It would seem that comedy is one of the most popular and sought-after genres in cinema. However, from year to year, it is dramatic films that dominate the lists of prestigious awards. Jokes, by their nature, leave a trail of frivolity, which is a given for entertainment, but unacceptable for “high art.” Despite this, a good, smart and unusual comedy is valued no less than a high-brow drama. Members of the American Film Academy also appreciate this approach. As proof – a list of comedies from the main Oscar nomination lists (film, directing and screenplay) over the past 20 years.
Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
Director – Wes Anderson
Winner (4): Best Costumes; Best makeup and hairstyles; The best music; Best Production Design
Nominations (5): Best Film; Best Director; Best Screenplay; Best Cameraman Performance; Best Editing
Taking several stories by Stefan Zweig as a basis and placing the characters in the fictional Eastern European country of Zubrovka, Wes Anderson created his own unique world. The action is more reminiscent of a multi-layered comic book, replete with numerous characters (as well as numerous movie stars) and pretentious, tacky decorations of all colors of the rainbow, but this aesthetics turned out to be most suitable for an excellent sitcom about the inhabitants of the Grand Budapest Hotel.
Bridesmaids (2011)
Director – Paul Feig
Nominations (2): Best Supporting Actress (Melissa McCarthy); Best Screenplay
The main character is terribly unlucky in life. And then my best friend is getting married and asks to become a bridesmaid. Not only does all this pre-holiday rigmarole cause conflicting feelings, but an ambitious acquaintance of the bride also appears on the horizon. She herself is not averse to organizing everything in order to wipe everyone’s noses. As you know, women’s competition for attention and excellence in front of each other rarely leads to a good result.
In the Loop (2009)
Director: Armando Iannucci
Nominations (1): Best Adapted Screenplay
This film plays out the nuances of big politics in a pseudo-documentary style. An unsuccessful phrase by the British Secretary of International Development about the war in the Middle East instantly sets off a flywheel of events on both sides of the ocean. The popular British TV series “The Thick of It” was taken as a basis.
Juno (2007)
Director – Jason Reitman
Winner (1): Best Screenplay
Nominations (3): Best Film; Best Actress (Ellen Page); Best Director
A Juneau high school student becomes pregnant by her classmate, an immature runner on the school team. Abortion is not a solution. Therefore, the family council decided to find adoptive parents for the unborn child. An entertaining script and interesting acting, combined with a light satire of suburbanites, make the film cute and funny.
Borat (2006)
Director – Larry Charles
Nominations (1): Best Adapted Screenplay
Borat Sagdiev is a fictional Kazakh journalist and the alter ego of British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen. In the film, Borat travels to the United States to create a documentary report. There he watches an episode of the television series “Baywatch” and immediately falls in love with Pamela Anderson’s character. After this, he decides to marry her. On the way, he continues to shoot his film. Due to the abundance of scandalous jokes, the film was banned in many countries.
Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
Directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris
Winner (2): Best Supporting Actor (Alan Arkin); Best Original Screenplay
Nominations (2): Best Film; Best Supporting Actress (Abigail Breslin)
Seven-year-old Olive desperately dreams of entering a children’s beauty pageant. It would seem that the youngest member of the family is supported by all the relatives, but, as it turns out on the way to the competition, each member is unhappy in his own way and is burdened with personal concerns. A charming movie about how even if you are a loser, not everything is bad. In addition to the statuette for best screenplay, actor Alan Arkin won another Comedy Oscar.
About a Boy (2002)
Directors: Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz
Nominations (1): Best Adapted Screenplay
The film adaptation of Nick Hornby’s novel is a family melodrama with a set of comedic situations. Will Freeman is a wealthy Englishman approaching the age mark of forty. He never married, had no children, and almost never worked, living off royalties from a song his composer father created. Between shopping and idleness, Will chose a convenient way for himself not to build a serious relationship. He began attending single parent society meetings and having fleeting affairs with young mothers. At one of these meetings, Will became friends with Susie, her friend Fiona and 12-year-old Marcus, Fiona’s son. From this moment on, the lives of all the characters began to acquire a series of tragicomic moments.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2001)
Director – Joel Zwick
Nominations (1): Best Original Screenplay
The classic story of Cinderella and the prince was rewritten from the volume of national characteristics by Greek-American screenwriter Nia Vardalos. She also played the main role, adding a noisy family with its own “cockroaches” and traditions to the classic plot. The heroine Vardalos is “a little over 30.” She is actively looking for her soul mate, living with her parents who want to find her the right Greek groom. But she falls in love with an American who is also not indifferent to her. The parents are naturally against it at first, but the daughters want happiness, so the only obstacle remains the groom’s acquaintance with the fussy relatives and the peculiarities of the culture and way of life of the Greeks.
Election (1999)
Director – Alexander Payne
Nominations (1): Best Adapted Screenplay
A suburban school board presidential election suddenly becomes the scene of a full-on war between history teacher Jim McAllister and student challenger Tracy Flick, whom he views as treacherous, quarrelsome and brash. A war of incriminating evidence, rigging of results and technical candidates – everything is like in real politics. What makes it even more convincing is the fact that the filming took place in a real school in parallel with classes.
The Full Monty (1997)
Director – Peter Cattaneo
Winner (1): Best Score for a Musical/Comedy Film
Nominations Oscar (3): Best Film; Best Director; Best Screenplay
Six unemployed steelworkers from Sheffield, once a leading industrial giant but now an economically depressed city, are struggling to survive. Clinging to any excuse to earn extra money, they come up with the idea of organizing their own striptease show. There is one “but” – former steelworkers are not distinguished by either an ideal body or the ability to dance. The film unexpectedly became a box office hit not only in its native UK, but also abroad. After this comedy won an Oscar, a musical based on this film was created on Broadway.