Oscars 2022: With two wins and nine nominations already, Denzel Washington is likely to break his own record-Entertainment News , Firstpost
With such a profound legacy, and an enchanting moment at hand, Denzel Washington is without an argument a man who has redefined stardom in Hollywood, and continues to tower over the world of acting.
Denzel Washington in The Tragedy of Macbeth
One of the nominees in the Best Actor category at Oscars 2022 is Denzel Washington, who bagged this honour for essaying the titular role in The Tragedy Of Macbeth, a film adaption of William Shakespeare’s famous play Macbeth.
Washington has been the most Oscar-nominated Black actor in history for quite some time now, and with this nomination, he only extends his own record. A two-time Academy Award winner and 10-time nominee, Washington, at the age of 67 and with a career that spans over 47 years, has both enduring star power and gratifying critical acclaim, that sets him apart from most of his peers who often fall victim to the fickle jade of stardom.
Donald Bogle, American film historian, describes Washington as someone who reconfigured ‘the concept of classic movie stardom’ because he proved that stardom was no longer associated with how white you were, and nor was it a reflection of how many franchises were riding on your shoulders. Stardom for Washington is his sheer onscreen presence, craft, and awe-inspiring versatility. From doing films like American Gangster [2007] and The Book Of Eli [2010], to Fences [2017], A Journal For Jordan [2021], and now The Tragedy Of Macbeth, Washington has successfully merged the lines between art and cult cinema.
His stardom does not loom over his skill, as it is often observed in the tinsel town. Magnanimous stars often fall prey to their own larger-than-life aura, and end up slacking on the craft of acting, but the same does not hold true for Washington, who is enchanting with his act, and one does not even need to trace back to prove it.
Denzel Washington in The Tragedy of Macbeth
His latest record-breaking nomination as Macbeth is in itself enough to define his calibre as an actor. The Tragedy Of Macbeth is hermetic and liberating at the same time, and it owes a lot of it to Coen and Bruno Delbonnel [cinematographer]. However, it is Washinton who leaves you gaping in the end. It is not an exaggeration to claim that there are very few actors today who can vouch to do what Washington has done as Macbeth, and at the risk of sounding myopic, maybe none, because here is a stagey, black-and-white film, with no ornamentation, very little furniture, and extremely pronounced simplicity, that has put all its weight on its performances.
Thus, it is only Washington who can pull of the feat of encompassing the entire screen space with nothing but his reverberating voice and sublime craft. There is no other element, or prop to hide behind. The camera is in the face of the actor at all times, and it relies on him unconditionally to deliver the emotions of power, pain, and paranoia because he has nothing else that will aid him in doing so. The bold ambition to give Shakespeare’s most famed play an abstract aesthetic is interesting and laudable, but it could have easily gone wrong, and felt like a yawn-inducing, achromatic montage of just tape-recorded dialouges.
Denzel Washington in The Tragedy of Macbeth
However, Washington breathes life and colour into this greyscale adaption, and the fascinatingly spare aesthetic is precisely what makes it possible for him to go all-out with his dramatis personae, and we should truly be grateful as an audience that he does, because it is magic. So it is not surprise that he has yet again been nominated for the Oscars. After all, he defines what many would call an acting masterclass.
However, as Washington breaks his own record at nominations, it will be safe to foreshadow that in case he bags this year’s Oscar, he will be a three-time Academy Award-winning actor, and the list of actors who have bagged the Oscar thrice is quite concise, least to say. Walter Brennan, Jack Nicholson, and Daniel Day-Lewis are the only male actors to achieve this feat, and it goes without saying that if Washington wins this one, then he will be the only black actor in the history of Academy Awards to have done this.
Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand in The Tragedy of Macbeth
His previous wins were for Glory [1990] and Training Day [2002], while his previous nominations have been for the following films: Cry Freedom [1998], Malcolm X [1993], The Hurricane [2000], Flight [2013], Fences [2017], and Roman J. Israel, Esq. [2018].
With such a profound legacy, and an enchanting moment at hand, Washington is without an argument a man who has redefined stardom in Hollywood, and continues to tower over the world of acting.
Alas, the award season is exciting and eccentric; it brings several stories, surprises and suppositions with it. But despite the uncertainty of it all, if there is one thing Denzel Washington must hear, then it is this: “You’ll be the King.”
Oscars 2022 will take place on 28 March.
Oscars 2022. Illustration by Poorti Purohit
Takshi Mehta is a freelance journalist and writer. She firmly believes that we are what we stand up for, and thus you’ll always find her wielding a pen.
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