ‘Back to the Future’ by Robert Zemeckis, with a script written between the director and Bob Gale, is a story about a young man who traveled to the past, thanks to the time when his parents were in high school. to a time machine embedded in a car: the legendary DMC DeLorean. The film was such a success that it later spawned two sequels and an animated series, although it failed to win an Oscar.
Magnolia (1999)
Paul Thomas Anderson directs this film in which the script, written by him, far surpasses the words: all the elements that make up the film, from the music to the images, are a necessary part of the narrative. The feature film has nine protagonists whose parallel and ultimately intertwined stories are told.
Comanche (2016)
Comanche is a movie that brings the epic stories of the Old West into the present day. In this film directed by David Mackenzie and written by Taylor Sheridan, two brothers plan to rob several banks and go against the powers that be to save the family firm.
Three Ads Extra (2017)
“Three Billboards on the Edge”, directed and written by Martin McDonagh, tells the story of a mother who, her daughter kidnapped and killed, and the police’s investigation yields no results, three billboards to protest against a cop boss. The event creates a situation of great tension between the woman and the rest of her city, which leads to explosions and various conflicts.
