Open AccessBerlin 1999
Author(s) -
Ron Holloway
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
kinema
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2562-5764
pISSN - 1192-6252
DOI - 10.15353/kinema.vi.892
Subject(s) - victory , midnight , embarrassment , art , jury , chose , art history , performance art , history , law , psychology , politics , political science , social psychology , physics , astronomy
WHEN THE INTERNATIONAL JURY chose to ignore John Madden's Shakespeare in Love (UK) for Golden Bear honours in favour of giving the Grand Prix to Terrence Malick's The Thin Red Line (USA), you can guess what happened next: audiences jammed Berlin venues to see Shakespeare in Love immediately after the festival closed, to be followed a few weeks later with the Academy Award victory. By an odd coincidence, Berlinale history had repeated itself - for thirty years ago, back in 1969, the international jury had bypassed John Schlesinger's Midnight Cowboy (USA) for the Golden Bear, only to suffer a bit of embarrassment when both director and film went on to win Academy Awards. At least this time around, Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard, the screenwriters on Shakespeare in Love, were awarded a Silver Bear for "Single Artistic Achievement" - an acclamation that is puzzling, distinguished though it may sound....