Bruce Springsteen Tipped for Second Oscar
“The Boss” Could Capture Another Academy Award for “The Wrestler”
Dec 6, 2008
As the end of the year approaches, attentions are turned towards the forthcoming Academy Awards. In recent weeks one category in particular as garnered a lot of consideration, the category in question is that of Best Original Song.
Darren Aronofsky’s new film, “The Wrestler”, is earning plenty of praise in the build up to its cinema release in America. While the performance by Mickey Rourke is being lauded as superb it’s the song played over the end credits that could see Bruce Springsteen capture the second Academy Award of his career.
Bruce Springsteen’s “The Wrestler”
The film tells the story of a broken down wrestler who has next to nothing left in his life, to put it simply, his life didn’t turn out the way he wanted.
Clearly, Springsteen took all of this on board when writing the song for the film. The song is a very sad and emotive tale of a man who is at rock bottom. The lyrics are some of the most powerful that Springsteen has ever penned in his life, but the true spirit of the song lies in the vocal performance by “The Boss”.
As Springsteen ages his voice has naturally deteriorated over time, yet that is what makes “The Wrestler” such a beautiful and heart-breaking tale. Set against the scarce backdrop of little more than an acoustic guitar, Springsteen’s fragile voice fits the film and music perfectly. Even the inclusion of a signature Springsteen harmonica would somehow seem a little out of place in a song that places enormous emphasis on the bare essentials.
Aronofsky on Springsteen’s Involvement
According to the film’s director, Aronofsky, obtaining Springsteen to create a piece of music for the film had absolutely nothing to do with him.
In an interview published on September 11th by Peter Sciretta at Slashfilm.com, Aronofsky explains why Spingsteen became involved in the project.
Aronofsky says, “He did it for one reason and that was that he did it for Mickey. He felt that this was something that Mickey’s been looking for for years. So he wanted to help.”
Favourite for Best Original Song Oscar
Amongst fans of Springsteen it appears that his latest song written specifically for a movie is striking all of the right chords. Many devotees to “The Boss” are calling for the song to receive an Oscar. No more can this sentiment be felt than when reading the comments that fans have left amidst the numerous YouTube videos that feature the song.
On December 3rd the LA Times published an article with regards to the contenders for the Academy Award for the Best Original Song. In the article, written by Todd Martens, it says that “The Wrestler” is most definitely the favourite to pick up the award.
Martens even goes as far as saying that Springsteen’s former glory at the Oscars may well be a blessing. He says, “There’s no doubting Springsteen’s appeal to academy voters – he’s already won for “Streets of Philadelphia” in 1993."
“The Wrestler” will be featured on Springsteen’s upcoming album, Working on a Dream, as a bonus track.
References:
The Contenders for Best Song - LA Times
Interview: Darren Aronofsky - SlashFilm
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