10 Greatest Ever Oscar Shocks
2. The Snubbing Of Martin Scorsese
On the surface, Dances With Wolves and Ordinary People don’t seem to have much in common. One is an epic, elegiac western; the other a taught family melodrama. What links them is that both are directed by all American actors who successfully migrated behind the camera – and both kept Martin Scorsese from getting his hands on an Oscar.
Kevin Costner and Robert Redford are certainly worthy of awards recognition, but at the expense of two of Scorsese’s finest pictures – 1980’s Raging Bull and 1990’s Goodfellas? Something doesn’t add up. Whether it’s an aversion to darkness and violence from the elder statesmen of the academy panel or rewarding two long term actors for stepping out of their comfort zone, for a long while Marty was always the bridesmaid, never the bride when it came to the Oscars.
Scorsese finally won a best director award in 2006 for The Departed, a good film if not a great one. And while no one will begrudge one of Hollywood’s true masters, it’s a shame he wasn’t rewarded for one of his true classics.