Black Swan, True Grit and The Fighter disqualified for an Oscar?

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

BLACK SWAN, TRUE GRIT, THE FIGHTER and THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT have all been making hay at the various awards leading up to the Oscars but there’s one award they won’t be eligible to win: Best Original Score. All four films have been deemed ineligible for the category after the Academy ruled their works were “diluted by the use of tracked themes or other pre-existing music.”

It’s another blow to for popular composers like BLACK SWAN’s Clint Mansell and TRUE GRIT’s Carter Burwell who have fallen victim to the byzantine rules of the AMPAS. Two years ago, THE DARK KNIGHT was declared ineligible for Best Original Score only to have the Academy reverse its decision a month later after a public outcry (didn’t matter in the end as TDK didn’t even get the nomination).

There has also been some controversy about INCEPTION’s score, which features a slowed down version of Edith Piaf’s “Non, je ne Regrette Rien.” Meanwhlie, the same issues that plagued BLACK SWAN – featuring excerpts of existing classical music – doesn’t seem to be an issue for THE KING’S SPEECH, which was declared eligible despite featuring excerpts from existing works throughout the film.

Whatever the case, it should make for an interesting Oscar ceremony, especially if Daft Punk and Trent Reznor are nominated in the same category…