Once upon a time,David Fincherwas an unlikely awards darling. The filmmaker behind movies likeSevenandFight ClubandZodiaccertainly made acclaimed films, but was rarely recognized in awards circles for his work. That changed with 2008’s epicThe Curious Case of Benjamin Button, for which Fincher and his collaborators earned significant notice from various awards bodies, including a Best Director Oscar nomination. Suddenly it was as if David Fincher, 20 years into his career of moviemaking, had only just arrived on the radar of awards folks. And given his “arrival” on the awards stage, his next film—2010’sThe Social Network—was met with the kind of awards notice reserved for the latest effort from Academy favorite filmmakers likeQuentin TarantinoorAlfonso Cuaron. And as it just so happened, that next movie that Fincher made was a downright masterpiece that seemed to appear at just the perfect time.
When Fincher signed on to directThe Social Network, the project was already mired in skepticism. A “Facebook” movie? Who’d want to see that? But Fincher was so impressed byAaron Sorkin’s screenplay—which portrayed the origin story of Facebook as a compelling tragedy of youth, power, and jealousy—that he agreed to direct the film on the condition that Sony Pictures not force it through a lengthy development period. He wanted to direct Sorkin’s script as-written, and he wanted to do itnow.
Months later, with principal photography finished, Fincher knew he only had one shot to make a first impression on audiences. So he and the film’s marketing team crafted a compelling, ominous teaser trailer that was the furthest thing from a “traditional biopic” that you could imagine. Dark, intense, and dripping with intrigue. The film’s official trailer went full-on viral, as an a capella version of “Creep” accompanied rousing footage from the movie.The Social Networkhit theaters in October 2010 and was a smash hit, scoring with both critics and audiences.
A perfect marriage of director and screenwriter, and packed with stunning performances from the entire cast—most notablyJesse Eisenberg’s cool insidiousness, Andrew Garfield’s Voice of Reason take on Eduardo, andJustin Timberlake’s parasitic spin on Sean Parker—The Social Networkwas even at first glance a definitive film about the world in the 21st century. Some of the most powerful men and women on the planet are college dropouts, having created and founded vital technology and companies at an extraordinarily young age. How does that shift power dynamics? What is it like to know you’re the smartest person in the room, but also be underestimated at every turn? How do passionate emotions of your early 20s impact business decisions that have ramifications in the millions of dollars?The Social Networkdelights in digging into these difficult questions all while being anextremelyentertaining watch. Scenes in boardrooms with two people talking have more tension and thrills than entire action sequences in other, far more expensive films. Every single aspect of this movie is operating on another level, due in large part to Fincher’s clear-headed vision for what this “Facebook movie” should be.
And so asThe Social Networkwas raking in the dough, awards season neared, and the film was being hailed as the heavy favorite to win top prize at the Oscars: Best Picture.
And thenThe King’s Speechhappened.
DirectorTom Hooper’s staid period drama debuted at the Telluride Film Festival in September 2010 where it earned strong notices from critics, and it was positioned as something of an “underdog” against the flashyThe Social Network. Indeed, we can’t talk aboutThe King’s Speechwithout also talking about The Weinstein Company, which pulled out every awards season trick in the book as the Oscars neared.Harvey Weinsteineven played up an entire “controversy” over the film’s use of the word “fuck,” which netted it an R-rating. Weinstein eventually re-cut the film for a “PG-13” version, but the entire ordeal positionedThe King’s Speechas a righteous underdog squaring off against the big bad MPAA (although to be fair, the MPAA was wrong on this one).
As for the film itself,The King’s Speechis kind of the antithesis ofThe Social Network. It tells the story of King George VI overcoming a speech impediment to lead Britain into World War II. It’s a very straightforward, somewhat low-stakes “feel-good” drama that doesn’t particularly have anything to say about the world we live in today other than, “overcoming adversity is hard work.” It also played fast and loose with the truth, whereasThe Social Networkunderwent extreme vetting and drew from depositions to craft its true story.
When the Golden Globes rolled round—one of the major markers on the road to Oscar, regardless of their validity or reputation—The Social Networkwas victorious. It won Best Score and Screenplay, Fincher won for Directing, and the film itself won Best Motion Picture – Drama, beating outThe King’s Speech. And Fincher, again a relative newbie to awards season, acknowledged in his Best Director speech that despite his best efforts, he was kind of enjoying the acclaim for the film:
“I’m personally loathe to acknowledge the kind of wonderful response that this film has received for fear of becoming addicted to it, so suffice it to say… it’s been really nice.”
And so Oscar night arrived.The King’s Speechwas gaining steam having won the BAFTA, PGA, and DGA awards, but there was still the thought thatThe Social Networkmight pull off the win after all. The night began well enough, with Sorkin winning Best Adapted Screenplay,Trent ReznorandAtticus Rosswinning Best Original Score, and in a significant shockerKirk BaxterandAngus Wallwon the Best Film Editing Award. Could it really go all the way?
Alas, when the final two prizes arrived,The Social Networkwent down for the count. Tom Hooper took home the Best Director Oscar, andThe King’s Speechwon Best Picture. And I’m still mad about it.
The Oscars are certainly not the be-all, end-all for which films are great and which films are bad, and we’ve seen time and again the “wrong” movie can definitely win Best Picture. Heck,Crash’s victory overBrokeback Mountainwas still an open wound whenThe King’s Speechreigned victorious. But just like that 2007 ceremony,The Social Networklosing out toThe King’s Speechstands as one of the most egregious whiffs in Oscar history. The Weinstein Company drama was all but forgotten within a year, whereasThe Social Networkseems to age better and better as Facebook continues to make headlines for all the wrong reasons.
It’s a shame that Jesse Eisenberg wasn’t recognized for one of the most iconic performances of the 21st century. It’s a shame that David Fincher didn’t win the Best Director Oscar for successfully turning “the Facebook movie” into a legitimate masterpiece. And it’s a shame thatThe Social Networkdoesn’t get to stand shoulder to shoulder with other exciting 21st century Best Picture winners likeMoonlightandParasite. I can’t say I’m not still upset about the outcome that night, over nine years later. But it is heartening to see where things stand nearly a decade on.
The King’s Speechis all but forgotten, and people are clamoring for aSocial Networksequel given the film’s relevance. One director has continued telling challenging, engaging stories. The other director—the “best” director—madeCats.
