Ridley Scott has made 29 films in his 50+ year career. However, he has yet to win a directing Oscar. He wasn’t even nominated for "Alien” and "Blade Runner," his two best films, and that’s understandable given that both films were not met with glowing praise upon release.
The closest Scott ever came to winning a golden statuette was in 2001 when “Gladiator” won Best Picture, but he lost Best Director to Steven Soderbergh for “Traffic”. Two decades later, do people still believe Soderbergh’s win was deserved? I personally believe it was — “Traffic” remains one of Soderbergh’s crowning achievements.
The following year, Scott, again, lost Best Director to Ron Howard (“A Beautiful Mind”) after being nominated for his visceral war film, “Black Hawk Down.” In 2015, he was snubbed of a nomination for “The Martian,” which is also the last time a film of his was nominated for Best Picture.
With that said, Denzel Washington seems determined to get Scott his long “overdue” Oscar. He’s telling THR that Scott not having an Oscar is damn-near criminal.
“Ridley is overdue,” Washington said. “How can he not have won an Oscar? That doesn’t even make sense. I don’t believe it, actually.”
In another interview, with BBC Radio 1, Washington goes further by stating that Scott not having an Oscar is proof that the Academy can’t do their “job” recognizing talent. “Would you tell somebody how can this man not have an Academy Award? Washington says. “Do your job. I mean seriously, though…. Believe me, and I’m not talking out a turn.”
Scott, 87, has not been shy in his insistence that he deserves to win an Oscar. The topic came up in a conversation with The New Yorker. Scott’s response was blunt:
You know, I haven’t gotten an Oscar yet. And, if I ever get one, I’ll say, ‘About feckin’ time!
Will Scott’s 29th film, “Gladiator II,” potentially be the one that finally wins him that elusive golden statuette? By the looks of it, probably not, audiences and critics are severely split on it — he’s going to have to likely wait another year.
The short version: "Woman Unknown" was a compromise. The jury deadlocked over "Possible Love" and "NAZA," not able to com to terms, fell back on their #3, May el-Toukhy's film.