The Crying Game - The Oscars, Siskel & Ebert, Entertainment Weekly and the Miramax machine

Last night I continued my Best Films Rewatch with Neil Jordan's "The Crying Game." Almost immediately after starting the film I realized I had left a major film off the list. I've mentioned that at some point or another almost every film on this list has been declared my favorite film. The truth of the matter is that only a handful have truly been in that top spot. There was "Funny Girl," "The Crying Game," and "Donnie Darko." But the two that stayed there the longest were "Mulholland Drive" and duh, duh DUH...Mike Leigh's "Secrets & Lies." How could I possibly forget "Secrets & Lies?" Last night...thinking about the early 90s and the Miramax Oscar machine my memory was somehow jogged...even though "Secrets & Lies" wasn't even a Harvey movie! It's gets (almost) worse...in recollecting the 1994 Oscars and how it couldn't compare with the vitriol I experienced during the 1995 ceremony I realized I left off "Pulp Fiction!" AGH!

We'll get to the ever expanding list later.

The first time I heard about "The Crying Game" was on the cover of Entertainment Weekly. Around 1992 I had subscribed to the 2 year old magazine and got the majority of my Oscar information from the publication, with the addition of E! and Siskel & Ebert. When I saw Stephen Rea's face on the cover, I was highly interested.

I have always had a thing for spoilers. I love to know what's going to happen before it happens...followed by disappointment for not waiting to be surprised. I used to read synopses of every "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "The X-Files" episodes before they aired. Why, oh why did I do that? So a cover suggesting that we shouldn't be talking about the plot of the movie...or reading about it before seeing it...well, it made me what to find out even more. So, of course I read it.

I desperately wanted to see this movie...particularly when all of the Oscar buzz started happening. I hatched a plan...I was living in Corinth, MS at the time, and it wasn't coming there...ever...but the Beta Club (I was a junior in high school at the time) was heading down to the coast and I found out that it would indeed be playing there. I asked my Trigonometry teacher, Mrs. Bowers to take me and my best friend Cindy to see it. She said yes.

I knew what was coming. I was slightly intrigued to see their reaction, but truthfully, I didn't think it was a big deal. Mrs. Bowers was pretty liberal for a MS teacher and Cindy was my friend, and I was gay...although I can't recall if we ever really talked about it, at that point, at least. Anyway, the reveal came, Cindy yelped and Mrs. Bowers had her hand to her mouth, in shock for the remainder of the film. We saw "Sommersby" that night to cleanse her palette.

Before we get to the details of that twist, let's talk about the plot.

From the Internet:

Irish Republican Army member Fergus (Stephen Rea) forms an unexpected bond with Jody (Forest Whitaker), a kidnapped British soldier in his custody, despite the warnings of fellow IRA members Jude (Miranda Richardson) and Maguire (Adrian Dunbar). Jody makes Fergus promise he'll visit his girlfriend, Dil (Jaye Davidson), in London, and when Fergus flees to the city, he seeks her out. Hounded by his former IRA colleagues, he finds himself increasingly drawn to the enigmatic, and surprising, Dil."The Crying Game" then, and now often gets reduced to the twist. And that makes sense. The twist was part of the reason it was such a success in the US.

After Jody dies, Fergus does visit Dil and falls for her. Eventually Dil and Fergus end up back at Dil's place to have sex. Dil excuses herself...steps into the bathroom and comes out in a robe while Fergus lays on the bed. Dil enters, Fergus disrobes her and Dil has a man's body.

Throughout the film Fergus struggles with his love for Dil and the fact that he considers Dil a man. When Fergus continues to say Dil is not a girl, neither the bartender (the wonderful Jim Broadbent) nor Dil correct him. Is it the time period? We see from Jude's visceral reaction to discovering Dil's secret...referring to her as a thing...times were a bit different than they are today? I can almost guarantee from Dil's response to Fergus's request...after Dil has said she will do anything for him...to cut her hair, that she is a woman. Perhaps Dil didn't understand who she was at the time.

In a 2017 interview, writer/director Jordan said this about Dil....

“She was a transvestite. And Jaye wasn’t a transvestite, just a beautiful gay man. When I was casting it in London I met a huge variety of people. Making the movie, I met a huge community of what you’d call pre-op transsexuals. I cast some of them. The kid that sings The White Cliffs of Doverwas a beautiful boy on a hormone course. But in the end, this is just a love story, a story that asks can anybody love anybody else?”

"The Crying Game" is so much more than a gimmick...it is certainly about gender and attraction, but it's also about the nature of specific compartmentalizations of humans. The IRA, the British army, the "Daves" in the world, the queer community, etc....

And it's certainly about love. From the same Irish Times interview:

Rea says: “When Fergus first discovers Dil is a boy, he goes into the toilet and vomits. Neil used to say that if it was one of the Italians – De Niro or Pacino – they would have smashed him up. I suppose there’s something odd and touching about the complexity of Fergus’ reaction. It’s a beautiful, tender movie. The relationship is so lovely. That scene when he’s protesting: ‘You’re a man, I can’t handle this’, and Dil says: ‘Kiss me before you go.’ And he does and it’s the most beautiful kiss in the world and he’s in love. That’s so absolutely beautiful.”

After seeing "The Crying Game," back in early 1993 I 100% wanted the film to win Best Picture as well as Jaye Davidson for Best Supporting Actor. I didn't like "Unforgiven" and did not want it to win. I haven't seen "Unforgiven" in ages...but I felt at the time that this was going to be a career win for both Eastwood and Hackman. I know this for sure...Jaye Davidson is INCREDIBLE as Dil.

When Siskel & Ebert did their Oscar show, Siskel gave away the twist discussing Jaye Davidson's nomination for the film...Ebert went ballistic...and it was all great television. (Although, for some reason, it is IMPOSSIBLE to find a clip from that show!)

I wanted to know...could "The Crying Game" win Best Picture, with all its buzz and the Miramax machine (which I didn't understand at the time) behind it? They predicted "Unforgiven," but Leanord Maltin (I think?!) predicted "The Crying Game" to win.

It did not, and I was crushed. But nothing...not "Bugsy" v/s "The Silence of the Lambs' or "Unforgiven" beating "The Crying Game" could compare to what happened the following year. The 1995 Oscars are to this day the most upsetting Oscars of my Oscarwatching history. (Maybe that's why I forgot "Pulp Fiction?! Oscars PTSD?)

Neil Jordan did win the Original Screenplay Oscar, but I always hoped he would return to the stage as a Best Director winner. After "The End of the Affair" I finally gave up that dream. The closest he came again was with "Ondine," a film I didn't like. This year he returns with "The Widow" starring Isabelle Huppert.

All the Oscar buzz is surrounding a similarly titled film, "Widows" but who knows?! Maybe Huppert and Jordan will both come back to the Oscar race.

So where does "The Crying Game" stand as one of the Best Films of all time? I don't think it makes it to the top. Much of my love for the film is centered around the Oscar race itself, but it certainly maintains it's steam to remain in my top 10. We shall see!!!

Let's look at the list now that I've added "Secrets & Lies" and "Pulp Fiction." It's a good a thing I have little to no interest in the current Oscar season. Not yet, at least.

Vertigo 1958
Funny Girl - 1968
West Side Story 1961
The Godfather Part II 1972
Empire Strikes Back 1980
Shag 1989
Silence of the Lambs 1991
The Crying Game - 1992
Pulp Fiction - 1994
Drop Dead Gorgeous 1999
Psycho Beach Party 2000
Billy Elliot 2000
Donnie Darko - 2001
Mulholland Drive - 2001
A Walk to Remember - 2002
Lost in Translation - 2003
Secrets & Lies - 2005
Mysterious Skin - 2005
Zodiac - 2007
Where the Wild Things Are - 2009
Black Swan - 2010
La La Land - 2016
Call Me By Your Name - 2017

Check out the interview (from which I lovingly took those quotes and the picture of the cast/crew) here:
‘The Crying Game’: ‘They wanted me to cast a woman that was pretending to be a man’