This year’s Production Design Academy Awards nominees are all fantastic! But I have to be honest, there’s one I was unable to see before the awards tonight, and I’m sad about it! But it’s out on DVD now, so I have every plan to see it: Anna Karenina. It’s a Joe Wright movie with Keira Knightly and Matthew Macfadyen, so you know it’s good.
Keira Knightly as Anna Karenina
I do have a good friend who saw the movie and gave me a great description. He said it was a movie set up like a play. The sets moved in and out behind the actors, like the backdrops in a play. It sounds extraordinary! Nominated for Anna Karenina are Sarah Greenwood (Production Design) and Katie Spencer (Set Decoration).
Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins, THE Hobbit
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey once again takes us to The Shire and it’s everything I’ve ever wanted it to be. It’s a Hobbit House! Nothing could be better. Nominated for The Hobbit are Dan Hennah (Production Design) and Ra Vincent and Simon Bright (Set Decoration).
Annie Leibovitz photo, for Vogue, of Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen as Madame and Monsieur Thenardier
Les Miserables is another movie that was set like a play, since it once was. Period sets were realistically covered with the grittiness of early 19th century Paris. They built Paris! Amazing. Nominated for Les Miserables are Eve Stewart (Production Design) and Anna Lynch-Robinson (Set Decoration).
Suraj Sharma as Pi Patel in Life of Pi
Life of Pi. Okay, there were some sets. But to me, it seems that the set was mostly created digitally. (More than the others anyway – I’m sure they are all digitally created to some degree.) But basically, the movie was set in a boat. It was a GORGEOUS movie, but not my favorite for this category. Nominated for Life of Pi was David Gropman (Production Design) and Anna Pinnock (Set Decoration).
Daniel Day-Lewis IS Lincoln and he IS in 1860s Washington DC – I’m pretty sure they just time traveled
For Lincoln, they recreated history. And they had a high bar set for them, considering Daniel Day-Lewis brought Abraham Lincoln back to life. Nominated for Lincoln are Rick Carter (Production Design) and Jim Erickson (Set Decoration).
I have a feeling I’d vote for Anna Karenina if I’d seen it, but I happily wish for a win for Lincoln.
Upstaged by Design 