Tom Jones
This review is a part of the Best Picture Project: a review of every single Academy Award winner for the Best Picture category. Tom Jones is the thirty sixth Best Picture winner at the 1963 Academy Awards.
The Best Picture award for Tony Richardson’s wonky and wacky comedy Tom Jones is as important as it is bizarre. There is so little to discuss with the tee-hee tomfoolery of the lead character, played by Albert Finney. Basically, Tom Jones is a ladies man back in 18th century England. He's a real heart throb, and his ways get the better of him (barely). As a story, Tom Jones is absolute silliness, for better or for worse. There have been fluffier Best Picture winners, but that hardly makes Tom Jones poignant.
It's strange, because the actual filmmaking aspect of Tom Jones is far more significant than the tale being told. Richardson utilizes some highly experimental ideas for a mainstream romp com. The beagles sequence at the start of the film is a well established shot, full of artistry. It feels almost like a Terrence Malick decision, to follow these hounds as they race through the grass and weeds of the countryside. Maybe it's to show the animalistic nature of the promiscuous; the drive to secure desires.
Tom Jones was well received for its fourth wall breaking and meta comedic style.
Then there are the fourth wall breaks, where characters interact with the viewer, maybe to strip Tom Jones of any regal essence. This is far from the only film to stomp on aristocracy, and I've seen it fulfilled far better (refer to Luis Buñuel for some examples). Considering the time period, and the success the film achieved, it's a tiny bit astonishing that Tom Jones was recognized at all. Maybe with Gigi somewhat setting the tone for Tom Jones, we arrive at a Best Picture winner that is superficial narratively, but daring cinematically.
Tom Jones continues to turn heads for all sorts of reasons today. The Criterion Collection saw fit to release the film, so Richardson’s choices still stand out to at least some cinephiles. Ratings wise, Tom Jones has subsided a bit, with a mostly mediocre reception. Its impact still remains. Thomas Woodward donned the title character’s moniker as his stage name, and that's the Tom Jones most people know about (he seemed to follow suit in the character's romantic choices too). There's something being said about people getting their way, here. I can kind of get that sense, but the butting heads between aesthetic and conventionality make much of Tom Jones' prose and goofiness get lost in the mix. It’s not unusual, but it’s very unusual at the same time.
Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections management from Ryerson University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.