2018 was an absolutely stupendous year for movies, we had The Favourite, BlacKkKlansman, A Star is Born and Bohemian Rhapsody, but none of these brilliant flicks took home the Best Picture Academy Award. The recipient of that honour was in fact, Green Book - and it's coming to Netflix on the 11th of February.
When a Best Picture winner ends up on one of the best streaming services it's always a newsworthy event, but for this film in particular there's particular significance. There were some who believe this movie won Best Picture as part of a protest vote against Netflix (which had produced fellow nominee Roma), Steven Spielberg even said that Netflix movies should compete for "Emmys, not Oscars". Well, now we've come full circle.
Even amidst all this controversy (and some talk that the movie is an example of the harmful 'White Saviour' trope), to win the most prestigious award in film takes a hell of a movie. Besides, a 91% Rotten Tomatoes score with audiences proves it has the popular vote too. It's worth a watch to form your own opinion.
So what's it all about? Let me give you a quick synopsis. Inspired by a true story it centres around Frank Vallelonga (Viggo Mortensen), the driver for Don Shirley, a supremely talented African-American pianist (Mahershala Ali) on a tour in the Deep South during the 1960s. Of course, large parts of the area are still in a Jim Crow mindset, and racism is rife. Until he tinkles the ivories, Don is barely treated like a human being.
Frank is crass but kindhearted while Don is smart, talented and cold. Despite this, there is plenty of comedy to go with the drama as the two become firm friends. Mortensen and Ali have superb chemistry and both were nominated for Academy Awards for their roles.
If you do want to watch my pick for Best Picture in 2019, Netflix is adding that too! While it also added another Best Picture winner well worth your time late last year. What a time to be alive.
