Eerie parallels between ‘Oppenheimer’ and Oscar champ ‘Schindler’s List’ from 30 years ago

Going into this year’s Oscars, many are expecting a big night for “Oppenheimer.” Acclaimed filmmaker Christopher Nolan is poised to finally win his very first accolades in Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay for his work on the movie. And there are parallels between this year and the ceremony from 30 years ago.

“Schindler’s List” had 12 nominations overall going into the 66th Academy Awards in 1994 (honoring the best films of 1993). It was a biopic about Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson), a Nazi Party member who saved 1,200 Jews from concentration camps by employing them in his factories during the Holocaust. It was directed by Steven Spielberg, who at that point had been one of the most successful filmmakers in the world for about 20 years.

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Already a household name thanks to blockbuster hits such as “Jaws,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” the “Indiana Jones” franchise and “E.T.,” Spielberg had also been Oscar-nominated five times, but hadn’t won yet. 1993 in general was a pretty big year for him, though. In the summer he delivered one of the biggest commercial hits of all time with “Jurassic Park,” then in the fall released an R-rated, three-hour historical drama largely presented in black-and-white: “Schindler’s List.” Both were released by Universal Pictures.

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The latter had an amazing precursor run. It claimed major prizes from the Golden Globes, DGA, WGA, and PGA. Then at the Oscars, “Schindler’s List” won seven awards for Best Picture, Best Director (Spielberg), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Production Design and Best Score. Thus Spielberg finally became an Oscar winner himself, twice over as he was awarded for both directing and producing the film.

At this year’s Academy Awards, “Oppenheimer” has 13 nominations overall. It’s a biopic about J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy), a theoretical physicist who developed the first nuclear weapons as part of the Manhattan Project. This movie is from Christopher Nolan, who’s been one of the most successful filmmakers in the world for about 20 years.

Like Spielberg, Nolan has made a name for himself with blockbuster hits, such as the “Dark Knight” trilogy. And like Spielberg, he’s previously been Oscar-nominated five times, but has yet to win. Those bids were for “Memento” (Best Original Screenplay) “Inception” (Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay) and “Dunkirk” (Best Picture and Best Director). Universal released “Oppenheimer” back in the summer, when it became one of the biggest commercial hits of the year. Remarkable for an R-rated, three-hour historical drama with certain portions presented in black and white.

Like “Schindler’s List,” “Oppenheimer” has had an amazing precursor run. It has won major prizes from the Golden Globe, Critics Choice, DGA, BAFTA, PGA and SAG Awards. According to the combined predictions of Gold Derby users as of this writing, “Oppenheimer” is expected to win nine Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director (Nolan), Best Actor (Murphy), Best Supporting Actor (Robert Downey Jr.), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Score and Best Sound. Thus Nolan is likely to finally become an Oscar winner himself, thrice over as writer, director and producer, thus completing a journey similar to the one Spielberg made before him.

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