The Academy Awards are the epitome of Hollywood film excellence. Each year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences produces a list of films they deem to be the greatest in their genre and worthy of special recognition by awarding them with an Oscar. Oftentimes, the highest honor of all, the Best Picture category, goes to a fan favorite that’s seen as the most deserving of recognition.
However, there are plenty of films that have been nominated for Best Picture that ultimately didn’t end up taking home the trophy. Despite not winning the title of Best Picture, these films still stand the test of time as some of the greatest films of all time. In this article, we’ll look at the all-time greatest Best Picture nominees that didn’t win the award.
Alfonso Cuarón’s ‘Roma’
Alfonso Cuarón’s critically acclaimed 2018 film Roma is one of the greatest Best Picture nominees that didn’t win the trophy. The film tells the story of a young woman, Cleo, and her struggles growing up in the Colonia Roma district of Mexico City in the early 1970s. Roma was nominated for 10 Academy Awards and won three, including Best Cinematography, Best Foreign Language Film, and Best Directing. Cuarón made history becoming the first Mexican-born director to ever win the award.
Despite its many accolades, Roma still wasn’t able to take home the Oscar for Best Picture, ultimately losing to Green Book. This left many fans feeling unsatisfied, as they felt that Roma was the more worthy of films. A film that was so personal and close to Cuarón, Roma has remained a fan favorite even without the added recognition of a Best Picture win.
Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List
Another of the greatest Best Picture nominees that didn’t win the award is Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List. The MCA Universal-produced 1993 film tells the story of Oskar Schindler, a German businessman who saves the lives of hundreds of Polish Jews during the Holocaust. Despite the film’s deeply emotional subject matter, it stands as one of Spielberg’s most acclaimed films and is considered one of the best films of all time.
Schindler’s List received seven Academy Award nominations, winning in all but two of them, making it one of the most successful films ever made in terms of Oscar recognition. However, it still didn’t manage to win the big prize, the Best Picture Oscar, losing to the western drama Unforgiven. Despite not winning the crown of Best Picture, Schindler’s List still stands as one of Spielberg’s greatest masterpieces and perhaps one of the best films of all time.
The Coen Brothers’ ‘Fargo’
The Coen brother’s Fargo was one of the most critically acclaimed films of 1996 and was one of the greatest Best Picture nominees that didn’t win the award. The film tells the story of a car salesman in Minnesota who hires two criminals to kidnap his wife in order to extort money from his father-in-law. Fargo was a critical success, receiving an astonishing seven Academy Award nominations and having since become a cult classic.
The film didn’t take home the big prize, however, losing to The English Patient. Despite not winning the Best Picture Oscar, Fargo has since become a classic, hailed as one of the Coen Brothers’ greatest films.
Errol Morris’ ‘The Thin Blue Line’
Errol Morris’ 1988 documentary film The Thin Blue Line is widely considered to be one of the greatest Best Picture nominees that didn’t win the award. The Thin Blue Line tells the story of Randall Adams, a man convicted of a murder he claims he did not commit, and the police corruption that led to his arrest. Despite not being a narrative fiction film, The Thin Blue Line is widely considered to be a masterpiece and has since become one of the most influential documentary films ever made.
The Thin Blue Line received an impressive two Academy Award nominations; however, neither was for Best Picture, with the film losing out to Sunday at the pool in Kigali for best Documentary. Despite not taking home the big prize of Best Picture, The Thin Blue Line remains a classic and has since become a staple of the documentary genre.
The Oscars can be a source of contention and debate as to which films should win, and which films should not. Great films often get overlooked while the so-called Hollywood favorites take the crown. While these films may have missed out on the big prize, they still stand as some of the greatest films of all time, and will remain timeless classics even without the recognition of winning Best Picture.
