Academy Awards Best Picture Focus: 'The Social Network'

In Yidio's Academy Awards Best Picture Focus section, we take an in-depth look at all 10 films nominated for the 2011 Oscar. Today we take a look at one of the films being tapped as a likely Best Picture winner - the David Fincher-directed, Aaron Sorkin-written "The Social Network."

About the Film

The story of the founding of Facebook, and what it is to be a genius.

Jesse Eisenberg plays Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, though in interviews he, director David Fincher, and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin have gone through great pains to say he is merely playing a fictionalized version of Zuckerberg, as though that were not already obvious.

Mark's biggest problem is that he's absolutely brilliant and knows it, and consequently sees no reason why he shouldn't be the most successful version of himself he can be. This isn't about money for him, this is about the path to achieving something monumental.

By the end, he's done just that, but is left to wonder not if it was worth it - there's little question that it was - but what exactly he has lost along the way. Friends? Certainly? His soul? Perhaps.

The film has been accused of being "too cold," or "not emotional" (this is par for the course with David Fincher films), but that is simply because the film does not beat you over the head with its emotional beats. Some films do that, and do it well - "Black Swan," for example - but that is not this movie. This is quiet. Emotional beats are conveyed in glances and gestures rather than speeches and tears. Its philosophical underpinnings are just under the surface for those willing to look.

And it is exceptional craft. The dialogue and editing keeps this not just engaging, but actively entertaining, and considering it's largely about people sitting at computers, talking to each other, that's no small feat. Fincher's direction is spot-on as ever, finding more interesting ways to frame dorm rooms than many directors can do with epic landscapes.

Why the nomination for Best Picture?

Because a perfect film, well marketed, will always at least get a nomination. Because some believe it to be the first true classic of the 21st century, in that it's potentially the first great film that could have only been made now. That's not entirely accurate, but it is an intriguing notion, considering most great films look to the past while this is concerned solely with how we live right now.

Voters are responding to the sparkling dialogue, brisk pace, and whatever they've gleaned from its philosophical and emotional wavelengths.

Other Awards Nominations

Not too many for a major contender. Jeff Cronenworth was nominated for his digital cinematography (and after they gave that award to a cartoon last year, it looks like the Academy's bias against digital is gone), Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall for their stunning editing, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for their score, Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick, and Mark Weingarten for Sound Mixing, Jesse Eisenberg for his performance, David Fincher for his direction, and Aaron Sorkin for his screenplay. Those last two are theirs to lose.

What are the chances?

Still very good. The current's been running towards "The King's Speech" recently, after picking up the Producers Guild Award, the Directors Guild Award, and the Ensemble Award from the Screen Actors Guild, but I'm still predicting "The Social Network" come Oscar night. The Oscars, over the last four years, have mostly gone with the most artistic, interesting, and cynical film when faced with a showdown between that and something more warm and comforting ("The Departed" vs. "Little Miss Sunshine," "No Country for Old Men" vs. anything that won't crush your soul, and "The Hurt Locker" vs. "Avatar"). The one exception was "Slumdog Millionaire," but the heat that was with that is not accompanying "The King's Speech."

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