Paul Schrader’s “First Reformed” alongside “Roma” was the best-reviewed movie of 2018. However, don’t look for it to contend for the Best Picture prize because, well, it didn’t garner a nomination in that category. Schrader nabbed an Original Screenplay nomination, but that’s about it. Not even the film’s lead, Ethan Hawke, who has won every best actor awards with critics groups, got a nomination. Who cares, right? Oscars were never about rewarding the right movie. That’s what Schrader thinks as well, even going as far as saying he was the opposite of Martin Scorsese, who was “very fixated on winning an Oscar,” adding that he once told Scorsese, “Marty, look, if an Oscar is your priority, you need some new priorities.”
“I felt that then; I felt that now,” Schrader said. “You know, this is a very difficult conversation because I have never really respected the Academy for their choices. On the other hand, I’m enormously gratified that they have selected me. So you live in a kind of conflicted world. Where on one hand you say it truly doesn’t matter. And on the other hand you say, ‘Well, I guess it does matter.’”
As for Hawke’s snub? They spoke post-nominations:
“If [First Reformed] wasn’t recognized, it would also be gratifying,” Schrader said. “I just got off the phone with Ethan Hawke, and I said, ‘Ethan, you’ve won. You may not have gotten nominated, but you won. Your performance has made an impact, and never forget that.’”