By a nose...
Thursday, June 4, 2020 at 5:42PM 
When presenting the Best Actress Oscar during the 75th Academy Awards, Denzel Washington famously said "by a nose" before announcing Nicole Kidman as that year's winner for her work in The Hours. It was a reference to the way that, throughout that awards season, the actress's prosthetic enhanced transformation into Virginia Woolf had caused much controversy. Some people appreciated how Kidman left vanity at the door and allowed herself to be made unrecognizable, while many others found it to be distracting. In any case, it was a good booster to her Oscar campaign. The quality of a performance notwithstanding, there are few things that the Academy loves more than beautiful celebrities de-glamming.
Unfortunately, as it sometimes happens, while the performer was showered in gold, the team of makeup artists that made the physical transformation possible was left unrecognized. In the case of The Hours, they were even made ineligible…
Researching the everchanging rules of the Best Makeup and Hairstyling Oscar is to dive headfirst into a pool of deep confusion. By 2002, the year of this month's Supporting Actress Smackdown and The Hours, there was a committee to decide which films were eligible and which works would go on to the bake-off phase of voting. Like other categories, including the Best Visual Effects one, the Makeup Oscar has a list of pre-nomination finalists that get to make a special presentation to the voting members of their branch. Many contenders make it or break it during these bake-offs, even though they are a tragically under-reported part of the awards race.
As part of its duties, the Makeup Award Rules Committee was the one to set the parameters for what was considered a makeup achievement back in 2002. Nowadays, the preponderance of digital effects may make the differentiation between CGI and practical makeup a bit hard to parse out and those concerns were already at the forefront of discussion in 2002 if the Academy rulebook is to be trusted. At this point, the committee was to change yearly and make multiple meetings to ascertain the eligibility of movies for the award. Only after that, were the finalists selected and the bake-off organized.
That's how things are supposed to happen, not how they always do. In 2002, after the preliminary meetings of the committee many a contender was ruled ineligible, and only two films were shortlisted, Frida and The Time Machine. There was no bake-off and both were nominated, with Frida going on to (deservingly) win the trophy. Still, to have only two nominees caused some ruckus and the category's rules were changed once more, making it obligatory for the committee to select seven finalists for the bake-off. This is especially strange when we consider how many makeup-heavy movies were among that year's Oscar champions.
There were the Middle Earth creatures of Lord of the Rings, the nineteenth-century bleakness of Gangs of New York, Chicago's 1920s glamour, and, of course, the transformative cosmetics of The Hours. The reasons for that last one's disqualification are infuriating for they revolve around Kidman's controversial nose. While the effect itself is the work of practical makeup, some digital touch-ups were done in post-production to make it seem perfectly seamless. That's all the committee needed to declare the entire movie ineligible, even though there's a lot of other showy work throughout, including Julianne Moore in old-age makeup.
The biggest award The Hours' makeup team got was a BAFTA nomination for the work of Ivana Primorac, Conor O'Sullivan, and Jo Allen. For O'Sullivan and Allen, the situation isn't so dire since they would eventually be Oscar-nominated for other movies. Primorac, however, is still without AMPAS recognition, despite having worked in many buzzy movies like Cold Mountain, Atonement, Sweeney Todd, The Reader, Anna Karenina. For the Anthony Minchella epic, the Tim Burton musical, and the movie that won Kate Winslet her Oscar, Primorac reached the finalist shortlist but she still missed the Academy Award nomination. Maybe next time she'll be luckier.
Do you think The Hours should have been a Best Makeup contender despite its digital touch-ups?
Reader Comments (29)
It should have been eligible. The rule should be that a film cannot have more than, say, 20% of characters whose make-up and/or hair was created digitally. Or whatever other percentage they come up with.
The makeup in The hours is quite good, but The two towers deserved the nomination and win.
I love the movie, but my answer is no. There's a pic of Kidman behind the scenes with Mr. Daldry and the nose looks completely fake so I guess there were more than a few digital touches.
Peggy Sue -- Tose makeup effects are designed and calibrated for the movie camera rather than behind the scenes shoots, though. That being said, I also have my doubts about the quality of the nose as it appears in the film. It sometimes has a weird color disparity with the rest of her face, even a bit grey/green-ish. Maybe I'm imagining things. Still, nose aside, I do think The Hours makeup is overall very good. I especially like the period-appropriate work that doesn't call attention to itself in the 1920s and 1950s portions of the narrative.
Cafg -- My choice of the winner would have been between Chicago's razzle-dazzle and The Two Towers. The LOTR movie certainly wins out in terms of showiest and most complex achievement.
Totally changes its color!
I remember wondering at the time why there were only two nominees that year. What a fiasco! Still, Frida was a worthy winner and I don't begrudge the win.
Also, I remember hating Denzel for the "by a nose" comment but now I think it's totally iconic. Are you guys in favour of presenters leaving a mark?
Nah - if anything else was getting in I'd have gone with Chicago. And pretty rude/belittling remark by Denzel as far as I'm concerned.
Since my perspective the right category is makeup because the makeup includes the hairstyle work and there is no one film who digitizes hair (except Cats XD)
I like the makeup of Frida but the hairstyle is too stylish for my taste, especially if we talk about Frida Kahlo, a total natural beauty
Am I wrong or the horror films are also constantly snubbed in this category in which would it fit perfectly? Because my pick for the win that year would it be May
I love my life!
I echo others: LOTR The Two Towers absolutely deserved a nomination and win for 2002. The massive amount of work, especially during the Helm’s Deep battle, is extraordinary. (The other two LOTR films won this in their respective years, which was probably the right call, though I’d make an argument for Pirates of the Caribbean in 2003.)
Your blog is really interesting and inspiration to many. I'll be looking forward for more of your posts
@PeggySue
I tend to really dislike it when presenters leave a mark on the winner's pronouncement, actually. Or more accurately, if they give seem to give an opinion. For example, Jessica Chastain's "Chivo..." bugged me to no end. I know it's silly of me, though.
Barbra Streisand: “Well, the time has come”
I think Washington was politer than Frances McDormand's cancer diagnosis announcement of Olivia Colman.
I love when presenters add a personal touch. No need for all of the presentations to be the same.
I think the disqualification was odd, mostly because it seems odd to ding something like The Hours but something like Benjamin Button, where it would seem almost impossible to distinguish between makeup and special effects, can basically waltz to a nomination and win (I say this acknowledging a lack of full understanding of each year’s rules and qualifications in the category). I guess in the end it’s not too bothersome for me because for all of the virtues of a movie I love, I don’t think of the The Hours as some technical masterwork (it is lovely and well made, but how it looks ain’t the main event).
Denzel and “by a nose” didn’t bother me too much. Even more than being about Kidman, it seemed to be a nod to how close the race for Actress was. If nothing else, it was far less egregious than “I love my life”...
@Peggy Sue I love that presenters leave a mark, I prefer a presentation that Is spontaneous ... or at least that it looks that way.
I've never feel the comment of Denzel was harsh, the category was a close race between Nicole, Julianne and Renée, or that's how I remember it.
I have no strong feelings toward Washington's "by a nose". It's a cut moment but certainly does not that out in my list of favourite personalized academy presentations.
@Arkaan I for one adored Chastain awarded Chivo because I could feel the pure happiness Chastain had of giving the award to a a previous collaborator of hers. Especially one who was an important part of her 2011 Cannes breakout in The Tree of Life.
I have no strong feelings towards the titular nose as it's not distracting nor is it perfectly implemented. I would've nominated in for makeup and I really take issue with only two nominees being chosen. Now that the academy have made the makeup category 5 nominees I wish we could retroactively return to previous years and expand the category to 5 as it should have always been
Kidman received Julianne Moore's Oscar for Far from Heaven...😭
I'm loving the subtle shading of The Reader.
I love camp moments when stars present stuff,Streisand is the Queen but Liz Taylor used to always giggle or ad lib in the 70's.
This is just me, but i found Denzel's need to ad-lib "by a nose" to be infuriating. The acting awards have a built-in seriousness about them. His job as a presenter is to say the words written (And The Oscar Goes To) without any editorial comment. It is a historic moment, after all. But like I said, this is just me.
Wish Kidman’s big nose would’ve drop into a smaller category (Best Supporting Actress).
@/3rtful - LOL! I can say that there was one good thing that came out of the shameful gerrymandering of The Favourite performances - Regina King, a true supporting actor, won for her great performance in If Beale Street Could Talk. We all know Mr. Bean would have swept the Supporting race had she been humble. After all, Emma Stone was the titular character.
TOM totally agree with you.
Horrendous dress.
@Eoin
Yeah, I feel like my reaction is churlish. But I cringed a little bit at that moment.
I HATED the "by a nose" comment. It felt like a cheap shot.
I am going to fix the 2001-2 Oscars...
2001 - Best Supporting Actress, Nicole Kidman, Moulin Rouge! (cathegory fraud, I know, but she is more supporting Ewan than a co-lead, if you ask me, and it would have been better to put her in Supporting allowing her to be nominated in lead for "The Others" and therefore securing one win).
2002 - without the "dueness" to Kidman, give the damn Oscar to Maribel Verdú.