在最近的一个颁奖晚会上，《乌云背后的幸福线》(Silver Linings Playbook)的制片人、奥斯卡奖宣传战的大师温斯坦(Harvey Weinstein)遇见了《林肯》(Lincoln)的制片人、迪士尼(Disney)旗下卢卡斯影业(Lucasfilm)的新任总裁肯尼迪 (Kathleen Kennedy)。
温斯坦对肯尼迪说，如果你让我在《星球大战》(Star Wars)中扮演个角色，我会放过《林肯》。
Agence France-Presse/Getty Images图片：第85届奥斯卡红毯秀温斯坦试图把奥斯卡奖的角逐轻描淡写，不过今年的角逐一如既往地激烈。获最佳影片奖提名的九部影片包括受到影评人士高度评价的影片，总的来说是商业上获得成功的影片，有的则是备受争议的影片。最被看好的影片已经变换了多次（目前是《逃离德黑兰》(Argo)）。
主要角逐者──包括《逃离德黑兰》、《乌云背后的幸福线》、《林肯》、《刺杀本-拉登》(Zero Dark Thirty)和《悲惨世界》(Les Miserables)──每部均投入了最高达1,000万美元用于奥斯卡奖的争夺，活动包括特别放映、豪华晚会、明星助阵、煽情采访和铺天盖地的广告。揭发隐私的事比比皆是，特别是意在挑战角逐者基于事实的真实性但难以使宣传战参与者受到指责的隐私。
吹嘘权和自我中心者在好莱坞从不缺货，但奥斯卡奖的争夺最终仍要归结到钱上。获最佳影片提名的九部影片中有六部的票房都超过了一亿美元（《爱》(Amour)和《南方的野兽》 (Beasts of the Southern Wild)不到一亿美元；《刺杀本-拉登》接近一亿美元）。票房大卖的入围影片有钱用于奥斯卡奖的争夺，他们眼中看到的是赢得奥斯卡奖可能带来的丰厚回报。
Agence France-Presse/Getty Images乔治?克鲁尼与本?阿弗莱克备战奥斯卡。本?阿弗莱克(Ben Affleck)和乔治?克鲁尼(George Clooney)成为宣传战中的王者，在亲密的招待会上用魅力吸引投票者，成为《逃离德黑兰》宣传中的主角。为力争在一场难以预测的争夺战中避免最后一刻的挑战，《逃离德黑兰》的团队购买了30分钟的电视黄金播出时段，播放该片的幕后宣传活动。其最有力的竞争者《林肯》和《乌云背后的幸福线》也采取了同样的策略。
随着奥斯卡奖角逐者们寻求新的代言人为他们的宣传战增加分量，今年的拉票大战以少有的频率出现在华盛顿。民主党的主要资助人斯皮尔伯格(Steven Spielberg)拉来比尔?克林顿(Bill Clinton)在金球奖上介绍《林肯》。《乌云背后的幸福线》的导演拉塞尔(David O. Russell)和影星库珀(Bradley Cooper)把该片的心理健康主题带到了首都华盛顿，与副总统拜登(Joe Biden)会面。拜登于是在推特上发了一张照片。
相关阅读
政治式宣传战已经成为奥斯卡奖颁奖典礼前的固定节目，部分是由于温斯坦的缘故。他凭借《莎翁情史》(Shakespeare in Love)等影片达到了宣传力的巅峰。该片惊人地击败《拯救大兵瑞恩》(Saving Private Ryan)赢得最佳影片奖。数十位顾问和电影公司高管花费10个月的时间制定如何把奥斯卡小金人收入囊中的战略。
为了对《乌云背后的幸福线》进行宣传，温斯坦采用了他惯用的手法。去年秋天，他在多伦多电影节上放映了这部电影，这部喜剧电影讲得是一个患有双相障碍的年轻人的故事。他在放映之后举办了一个盛大的晚会，邀请了库珀等明星助阵。结果这部电影击败了同在多伦多电影节上放映的《逃离德黑兰》，赢得了电影节的观众奖。
Getty Images从国会到库里克的电视节目，温斯坦与库珀、德尼罗一道为影片《乌云背后的幸福线》造势。《乌云背后的幸福线》最初计划于感恩节在全国影院上映。但是在看到电影在多伦多的反响之后，再加上来自《少年派的奇幻漂流》(Life of Pi)和斯皮尔伯格的《林肯》的竞争，温斯坦采取了他之前推出《国王的演讲》(The King's Speech)时所采取的办法。
他决定分阶段地上映这部电影，首先从16家影院开始，以建立口碑。然后，等到提名名单发布后才大范围上映。虽然这部电影的精神疾病主题难以吸引观众，但其票房仍然超过了1亿美元。
1 月份奥斯卡提名揭晓之前，温斯坦针对美国电影艺术与科学学院的成员发动了闪电战：在曼哈顿Le Cirque餐厅为电影导演和德尼罗举办的鸡尾酒招待会上，“奥兹脱口秀”(The Dr. Oz Show)的主持人奥兹(Mehmet Oz)向来宾谈到了这部电影的精神健康的主题，并提到这部电影与发生在康涅狄格州纽敦市(Newtown)的悲剧有关。
在让观众了解到这是一部喜剧之后，在奥斯卡的提名揭晓之后，宣传活动开始更加侧重于精神健康的主题。德尼罗被提名为最佳男配角后，也更加频繁地亮相。在参与录制库里克 (Katie Couric)的节目过程中，当他们讨论其电影的精神健康主题时，德尼罗失声痛哭。拉塞尔后来在节目中说，德尼罗在电影中落泪的镜头并不在剧本中，完全是因为他当时情不自禁。上周二，随着最后投票的临近，温斯坦影业公司(Weinstein Co.)推出了一则电视广告，广告中说德尼罗已经21年没有得过奥斯卡奖。
Warner Bros. Pictures《逃离德黑兰》剧照所有宣传活动的主要目的，都是让美国电影艺术与科学学院大约6,000名成员中尽可能多的人看到这部电影。如果有成员没看过这部电影，他们就不会为电影投票。对于那些在影院看效果更好的电影，比如《悲惨世界》和《少年派的奇幻漂流》，这项任务更加艰巨，因为他们要让学院成员进入影院观看，而不是在家中舒服地看DVD。
最近几年，美国电影艺术与科学学院推出了遏制疯狂宣传活动的规定，尤其针对提名之后和最后投票之前这段时间。电影制作公司只能把DVD发给学院成员，DVD的包装上不能印有其他方面的支持性评论。他们不能向学院成员赠送礼品。在提名日结束后，不可以为成员举办派对。
美国电影艺术与科学学院最近增加了一条新的规定：第三方的学院成员不能为支持提名影片而举办舞会──在提名后的宣传活动受到重重限制的时期，这个办法一直被采用，以吸引人们对电影的关注。
Illustration by Ryan Etter for The Wall Street Journal主要角逐者在每部影片上均投入了最高达1,000万美元用于最佳影片奖的争夺。一个学院成员说，顾问们的工作是避开这些规定找到一个办法。一个策略是针对奥斯卡奖评选之前的零星的其他奖项进行宣传。在今年为此类奖项举办的酒会上各路名流尤其多。
越来越复杂的规则，再加上一大堆严肃认真的主题，或许可以解释在被提名者寻求新的声音以获得优势之时，今年的讨论为何转向了华盛顿──由于在这些主题中有其共同利益，政治家们越来越愿意担当这样的代言角色。
充满奥斯卡气氛的多伦多电影节结束后，影片《逃离德黑兰》的两位主创阿弗莱克和克鲁尼举办了众多活动，包括一个鸡尾酒派对和一些放映活动。在好莱坞人气很高的克鲁尼是该片制片人（他最初被指定导演该片，但档期冲突），阿弗莱克则集导演、制片和主演于一身，他们两人成为这部影片的宣传活动策划者。两人都是好莱坞为之吸引的自由事业的代表人物，阿弗莱克还有一个十分动人的东山再起的故事（有许多采访都讲述了这个故事），那就是从2003年的超级大烂片《鸳鸯绑匪》(Gigli)的失败中重新振作。克鲁尼的魅力则是传奇性的。美国电影艺术与科学学院的一位成员说，乔治的魅力无人能敌！
The Weinstein Company/Everett Collection罗伯特?德尼罗在影片《乌云背后的幸福线》中。令《逃离德黑兰》成为最佳影片热门的关键可能是阿弗莱克令人意外地没有获得最佳导演提名，以及人们眼中他对此事高尚得体的反应。他获得评论家选择奖(Critics' Choice Awards)最高奖时发表获奖感言说，我要感谢美国电影艺术与科学学院，他在金球奖(Golden Globed)和其他颁奖礼上也作了这番表述。另一部竞争影片的宣传顾问说，本出演了他迄今最好的角色，那就是他自己。
今年参与角逐的影片中，根据真实事件改编的影片数量之多异乎寻常，因此有关这些影片准确与否的争论也难以平息。去年10月上映的《逃离德黑兰》对此直面以对。阿弗莱克在放映活动中强调了几个场面的虚构性质，包括影片结尾，载有逃脱人质的飞机起飞时，伊朗革命卫队(Iranian Revolutionary Guard)追赶的一幕。该片的定位是取悦大众的悬疑剧，而不是对伊朗的严肃评论。美国电影艺术与科学学院行政部门的一位成员说，我还没见过有谁不喜欢《逃离德黑兰》，不过他到了最终投票的那个周末都还在《逃离德黑兰》、《乌云背后的幸福线》和《林肯》这三部影片之间摇摆不定。
相比之下，《刺杀本-拉登》的势头早早消退。该片暗示酷刑在追捕本?拉登的过程中起到了帮助，因而遭受了各方铺天盖地的政治抨击。
与此同时，《林肯》则充分利用其政治主题和历史意义。斯皮尔伯格和该片主演丹尼尔?戴-刘易斯(Daniel Day-Lewis)在国会山为议员们放映了该片，并与参议院多数党领袖哈里?里德(Harry Reid)见面，由此登上媒体头条。
虽然斯皮尔伯格和戴-刘易斯基本上避开了派对的圈子，但《林肯》曾经两次成为哥伦比亚广播公司(CBS)“60分钟”(60 Minutes)电视新闻杂志的专题，该节目拥有逾1,000万观众，仍被认为是极具影响力的宣传工具。斯皮尔伯格还在林肯发表葛底斯堡演讲149周年的纪念活动上发表了主旨演讲。大约9,000名观众为他的演讲长时间起立鼓掌。
一位美国电影艺术与科学学院的成员说，学院的规则虽然有了如此之大的变化，但只要允许任何形式的宣传活动，影片获奖的原因就不在于其本身是最好的影片，而是由于它们进行了最好的宣传。
MERISSA MARR
At a recent awards party, 'Silver Linings Playbook' producer and master Oscar campaigner Harvey Weinstein crossed paths with his 'Lincoln' counterpart Kathleen Kennedy, the new chief of Disney's Lucasfilm studio.
'I'll lay off 'Lincoln' if you give me a role in 'Star Wars,' ' he told her.
Mr. Weinstein was making light of an Oscar race that this year has been as ferocious as they come. The nine best-picture nominees comprise movies popular with critics, by and large commercially successful, and in some cases steeped in controversy. The favorite has shifted several times (currently it's 'Argo').
The big contenders─including 'Argo,' 'Silver Linings,' 'Lincoln,' 'Zero Dark Thirty' and 'Les Misérables'─have poured as much as $10 million each into campaigns featuring special screenings, glitzy parties, star-powered persuasion, teary interviews and an avalanche of ads. Mudslinging, especially aimed at challenging the authenticity of the fact-based contenders but hard to lay at the feet of campaigners, has been rampant.
Bragging rights and ego are never in short supply in Hollywood, but ultimately, the campaigning is about money. Six of the nine best-picture nominees have shot through $100 million at the box office ('Amour' and 'Beasts of the Southern Wild' are short; 'Zero Dark Thirty' is close). Flush with cash, the nominees have money to spend and dollar signs in their eyes at the prospect of the riches a win can bring.
Ben Affleck and George Clooney have emerged as kings of the campaign circuit, charming voters at intimate receptions and headlining showings for 'Argo.' Seeking to head off last-minute challenges in an unpredictable race, the 'Argo' team bought a 30-minute prime-time TV slot to air a behind-the-scenes promotion for the movie─a move that was mirrored by its closest rivals, 'Lincoln' and 'Silver Linings.'
The stealth battle has turned up at Washington's doorstep with unusual frequency this year as the crush of contenders has sought out new mouthpieces to add gravitas to their campaigns. Big-time Democratic donor Steven Spielberg recruited Bill Clinton to introduce 'Lincoln' at the Golden Globes. 'Silver Linings' director David O. Russell and star Bradley Cooper took the movie's mental-health theme to the capital, meeting with Vice President Joe Biden, who tweeted a photo.
Political-style campaigning has become a fixture of the run-up to the awards, partly thanks to Mr. Weinstein. He reached the heights of his campaign powers with movies like 'Shakespeare in Love,' which spectacularly knocked out 'Saving Private Ryan' for best picture. Scores of consultants and studio executives dedicate 10 months of the year to strategizing how to bring home statuettes.
For 'Silver Linings,' Mr. Weinstein followed one of his typical, er, playbooks. Last fall, he showed the movie, a comedic drama about a young man with bipolar disorder, at the Toronto Film Festival. He threw a lavish party after the screening and had stars including Mr. Cooper work the room. The movie won the audience award, beating out 'Argo,' which also screened at the festival.
The original idea was to release the movie in theaters nationwide at Thanksgiving. But after seeing how the movie played at Toronto, and facing box-office competition from the likes of 'Life of Pi' and Mr. Spielberg's 'Lincoln,' Mr. Weinstein used a tactic he'd used on films like 'The King's Speech.'
He opened the movie in drips, starting with 16 theaters to help build word-of-mouth. He then waited until the nominations (eight) to open the movie wide. A difficult sell because of the mental-illness theme, it still has topped $100 million.
In the run-up to the Oscar nominations in January, Mr. Weinstein blitzed Academy members: At a cocktail reception at Manhattan's Le Cirque restaurant for the movie's director and Mr. De Niro, Mehmet Oz─the host of the morning show 'The Dr. Oz Show'─spoke to the crowd about the movie's mental-health theme, noting its relevance to the tragedy in Newtown, Conn.
After establishing the movie with audiences as a comedy, the campaign shifted more heavily to the topic of mental health in the wake of the Oscar nominations. Mr. De Niro, nominated for best supporting actor, also made himself more visible than usual. He broke down in tears during a taping of Katie Couric's show when they discussed the movie's mental-health theme. Mr. Russell later noted on the show that Mr. De Niro's crying scene in the movie wasn't in the screenplay─it just happened. As voting drew to a close last Tuesday, Weinstein Co. aired a TV ad saying that Mr. De Niro hadn't won an Oscar in 21 years.
The initial aim in all Oscar campaigns is to get as many of the Academy's roughly 6,000 members to see the movie as possible. If they haven't seen it, they won't vote for it. For movies that play better on the big screen─like 'Les Misérables' and 'Life of Pi'─that job is made harder because they needed to get members into a theater, rather than watching a DVD in the comfort of their home.
In recent years, the Academy has introduced rules to clamp down on campaigning gone wild, especially in the period between nominations and voting. Studios can only send Academy members DVDs of their movies, known as screeners, in boxes devoid of supportive quotes. They can't send members gifts. After nominations day, no parties for members allowed.
The Academy recently added a new rule: A third-party Academy member can't throw a bash in support of a nominee─a tactic used of late to draw attention to a movie in the rule-ridden postnomination phase.
'It's the job of consultants to figure out a way around those rules,' said one Academy member. One tactic is targeting the other awards that dot the landscape in the run-up to the Oscars. The tables for such awards were unusually packed with talent this year.
The growing labyrinth of rules, combined with a raft of serious-minded themes, may explain the shift in debate to Washington this year as nominees sought new voices to gain an edge─a role politicians have willingly embraced given their shared interest in the themes.
Emerging from the Toronto festival with Oscar buzz, Messrs. Affleck and Clooney of 'Argo' got to work on events including a cocktail party and screenings. Hugely popular in Hollywood, Mr. Clooney, who produced the movie (he was originally earmarked to direct it but had a schedule clash), and Mr. Affleck, who directed, produced and starred in it, have emerged as campaign power brokers for their movies. Both are figureheads for liberal causes that Hollywood is attracted to, and Mr. Affleck has an appealing comeback story─recounted in several interviews─of clawing his way back from the 2003 mega-flop 'Gigli.' Mr. Clooney's charm is legendary. 'Who can resist George!' said one Academy member.
Potentially key to the movie's emergence as the best-picture favorite was Mr. Affleck's surprise absence from the best-director category and what was seen as his gracious reaction. 'I would like to thank the Academy,' he joked in his acceptance speech at the Critics' Choice Awards, where he won the top prizes, as he did at the Golden Globes and elsewhere. 'Ben has performed his best acting role yet, playing Ben,' said an adviser for a rival campaign.
With an unusual number of fact-based movies in contention, taming the debate about their accuracy has been a challenge. Released last October, 'Argo' tackled it head on. At screenings, Mr. Affleck emphasized the fictional nature of several scenes, including the finale when Iranian Revolutionary Guard officers chase the plane carrying the escaping hostages as it takes off. The movie was positioned as a suspenseful drama and crowd-pleaser, rather than a serious comment on Iran. 'I didn't meet anyone who didn't like 'Argo,' ' said a member of the Academy's executive branch, who nevertheless headed into the final voting weekend undecided between 'Argo,' 'Silver Linings' and 'Lincoln.'
By contrast, 'Zero Dark Thirty' got bogged down early on in a quagmire of political bashing from both sides of the aisle for implying that torture helped track down Osama bin Laden.
'Lincoln' meanwhile made much of its political theme and historical importance. Mr. Spielberg and his star Daniel Day-Lewis generated headlines by screening the movie in the Capitol for lawmakers and meeting with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
While Mr. Spielberg and Mr. Day-Lewis have largely shied away from the party circuit, 'Lincoln' has been featured twice on CBS's '60 Minutes,' still seen as an influential campaign tool with its 10 million-plus viewers. Mr. Spielberg also delivered the keynote speech at the 149th anniversary of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. A crowd of some 9,000 gave him a standing ovation.
'As great as the shift in the Academy's rules has been, as long as there's campaigning of any sort allowed, movies will win not because they're the best film but because they ran the best campaign,' said one Academy member.
MERISSA MARR