Best Supporting Actor 1984: Results

5. Ralph Richardson in Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes- Richardson is perfectly fine in his role, but whoever played the role could not have made it Oscar worthy.

4. John Malkovich in Places in the Heart- Malkovich gives a simple yet fairly effective performance. He is not given that much to do, but when he is given the chance to do more he does.

3. Pat Morita in the Karate Kid- Morita actually does everything he should as Mr. Miyagi, since it is the sort of role where it is hard to see anyone else in the role.

2. Adolph Caesar in A Soldier's Story- Caesar gives an effectively cruel performance realizing the hatred through this palatable self-loathing.

1. Haing S. Ngor in The Killing Fields- There is no competition here Ngor simply is incredible in his role. It is a quiet performance but it conveys so much strength. His performance is completely authentic, honest, and absolutely spot on.

Deserving Performances:
Jeffrey Jones in Amadeus
James Woods in Once Upon a Time in America

Best Supporting Actor 1984: Adolph Caesar in A Soldier's Story

Adolph Caesar received his only Oscar nomination for portraying Sergeant Waters in A Soldier's Story.

A Soldier's Story is an effective murder mystery about an African American officer investigating the death of a hated Sergeant.

Adolph Caesar portrays Sergeant Waters who is the murdered man at the center of the investigation, this is not a spoiler by the way it happens in the first scene of the film. Waters is shown in flash backs to be a fairly cruel Sergeant who mistreats his men, and strangely sort of has a superiority, and inferiority complex. Waters believes himself to be better than other black men ones from the south, but he also still believes that he has to act a certain way, and that all blacks have to act a certain way to be seen better by Whites. Caesar shows both of these complexes well, and finds the right balance between the two to grant a reality to Waters's behavior.

Caesar portrays the cruelty of his character well, in a proper strict systematic fashion. Caesar has the right intensity in his performance. Caesar is particularly good in moments in which he speaks of his thoughts on race. Caesar makes Waters' racism very realistic, and he shows it something that Waters had been taught to be his father. Waters' performance is interesting an effective performance, that shows almost an systematic racism developed within the character. Caesar makes Waters a complex man with his somewhat short amount of time, his presence makes a strong impact in a film despite his character dying in the first few minutes of the film. Leaving sort of his stain on all of it, and offering the most compelling character in the narrative.

Best Supporting Actor 1984

And the Nominees Were:

Pat Morita in The Karate Kid

Ralph Richardson in Greystoke:  The Legend of Tarzan, the Lord of the Apes

Haing S. Ngor in The Killing Fields

Adolph Caesar in A Soldier's Story

John Malkovich in Places in the Heart