This is the build of momentum that happens behind every Best Picture winning film before we get to the Oscars, and that momentum is building up behind The King’s Speech. Last night the Director’s Guild of America awarded Tom Hooper with the Best Director prize for his work on The King’s Speech, beating out hotly tipped favourite David Fincher for The Social Network. Throughout awards season there has been a dance between these two films as to who will win out right. The Golden Globes chose The Social Network and now the Guilds are choosing The King’s Speech.
We are now facing a very likely prospect that The King’s Speech will now sweep the Oscars, in which case it will be a great shame. The Social Network is a superior and more dynamic film and David Fincher’s direction is superior to Tom Hooper’s work here. If I’m honest, outside the performances, I don’t know where the huge Oscar contention is generating from for The King’s Speech, I liked the film but without those actors that film would suffer horribly, the outstanding element of it isn’t the direction.
I wouldn’t be surprised now if the Academy award the Best Director Oscar to Tom Hooper, after all the DGA have only ever wrongly predicted the Oscar Best Director winners a matter of 6 times in its history. It also triumphed at the PGA Awards last week. I think the deal will be finally sealed for The King’s Speech at the SAG Awards tonight.