As I delved enthusiastically into this very piece in late February, I could already hear the echoes that Maria Bakalova can’t win the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Borat Subsequent Moviefilm. True, the Bulgarian actress is not even guaranteed a nomination. The movie, and the aura of Borat’s cultural learnings, is just too out there, too ridiculous, too offensive, too comedic. But let me tell you, Bakalova will be nominated, she can win – and just very well might do.
Once upon a time, or during a more acquiescent period, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences utilized their supporting acting slots in much more of a free-spirited way than those lead categories. More recently, not so much. The supporting lists now crowded with what amount to – how do we say – lead performances. But that’s for another day.
And children. They fall into supporting or are not nominated at all. I beg your pardon, Quvenzhané Wallis? In 1962, Mary Badham was nominated for To Kill a Mockingbird for Best Supporting Actress. Then in 1973, Tatum O’Neal (Paper Moon) beat Linda Blair (The Exorcist) for the win. Although, Blair won the Golden Globe as O’Neal applauded a different winner in the Best Performance in a Motion Picture Comedy or Musical. Shines a whole new light on the term child support.
But I digress. Maria Bakalova is no child. Well, Tutar Sagdiyev, the character the actress portrays in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, is fifteen years old. And that fiction cross-over is understandable given Borat’s invasion of reality with his no-holds-barred comedy displays. Incredibly, with such on-the-nose slapstick, the second Borat film finds real flourishes of humanity. And the unhinged acclimatising of Tutar into the western world is the core of those benevolent feels.
Of course, the candid, tactile side of comedy within the Supporting Actress characters is not always a winning formula. Nominations have previously been earned in the Supporting Actress category for many light-hearted laughs. Of sorts. Like Mildred Natwick’s mature escapades in Barefoot in the Park (1967). Or even Dianne Wiest bolstering maternal instincts in Parenthood (1989). The latter, of course, has two Best Supporting Actress Oscars now. Both for Woody Allen films, the venue of many winners of the award over the years.
Certainly without detriment, Allen’s brand of comedy is a good distance from that which Borat exudes. But like Tutar, Wiest’s nominated co-star in Bullets Over Broadway, Jennifer Tilly, oozed that slightly over-the-top nature that naturally garner awards attention. Often irresistible. Blazing Saddles (1974) is hardly Oscar bait, but “The Teutonic Titwillow” Madeline Kahn was nominated. See also, Joan Cusack’s frantic bride from In & Out (1997), and Melissa McCarthy in the outlandish Bridesmaids (2011). All characters that were equipped with alluring arcs to compliment the comedy.
In much closer comparative proximity to Maria Bakalova’s misfit, are Penélope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona), the first ever Critics Choice winner, Mira Sorvino in Mighty Aphrodite (1995), and Marisa Tomei in My Cousin Vinny (1992). All three won the bald guy gold statuette. With no Golden Globe nod to boot, Tomei’s win was bigger surprise of the three, but was definitely aided by a similar newcomer status to Bakalova.
Speaking of which, another Best Supporting Actress winner was none other than Goldie Hawn for Cactus Flower (1969), in what was her film breakout role. And in 1980, Mary Steenburgen won for Melvin and Howard – beating out the terrific Eileen Brennan in another Goldie Hawn gem, Private Benjamin. A comedy star was certainly born. And Hawn’s on-screen mother in Butterflies Are Free (1972), Eileen Heckart, actually won the Oscar too, without a mention from HFPA. Winsome indeed.
Other than the fact that Maria Bakalova had the opportunity to defeat Hawn’s daughter in the Golden Globes Lead Actress Comedy or Musical category, shall be where the comparisons end. As well as Kate Hudson (Music), Bakalova faced competition from Michelle Pfeiffer (French Exit), Anya Taylor-Joy (Emma), and eventual winner Rosamund Pike (I Care a Lot).
For me, it was meant to be a bumpless canter to the stage, which ought to have cemented Bakalova as a bona fide Oscars contender. Just don’t consult the history of Musical or Comedy acting winners as backup. The victory at the Critics Choice further cements her prospects here.
Comedy, or satire, or whatever you might want to call it, has found far greater success in those supporting acting categories when it comes to the Oscars. Or awards in general. Even the dark era of cinema in the 1970s harnessed Best Supporting Actress Oscar wins for Lee Grant (Shampoo) in 1975 and Maggie Smith (California Suite) in 1978 (neither won the Golden Globe). The latter nominated alongside Globe winner, Dyan Cannon, in another witty affair, Heaven Can Wait.
The free-wheeling 1980s added Jessica Lange (Tootsie) in 1983, with co-star Teri Garr also making the shortlist. As well as Glenn Close (The World According to Garp) and Lesley Ann Warren (Victor/Victoria). Arguably, Oscar winners, Anjelica Huston (Prizzi’s Honor) in 1985 (Globe nominated), Olympia Dukakis (Moonstruck) in 1987 (won Globe), and Geena Davis (The Accidental Tourist) in 1988 (not even nominated for Globe), were all strong parts of somewhat humorous films. At this point, and in spite of that Rosamund Pike victory, Bakalova’s prospect of an Academy Award nomination is hardly outsider status.
Let’s go to 1990. Whoopi Goldberg won the Oscar for Ghost, having been surrounded by dramatic turns in that Best Supporting Actress category. Sounds familiar. Then there was Judi Dench (Shakespeare in Love) won in 1998, nominated alongside ballsy, witty Brenda Blethyn (Little Voice), Critics Choice and SAG winner, Kathy Bates (Primary Colors), and Golden Globe winner, Lynn Redgrave (Gods and Monsters).
But in the much grimmer last two decades, comedy roles have hardly had a sniff at the Oscars in those supporting categories. Perhaps if Emma Stone or Rachel Weisz had been victorious for The Favourite (2018), we could declare satire back on the map. But we’re dipping our toes in murky waters now after the tumbleweeds that preceeded.
At a push, you could make a comic contender case for Catherine Keener (Being John Malkovich) in 1999, or Critics Choice winner, Frances McDormand (Almost Famous) in 2000. Kathy Bates (About Schmidt) and Globe victor, Meryl Streep (Adaptation) in 2002. Neither of them won the Oscar of course. That was Catherine Zeta-Jones (Chicago), who lost the Lead Actress Comedy or Musical Globe, and went on to win the Critics Choice and Screen Actors Guild awards. Interesting.
But the ever evolving Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have been shattering stats and form over the last few years. The Golden Globes saw sure-thing Maria Bakalova fail to win, and with it the echoes of ‘game over’ poured from the Oscars experts. I shelved this practically ready-to-publish article and had a think. But not for long, siding with the notion that we simply cannot rely that heavily on the Hollywood Foreign Press Association as that accurate Oscar predictors. Critics Choice and SAG, a little more so. Maria Bakalova is still the frontrunner in my eyes.
I, and many others, no doubt, fell in love with the Borat actress and character similarly to how we did with Amy Adams and Ashley (Junebug) in 2005. No, Adams didn’t win the Oscar (but won the Critics Choice), and famously still hasn’t, but go assemble a poll of which film she should have won for. I don’t need to see the results. To note, the Best Supporting Actress race this year is definitely the most open of the acting prizes.
What else stands in Bakalova’s path, then? Glenn Close? Amanda Seyfried? Jodie Foster? And let’s not play the foreign card. If it were this very day, Lila Kedrova (Zorba the Greek) would likely be receiving headshakes at an Oscar nomination, let alone win.
Oh, what if they go back to straight nomination clips? Borat is not appropriate, surely. Well, spoilt for choice actually. It might not be a certain ceremonial dance, sure. But how about her humble introduction in Kazakhstan, the lessons learned with the babysitter, those moments with Giuliani, the reconciliation with her father, or even the cake eating scene might top it all.
Bakalova’s Tutar can warm the harshest of Borat detractors. You have to take the absurd with a pinch of salt in some cases. The fact that Tutar finds a homely presence in her shithole surroundings really embraces character and will. It’s a transformative performance, too, there’s an enticing growth to behold, rather than some throw-away projector of cheap laughs.
Maria Bakalova gives her character a venom in her longing to be free and explore, a noble ambition for sure. She allows Tutar to ooze a constantly endearing aura, all the while maintaining that subtle fierceness and comic impulse. It’s SAG and BAFTA next. As portrayed in the riotous satire of Borat, both Tutar and Maria are actually a gift to us it seems, the viewer. And her own shiny, golden prize may be imminent.
