Ranking the Oscar Nominees: Best Director

The nominees are: 

Christopher Nolan – Dunkirk

This is strangely enough, Nolan's first director nomination. While I maintain that he should've been nominated for Memento, The Prestige, The Dark Knight and Inception and you could make a compelling argument for him to win all four, it's quite fitting that his first nomination comes from the film that arguably hinges the most upon his direction. He was considered to be the frontrunner at the beginning of last year to win the gong, but early release date for the film and the general awards narrative trending away from him have resulted in him collecting only a few citations, though being nominated uniformly across the board.

Jordan Peele – Get Out

Peele, another debutant nominee, struck gold in deciding to direct, produce and write Get Out as he is now already a three-time Oscar nominee in one year. Ask me a year or so ago whether I could imagine that hilarious half of the Key and Peele duo would be nominated for the Oscar in a highly competititve year, for directing a race social commentary, I'd have said, well, get out of here. I should note too, that he probably deserves an award of some sort just for this skit alone but I digress.

Greta Gerwig – Lady Bird

Gerwig, alongside her nomination for her breakout screenplay, has also garnered a nomination for her directing, achieving all of these before getting a nomination for her acting. She'd previously been the in the conversation in previous years for her work with Noah Baumbach and Twentieth Century Women last year. I have to say I'm a huge fan of her in interviews as she gives such astute yet unpretentious advice and anecdotes to aspiring directors, in fact all of these five nominees seem like great personalities as well as talented individuals.

Paul Thomas Anderson – Phantom Thread

A real dark horse nomination, who is incidentally the only one of these individuals who has previously been nominated for a Best Director Oscar. Anderson's reputation needs no further introduction if you know anything about film, alongside the Coen Brothers he's probably The Master of Cinema in more ways than one. The success of Phantom Thread with the Academy may have seemed surprising at first, but given how much they love Anderson (rightly so) in general, perhaps not so much.

Guillermo del Toro – The Shape of Water

Finally, everyone's favourite cuddly director of weird things, Guillermo del Toro rounds up this lineup. I'd assume he'd previously come close to getting a nomination for Pan's Labyrinth, which got a lot of love from the Academy.  Having won both the Golden Globe and the BAFTA now, it seems like he's bound for Oscar glory. Every speech he gives makes del Toro look increasingly like a young imaginative boy getting acclaim for his childhood creatures, and I have to say it's hard to root against him.

Ranking the nominees: 

This is one category which, while I had no problem choosing my top choice, I found it immensely difficult to rank them, given that I think all five directors do impeccable work that suits their respective films perfectly. I should also note that while I would never support awards organizations simply trying to fill a 'diversity quota' with their nominations, I do love the diversity among this group of nominees not just in terms of race and gender, but also style of filmmaking.

5. Greta Gerwig for Lady Bird 

I rank Gerwig 'lowest' not because her work is any less impressive than others. She more than holds her own against the rest of the competition, and if she ends up winning I would be incredibly happy. It's sort of the Spotlight of this year's nominees, as like Tom McCarthy's work on that film, it's solid, unshowy work that gets the job done, though I'd say Gerwig goes a few steps further in making her own little touches to her own material that end up working really well. Her work on directing the comedy scenes is worthy of note as it's palatable what a great environment she gave the actors to work within, with such naturalism to the performances it's hard to imagine Gerwig's background as an actress not playing into it. The editing of the film is an underrated part of it, and bonus points thus for Gerwig clearly designing scenes in a way where both punchlines and emotional beats are delivered in a snappy way that never lags. I entirely bought into the deeply personal yet universal tone of the film she was making, and I really hope she directs something else soon.

4. Jordan Peele for Get Out

Given my great love for the film, again it might seem strange to rank their direction of the films relatively low. What I will say is that though their work as directors are great, it is their screenplays which are the highlights of their respective films. Peele's direction on Get Out is exceptional, even without taking into account he's a first-timer. He directs horror like a seasoned veteran, and I have to say that unlike say Andy Muschetti for It, whose film I did like, he never telegraphs any of the 'scares', and rather lets the film's tense, unrelenting atmosphere of tension and discomfort slowly seep over the viewer, and adding in his own unique brand of comedy in short little spurts that creates quite the eclectic, one-of-a-kind blend. And when the weirdness starts escalating Peele's direction ups the ante in a particularly effective fashion. I would say that the screenplay is the main thing that stands out as the film proceeds, nothing against the direction since the screenplay is fantastic, but in the third act where the film turns up the creep and tension factor, Peele's work as a director is sensational as he does so much with the existing horror tropes, particularly in his depiction of Chris' intelligence and fury working together to save his skin, and the brilliant subversion of the expected ending. Again, like Gerwig, I'd say their brilliant screenplays stand out more than the direction, but the direction is great nevertheless.

3. Guillermo del Toro for The Shape of Water

I'm not sure whether I prefer his work on Pan's Labrinyth work his work here, but this is easily del Toro's best English language film yet. Del Toro is working with a particularly cutesy and ridiculous script and story, and embraces it wholly as you'd expect a director of his calibre. There is something quite special about the renowned director man-child (I mean that in a very good way, not a David O. Russell way) playing around with a creature from his childhood memories and directing it in a way that only he would ever dare to, and while I would say there's a few scenes I could have done without - some of Giles' backstory could have been cut out (though that's more of the screenplay), a little more nuance at the beginning with Michael Shannon's character could have enhanced the impact of his villainy - I absolutely loved everything else he brought to the table. He begins and ends the film with an impeccable setting up and release of tone, and draws you into this fantasy world you really feel you're sharing with him. There's such a pulsating affection for not just the fishman, but all the characters, good or bad, all the settings ugly or beautiful, in del Toro's hands, and perhaps Tim Burton could take a few pointers from Mr del Toro nowadays as he shows how to balance weirdness and wackiness with genuine passion and feeling in a way that shows its influences, and crafts its own unique little beast. Also, kudos to him for managing to direct this on a budget of 19 million USD - that's surely worthy of commendation.

2. Christopher Nolan for Dunkirk

Where del Toro was working from a very simplistic script, Nolan was by all accounts working from no script at all. This could have resulted in a complete mess of a film, especially with the three separate storylines taking place in different time frames that cross over, and the epic scope of the Dunkirk evacuation. Nolan's work here is impeccable as he creates a minimalist, often silent war film where characters only speak when it is really necessary, as is the nature of war, and the relentless intensity of warfare never relents even in the quieter moments, as is the nature of war. I've discussed how the cinematography, sound and score - and editing, which I'll soon discuss - of Dunkirk is absolutely essential to its success. It's Nolan who combines all these elements together, and orchestrates them into the mesmerizing symphony that is perhaps the highest form of his modus operandi: efficient and to-the-point filmmaking that creates complexity, atmosphere, and emotion not through over-complication of plot or characters, but just through his impeccable technique. His precise and indelible attention to detail and nuances help make up the grand picture. It's arguably his best work as a director.

1. Paul Thomas Anderson for Phantom Thread

As much as I loved the work of the four other nominees, this was a pretty easy choice for me. I need a bit more time to ruminate, but Anderson's work on Phantom Thread might be his career-best. I've seen the film twice now and not once did it lose me throughout its run-time. I think the best thing about his work on Phantom Thread is that you never feel his hand in anything guide you along, he simply balances all the technical, thematic brilliances of the film and allows you, the viewer, to bask in them. Again, I have to wait until I have time to do a more detailed review/analysis of the film to give my input into the various brilliant things Anderson does with his direction, but like one of Reynolds Woodcock's dresses, its immaculate, beautiful, cruel, exact, alluring and controlled work that combines everything you love about films into one stunning package.