The 71st Academy Awards in 1999 gave us one of the crucial hotly debated Oscar choices of all time.
On one aspect, you had Saving Non-public Ryan (1998)—Steven Spielberg’s brutal, emotionally harrowing World Conflict II epic. It was the form of movie that critics, audiences, and even veterans unanimously praised. It gained Spielberg Greatest Director, and most assumed Greatest Image was a lock.
However then… Shakespeare in Love (1998) occurred. A witty, romantic, feel-good interval piece, backed by an Oscar marketing campaign that was something however cute.
When Shakespeare in Love walked away with Greatest Image, jaws hit the ground. Critics scoffed. Followers booed. Even Academy voters, years later, appeared to remorse it. In a 2015 The Hollywood Reporter ballot of Academy members, when requested to re-vote the 1999 Greatest Image class, they selected Saving Non-public Ryan by a large margin. Mainly, if they may time-travel, the envelope would’ve held a really completely different identify.
Which brings us to the large “what if.”
What if Oscar evening had gone the opposite means? What would’ve modified for Spielberg, for Miramax, for the varieties of films that adopted?
And what does it say about the way in which the trade rewards (or misses) greatness?
The 1999 Oscars: How Did Shakespeare in Love Win?
Harvey Weinstein’s Marketing campaign Techniques
Right here’s the half the place issues get murky. Shakespeare in Love didn’t actually trip into Oscar evening on attraction and cheeky Elizabethan banter. It stormed the gates with a meticulously aggressive marketing campaign led by Harvey Weinstein and Miramax. Assume: fixed screenings, relentless adverts, full-page trades, shiny “to your consideration” pushes, and not-so-subtle whispers discrediting rivals.
Weinstein was so determined for the win that he made it his mission to outflank Saving Non-public Ryan, a extremely superior contender, by portray it as a “nice opening sequence” adopted by a weak second half.
Everyone knows how—by such a wild margin—that was unfaithful.
On the time, this type of campaigning was turning into the brand new norm, however Weinstein took it to extremes. He handled Oscar season like political warfare—and he gained. His potential to shift the narrative, even towards a powerhouse like Spielberg, modified how Oscar campaigns have been run eternally.
This incident, to a big extent, performed a pivotal function in bringing in an unlucky shift within the following years: how a fair-and-square artistic value might be pushed into the backseat with a purpose to permit “notion management” to take the wheel.
The Academy’s Preferences on the Time
In fact, you’ll be able to’t blame all of it on Weinstein. The Academy itself was ripe for persuasion. Many citizens leaned towards lighter fare, particularly when the opposite possibility was a gritty, blood-soaked conflict story. Shakespeare in Love felt intelligent, elegant, and romantic. It was a love letter to artwork, theater, and sure, even the method of writing. In distinction, Saving Non-public Ryan was a visceral punch to the intestine.
Then there’s the unstated rule: “Spielberg already had his Oscar.” After Schindler’s Checklist (1993), many felt Spielberg had been adequately rewarded. Mix that with a marketing campaign that recommended Saving Non-public Ryan was “simply” one other conflict movie, and Shakespeare in Love immediately seemed like a breath of contemporary, royal court-scented air.
The Instant Impression: What If Saving Non-public Ryan Had Gained?
Spielberg’s Legacy Cemented Earlier
Steven Spielberg didn’t precisely want Saving Non-public Ryan to show himself, however a Greatest Image win in 1999 would’ve been a robust assertion. It will’ve marked his second Greatest Image trophy inside 5 years—a uncommon feat. Schindler’s Checklist confirmed he might ship emotional gravitas. Saving Non-public Ryan confirmed he might do it once more, in a totally completely different register.
A win would possibly’ve boosted his confidence in tackling different emotionally heavy materials sooner—or, perhaps, freed him to take extra artistic dangers with out continuously being pushed again into the “blockbuster man” field. It’s doable the crucial reevaluation of later works like Munich (2005) or Conflict Horse (2011) would’ve hit in a different way if he had two Greatest Image wins underneath his belt already.
A Completely different Path for Miramax & Weinstein
Now that is the place it will get actual. Shakespeare in Love profitable Greatest Image was greater than a win for the movie—it was a defining second for Miramax. It cemented Harvey Weinstein as a Hollywood kingmaker. It gave him unprecedented affect over awards season, legitimized his marketing campaign fashion, and made Oscar season really feel much less like a celebration of artwork and extra like a high-stakes political sport.
If Saving Non-public Ryan had gained, Miramax may need stumbled. Weinstein’s method may not have seemed like genius—it’d’ve seemed determined. Would he have misplaced a number of the energy he wielded all through the 2000s? Would the Academy have resisted being so simply manipulated in future campaigns? Onerous to say. However with out that Greatest Image win in his pocket, Weinstein’s profession trajectory may need seemed so much much less bulletproof.
Lengthy-Time period Cultural & Trade Penalties
Conflict Movies & Oscar Status
If Saving Non-public Ryan had gained Greatest Image, it might’ve cracked the door wider for conflict movies with inventive ambition. As a substitute, it took years for the Academy to completely heat again as much as the style. Movies like The Harm Locker (2008), 1917 (2019), and Dunkirk (2017) ultimately bought their due, however it’s a must to marvel: would the street have been smoother if Ryan had set the precedent?
A win in 1999 would possibly’ve despatched a transparent message that technical brilliance and emotional heft in conflict movies, except for being directorial feats, have been Greatest Image materials. As a substitute, for some time, these sorts of movies have been usually shunted into classes like Sound Modifying or Cinematography, whereas extra emotionally “palatable” movies snagged the highest prize.
The Greatest Image Bias Shift
There’s a sure form of movie folks prefer to name “Oscar bait.” Historic setting? Verify. Interval costumes? Verify. Romance? Double examine. Shakespeare in Love checked each field. If Saving Non-public Ryan had gained, the template for “Oscar-worthy” would possibly’ve seemed very completely different.
The Academy might have leaned extra towards uncooked, immersive filmmaking and fewer towards polished sentimentality. That’s to not say Shakespeare in Love didn’t have its deserves—it did—however its win bolstered a sample of rewarding a selected, prestige-flavored form of film. Ryan would possibly’ve damaged that mildew sooner.
The Legacy of Shakespeare in Love
With out that Greatest Image Oscar, Shakespeare in Love would possibly’ve remained a captivating, intelligent film that individuals loved with out debating. It nonetheless would’ve gained awards for Gwyneth Paltrow and the screenplay, and it nonetheless would’ve been thought-about a stable movie. However it wouldn’t carry the stigma it now wears—that it “stole” an Oscar from a movie many view as extra deserving.
Its popularity immediately is as a lot in regards to the politics of its win as it’s in regards to the film itself. If it had misplaced to Saving Non-public Ryan, it’d really be remembered extra fondly—free from the cloud of controversy and ranked among the many greats of romantic cinema reasonably than the middle of an Oscar upset.
The Academy’s Remorse & Altering Tides
In 2015, The Hollywood Reporter performed a ballot and requested Academy members to revisit previous Oscar races and re-cast their votes. The outcomes? A fairly blunt admission: Saving Non-public Ryan ought to’ve gained Greatest Image. And never by a slim margin, both. It crushed the re-vote.
Since then, the Academy has undergone some severe adjustments—increasing its membership, bringing in youthful and extra various voices, and adopting ranked-choice voting. These strikes intention to curb the very form of “campaign-led” outcomes that helped Shakespeare in Love triumph within the first place. Would Ryan have gained in immediately’s Oscar local weather? Most likely. Voters now appear extra open to daring, technically masterful movies that push the shape ahead—even once they’re not probably the most “feel-good” alternative.
A Defining Second in Oscar Historical past
Within the grand timeline of movie historical past, one Oscar choice may appear small. However the ripple results of Saving Non-public Ryan dropping to Shakespeare in Love have been something however. It reshaped marketing campaign methods, impacted legacies, and served as a form of cautionary story for the Academy.
Nonetheless, the loss might have performed Saving Non-public Ryan an odd form of favor. It stays a towering achievement, beloved by audiences and held up as a benchmark in conflict filmmaking. In the meantime, Shakespeare in Love carries an asterisk.
Perhaps that’s the true legacy of the upset—not simply who gained, however how the fallout pressured the trade to take a protracted, arduous take a look at how awards are gained within the first place.
