A mysterious con job that seems to be a cover for something ominously more dangerous forms the basis for director Bryan Singer and screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie’s complex suspense thriller The Usual Suspects. Had the film been released after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, pundits would be describing it as the inevitable artistic offspring of The New World Disorder. But since this is a 1995 film, they’ll have to come up with some other kind of pat sociocultural significance for it.
That said, The Usual Suspects does eerily predict the pervasive early 21st-century feeling that something truly horrible is about to happen. In the film, the culprit is apparently a semi-mystical master of evil – a certain Keyser Söze – who, like today’s current terrorist leaders, seems to be as powerful as he is elusive. But ultimately, as it so often happens in life, neither the events nor the people involved are quite what they seem to be.
Led by Gabriel Byrne and Kevin Spacey, the ensemble cast, is almost uniformly flawless. I emphasize the “almost” because it is Spacey’s central performance that is the one off-key note in the film. Yet, despite this crucial bit of miscasting, The Usual Suspects remains the most gripping thriller I’ve seen.
Best Film
Antonia’s Line / Antonia – dir. & Scr.: Marleen Gorris
Carrington – dir. & Scr.: Christopher Hampton
The Celluloid Closet – Dir.: Robert Epstein & Jeffrey Friedman
Cinema Europe: The Other Hollywood (TV miniseries) – Dir.: Kevin Brownlow & David Gill
Dead Man Walking – dir. & Scr.: Tim Robbins;
The Flower of My Secret / La flor de mi secreto – dir. & Scr.: Pedro Almodóvar
The Flying Dutchman / De vliegende Hollander – Dir.: Jos Stelling; Scr.: Jos Stelling & Hans Heesen
Heat – Dir.: Michael Mann;
The Horseman on the Roof / Le Hussard sur le toit – Dir.: Jean-Paul Rappeneau;
Last Summer in the Hamptons – Dir.: Henry Jaglom; Scr.: Henry Jaglom & Victoria Foyt
The Lost Garden / Le Jardin oublié: La vie et l’oeuvre d’Alice Guy-Blaché – Dir.: Josée Beaudet
Nelly and Mr. Arnaud / Nelly & Monsieur Arnaud – Dir.: Claude Sautet; Scr.: Claude Sautet, Jacques Fieschi & Yves Ulmann
Shanghai Triad / Yao a yao yao dao waipo qiao – Dir.: Zhang Yimou; Scr.: Bi Feliyu
To Die For – Dir.: Gus Van Sant; Scr.: Buck Henry
The Usual Suspects – Dir.: Bryan Singer; Scr.: Christopher McQuarrie
Best Actress
Victoria Abril – French Twist / Gazon maudit
Emanuelle Béart – Nelly and Mr. Arnaud
Victoria Foyt – Last Summer in the Hamptons
Gong Li – Shanghai Triad
Holly Hunter – Copycat
Nicole Kidman – To Die For
Marisa Paredes – The Flower of My Secret
Susan Sarandon – Dead Man Walking
Emma Thompson – Carrington
Willeke van Ammelrooy – Antonia’s Line
Best Actor
Kenneth Branagh – Othello
Robert De Niro & Al Pacino – Heat
Richard Dreyfuss – Mr. Holland’s Opus
Olivier Martinez – The Horseman on the Roof
Sean Penn – Dead Man Walking
Jonathan Pryce – Carrington
Michel Serrault – Nelly and Mr. Arnaud
Best Supporting Actor
Stephen Baldwin, Gabriel Byrne, Benicio Del Toro & Chazz Palminteri – The Usual Suspects
Harry Connick Jr. – Copycat
Matt Dillon & Joaquin Phoenix – To Die For
Adrian Dunbar – Richard III
Nino Manfredi – The Flying Dutchman
Wang Xiaoxiao – Shanghai Triad
Best Supporting Actress
Angela Bassett – Waiting to Exhale
Veerle Dobbelaere – The Flying Dutchman
Els Dottermans – Antonia’s Line
Illeana Douglas – To Die For
Irène Jacob – Othello
Viveca Lindfors – Last Summer in the Hamptons
Diana Scarwid – The Neon Bible
Best Cinematography
Thierry Arbogast, The Horseman on the Roof
Michael Coulter, The Neon Bible
Goert Giltaij, The Flying Dutchman
Denis Lenoir, Carrington
Andrew Lesnie, Babe
Lu Yue, Shanghai Triad
Sven Nykvist, Kristin Lavransdatter
Newton Thomas Sigel, The Usual Suspects
Willy Stassen, Antonia’s Line
Bernard Zitzermann, Angels and Insects
Best Original Score
Carter Burwell, The Celluloid Closet
Carl Davis, Cinema Europe: The Other Hollywood
Elliot Goldenthal, Heat
Charlie Mole, Othello
Michael Nyman, Carrington
John Ottman, The Usual Suspects
Nicola Piovani, The Flying Dutchman
Philippe Sarde, Nelly and Mr. Arnaud
Ilona Sekacz, Antonia’s Line
Zhang Guangtian, Shanghai Triad