--- title: Oscars 2014: Who Will Win Best Director? Alfonso Cuarón, Gravity description: The only reason Gravity will win is because it won't win the bigger prize: Best Picture canonical: https://time.com/11786/oscars-2014-best-director-alfonso-cuaron-gravity/ author: Richard Corliss article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-02-28T18:49:29.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T06:33:07.542Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Oscars 2014: Who Will Win Best Director? Alfonso Cuarón, Gravity og:description: The only reason Gravity will win is because it won't win the bigger prize: Best Picture og:url: https://time.com/11786/oscars-2014-best-director-alfonso-cuaron-gravity/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt93685685ee9acd7c/698683a5e8524b3a716019d6/gravity.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1500 og:image:height: 844 og:image:alt: gravity og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Oscars 2014: Who Will Win Best Director? Alfonso Cuarón, Gravity twitter:description: The only reason Gravity will win is because it won't win the bigger prize: Best Picture twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt93685685ee9acd7c/698683a5e8524b3a716019d6/gravity.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Oscars 2014: Why Alfonso Cuarón Will Win Best Director for 'Gravity' > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. by [Richard Corliss](https://time.com/author/richard-corliss/) ## Richard Corliss Feb 28, 2014 6:49 PM UTC  Warner Bros. by [Richard Corliss](https://time.com/author/richard-corliss/) ## Richard Corliss Feb 28, 2014 6:49 PM UTC **NOMINEES** Alfonso Cuaron, _Gravity_ Steve McQueen, _12 Years a Slave_ Alexander Payne, _Nebraska_ David O. Russell, _American Hustle_ Martin Scorsese, _The Wolf of_ [_Wall Street_](http://topics.time.com/wall-street/) Two or three of these names are horses to fill out the field for the big race. Payne is well liked, even if few real people saw [his ornery little black-and-white comedy](http://entertainment.time.com/2013/05/23/nebraska-alexander-paynes-america-plains-and-simple/). Scorsese, having overcome the Academy voters’ bizarre hostility to his work for 30 years — when he made sensational movies like _Raging Bull_, _Goodfellas_ and _Casino_, but kept losing to actors turned directors ([Robert Redford](http://topics.time.com/robert-redford/), [Kevin Costner](http://topics.time.com/kevin-costner/) and Mel Gibson, respectively) — before they finally acknowledged him in 2007 for _The Departed_, is here because, whatever the members’ feelings toward _The Wolf of Wall Street_, it’s certainly very busily and expertly directed. But neither he not Payne has a realistic chance here. **(READ:** [**Why** **_12 Years a Slave_** **Will Win Best Picture**](http://entertainment.time.com/2014/02/28/oscars-2014-predictions-best-picture-12-years-a-slave/#ixzz2ueEcTSVX)**)** _American Hustle_ was a frontrunner a month or so ago, when it won the Screen Actors Guild award for Best Ensemble (SAG’s equivalent of Best Picture). And Russell, who went through a pariah phase in Hollywood when the famously amiable George Clooney denounced him after starring in Russell’s _Three Kings_, is now routinely praised by his stars as a superb and sensitive director of actors. But the _Hustle_ momentum has ebbed, and even if the movie were to win Best Picture, Russell would still be a long shot for this award. **(READ: Our** [**review of** **_American Hustle_**](http://entertainment.time.com/2013/12/05/american-hustle-sex-scandal-and-flat-out-fun/)**)** Let’s say this is a two-film race — that _Gravity_ and _12 Years a Slave_ are neck and neck for Best Director _and_ Best Picture. How will that play out? The view from here is that, whichever film takes the top prize, Cuarón will be named Best Director. Of the 85 movies named Best Picture, 62 also received the Best Director award — that’s nearly three-quarters of the time. But in the past 15 years, the Academy voters have split their ballots five times, including last year, when _Argo_ won Best Picture but Ben Affleck was not nominated for Best Director and the prize went to [Ang Lee for _Life of Pi_](http://entertainment.time.com/2012/11/20/ang-lees-life-of-pi-storm-and-fang-water-and-wonder/). Had Affleck not been stiffed in the nominating process, he probably would have won the Director statuette. But of the remaining candidates, the Academy chose Lee for masterminding a fanciful drama, laden with extraordinary visual effects, about a solitary figure battling the harshest elements. **(READ:** [**Why Ang Lee was destined to win Best Director for** **_Life of Pi_**](http://entertainment.time.com/2012/11/20/ang-lees-life-of-pi-storm-and-fang-water-and-wonder/)**)** That could also be a description of _Gravity_. In addition to coaxing strong performances from Sandra Bullock and Clooney as the stranded space couple, Cuarón also orchestrated the magnificent environment they inhabit. Although the Academy prefers their Best Pictures grounded in realism, not fantasy, Lee’s _Life of Pi_ win proved that the voters understand and appreciate the qualities a visionary director needs to create an otherworldly adventure. The Directors Guild recognized Cuarón’s achievement when it named him the year’s Best Director — and the DGA award has forecast the Oscar award all but seven times in its previous 65 years. **(READ:** [**Our review of** **_Gravity_**](http://entertainment.time.com/2013/10/03/gravity-the-glory-of-cinemas-future/)**)** One thing that might favor McQueen: the Academy’s chance to make history. Four years ago, in the competition between _Avatar_ director James Cameron and _The Hurt Locker_ director Kathryn Bigelow, the Academy chose Bigelow, making her the first woman to be named Best Director. That battle had two wrinkles: Cameron and Bigelow used to be married to each other; and a lot of people in Hollywood just didn’t like Cameron. So they got to perform a progressive social act _and_ to punish the self-proclaimed “king of the world.” It was a vote of both nobility and spite. **(READ:** [**Why** **_Avatar_** **Lost at the Oscars**](http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1970502,00.html)**)** This year the liberal Academy members could vote to make the London-born McQueen the first black filmmaker to win Best Director. Unfortunately for McQueen, Cuarón is not hated; he’s one of the world’s most likable directors, with a self-depreciating humor in his acceptance speeches. A few weeks ago, when he won the Director prize (over McQueen, among others) at the British Film Awards, the Mexican filmmaker mentioned that he had lived and worked in London for the past 13 years, adding with a smile, “I think that I make a very good case for curbing immigration.” **(READ: Our** [**review of** **_12 Years a Slave_**](http://entertainment.time.com/2013/10/18/12-years-a-slave-an-unflinching-take-on-the-great-american-shame/)**)** Charm may not win Oscars on its own, but it doesn’t hurt. The Academy will want to hear him give a final speech for _Gravity_ — because he won’t be on stage when the Best Picture prize is announced. McQueen will: as one of the producers of _12 Years a Slave_. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/11786/oscars-2014-best-director-alfonso-cuaron-gravity/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/11786/oscars-2014-best-director-alfonso-cuaron-gravity/"},"headline":"Oscars 2014: Why Alfonso Cuarón Will Win Best Director for 'Gravity'","datePublished":"2014-02-28T18:49:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T06:33:07.542Z","description":"The only reason Gravity will win is because it won't win the bigger prize: Best Picture","url":"https://time.com/11786/oscars-2014-best-director-alfonso-cuaron-gravity/","keywords":["Oscars","movies","awards"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt93685685ee9acd7c/698683a5e8524b3a716019d6/gravity.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Richard Corliss","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/richard-corliss/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt93685685ee9acd7c/698683a5e8524b3a716019d6/gravity.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"gravity","caption":"","creditText":"Warner Bros.","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/oscars/","name":"Oscars"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/11786/oscars-2014-best-director-alfonso-cuaron-gravity/","name":"Oscars 2014: Why Alfonso Cuarón Will Win Best Director for 'Gravity'"}}]}] ```