Oscars 2022: With seven Best Picture nominations being adaptations, literature emerges as ripe source of storytelling

"We tell ourselves stories in order to live," wrote the late Joan Didion in her book The White Album, and that is gospel truth because stories are everywhere. Every one of us is made up of stories, everyone of us seeks to find solace in stories, and the very movies that we are so fond of are nothing but tangible manifestations of these stories that are brought to life.

However, a movie is only as good as the story it tells, and if there is anything the Oscar nominations for the Best Picture have in common this year, then it is the fact that they all tell incredible stories. In fact, seven out of the 10 nominations are adaptations, remakes or biopics, and therefore already have an exemplary tale to be told.

For the unversed, the 10 nominations in the Best Picture Category this year are Don’t Look Up, Belfast, Licorice Pizza, Nightmare Alley, Drive My Car, Dune, The Power Of The Dog, West Side Story, King Richard, and CODA, out of which the latter seven come from great source material that has been acclaimed and loved in the past, therefore ensuring that the film tells the most the magnificent story ever. 

Benedict Cumberbatch in The Power of the Dog

Guillermo Del Toro’s Nightmare Alley, the neo-noir psychological thriller, is based on William Lindsay Gresham’s novel of the same name, which was published back in 1946. The Japanese drama Drive My Car is based on Haruki Murukami’s short story of the same name, that was published in his 2014 collection Men Without Women. The sci-fi film Dune is based on Frank Herbert’s novel of the same name published in 1965, while The Power Of The Dog is based on Thomas Savage’s 1967 novel.

On the other hand, West Side Story, the romantic musical, is adapted from a stage musical of the same name done in 1957, which was also inspired from William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. King Richard is the biopic of Richard Williams, and CODA is the English remake of the very successful French film, La Famille Belier.

Still from West Side Story

Looking at the list, it is no wonder why seven out of 10 nominations at the Oscars are not fresh stories, but adaptations or biopics. After all, it is the content that shoulders the film, and what better content than classic literature, or an inspirational real-life story to make an Oscar-worthy film? 

However, it is not just the fact these movies are based on novels or other things, but the fact that they celebrate art, stories, theater, and literature.

Some do it through their plot, while others through their aesthetics but in the end, all of them make it a point to display a revelry art and artists from all fields of life.

Drive My Car, for instance, uses its plot to discuss the importance of stories, such as the life of a filmmaker who wants to make a multilingual adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s play Uncle Vanya because it had moved him beyond explanation. The film is firstly an adaptation of an extremely illustrious short story by Murukami, followed by which it tells the story of a filmmaker who is seeking solace in stories, and lastly, it references Uncle Vanya, another very distinguished piece of literature that leaves an effect on the character, therefore enabling him to make a film of his own. 

Still from CODA

With films like these, most of the Oscar nominations demonstrate the power of storytelling, not only by adapting and reinventing excellent novels and stories, but also by reviving and celebrating elements of literature, and theater on the silver screen that add impeccable texture to the film. For instance, West Side Story is a romantic musical with extensive choreographies that provide for an enhanced theater feel, something that is rare and lost in modern filmmaking, while Nightmare Alley was also released in a black-and-white version, a month after the regular release. The film is also a neo-noir drama, a popular genre that sees the revival of film noir that initially flourished through the Post World War II era.  

Alas, storytelling, drama, literature, and theater are the arts one lives for. And cinema has the vast power to bring them all together. The Oscar nominations this year have done precisely that. They have brought together the enduring elements of stage and parchment, and amalgamated them on the silver screen to make some of the most glorious films ever. 

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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