What Won: Alejandro G. Iñárritu (Birdman) The Best Director category has been one that's created a lot of controversy this year. People have grown irate over the lack of Ava DuVernay (although it's unclear whether that's due to her race and gender or whether people actually think she was one of the five best directors of 2014), bemused by the nomination of Bennett Miller when his film, Foxcatcher, was absent for Best Picture and irritated by the presence of Morten Tyldum after he went pedestrian for The Imitation Game. All that ignores, however, that it was always a two horse race between Richard Linklater for Boyhood and Alejandro González Iñárritu for Birdman, with the Mexican taking home the prize on the night (despite missing out at many other awards, such as the BAFTAs and the Golden Globes). What Should Have Won: Richard Linklater (Boyhood) Both Birdman and Boyhood are built on a strong central idea that is realised with such reverence that it pushes the films above being simple gimmick pictures, to the point that it'd be easy to argue either director should have won it. However, as evidenced by its wins elsewhere, Birdman was very much an all round team effort. Boyhood, on the other hand, is Linklater through and through, with the experimental filmmaker the driving force behind the ridiculous idea of a twelve year production.
