Editor’s note: Welcome to the first of a 33-part series dissecting the 83rd Academy Awards, brought to you by the Large Association of Movie Blogs and its assorted members. Every day leading up to the Oscars, a new post written by a different LAMB will be published, each covering a different category of the Oscars. To read any other posts regarding this event, please click the tag following the post. Thank you, and enjoy!
Oscar has a history of throwing up surprises in what it deems to be his minor categories – Marisa Tomei, I’m looking at you – and this year’s Best Foreign Language shortlist proudly continues the tradition. Indeed as recently as last year this category has upset many, when Argentina’s ‘The Secret in Their Eyes’ took the award from front-runners ‘The Prophet’ of France and Germany’s ‘The White Ribbon’. Over at Pick ‘n’ Mix, we celebrate foreign language movies more so than their shallow Hollywood counterparts, and so when I was asked to write this piece I was delighted to impart my knowledge concerning some of the great movies that dared to be released in languages other than English – and then it turns out that I haven’t seen most of them yet.
This is not entirely my fault; a shortlist of 66 movies was submitted two months ago, from which nine, and ultimately the final five would eventually be selected. I waded through the list and, at time of writing, have reviewed sixteen of them. Of these sixteen, precisely two have made it to the final five. This, naturally, leaves me at a slight disadvantage when attempting to write about this category, so prepare yourselves for a lot of padding and editorial waffling.
First, let’s take a look at those worthy cases that Oscar so casually discarded. Thailand’s ‘Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives’ would appear to be the biggest casualty. Palme d’Or winner at Cannes in the summer of 2010, this tale of Buddhist doctrine through reincarnation divided audiences; some loved it, others hated it, sometimes in the same review. The general consensus of opinion was that, although unmistakeably beautiful, the viewer was never entirely sure what he or she was actually watching. I wasn’t keen on it, in all fairness, but others waxed rhapsodic about its ethereal beauty.
Defending champions Argentina put forward the very strong ‘Carancho’, which concerned corruption in the ambulance-chasing side of the legal profession. With superb, shock-tactic direction and a very human story, this could only have fallen foul of the don’t-give-it-to-the-same-country-again rule because, for me, it was the best of the candidates by a country mile. France’s ‘Of Gods and Men’ is another big-name casualty, its tale of religion amongst eighth-century Monks lost on American audiences. Germany’s outstanding ‘When We Leave’, too, fell foul of Oscar’s unblinking eye, with its incendiary subject matter and bleak resolution perhaps contributing to its downfall. ‘Krai’, Russia’s entry, garnered some praise along the way, although mostly from train-spotters. Finally, Chinese heads will roll after the failure of its lavish ‘Aftershock’, a movie clearly designed to appeal to the Californian love of excess.
In any other year, Hungary’s ‘Bibliotheque Pascal’ would have taken some beating in the ‘oddest film’ category, were one to exist, but this year it could only scrape a bronze medal. The aforementioned ‘Uncle Boonmee’ knocked it back, taking a well-deserved second, but both failed on two counts; neither were nominated for an Oscar, and neither were anywhere near as nutty as Greece’s ‘Dogtooth’. Remarkably, this dysfunctional family drama (and then some) has reached the final five. To those who have not seen it, all I can say is be prepared for a lot of head-scratching. One thing’s for sure, you won’t leave the movie early; you’ll be too intrigued by the fascinating, perverse story of three late-teens/early-twenties children who’ve never been allowed to leave their house. If this wins I’ll be stunned, although I loved it for its batshit-insane attitude.
From the land of Dora the Explorer’s parents, ‘Biutiful’ is favoured by many. Unremittingly bleak and dreary, it is what some expect of foreign movies and so must have a chance. Somehow manipulating a ninety-minute movie into two and a quarter hours, wobbly hand-held camerawork abounds as Javier Bardem tries to balance existence – he has bowel cancer, which results in a few too many pee-in-a-cup scenes for my liking - with caring for two children. Redemption beckons, but does Oscar? Certainly Mexico’s entry has all the buzz leading up to the event, and one must always wonder whether voters actually bother to see these movies, so this is where the smart, safe money will go.
So much for the movies I’ve seen. Now, sadly, we must move on to those I am taking wild guesses at. For too long here I’ve done the exact opposite of the advice my old English teacher – Mr. Smith, bless his poisoned heart – used to give. ‘You must write your essay on the topic provided’, he would say, ‘not take every opportunity to divert it to what you wish to write about’. Which reminds me: did I ever tell you about the time…
Back on topic. Should the voters be in a contemplative state of mind, Denmark’s ‘In a Better World’ will come into consideration. Already a Golden Globe winner – beating ‘Biutiful’ along the way - ‘Better World’ combines cancer, Third World refugees, family degradation and school bullying. I’ve not seen this one, but I’m guessing it’s not a comedy.
For years the Russians had a virtual monopoly on being the bad guys in American movies, but this has changed. Now, thanks to events elsewhere, Muslims and Arabs are now the ones in the black kaffiyehs, so it is with some surprise that Canada’s ‘Incendies’ shows us tenderness with its portrayal of Arab twins returning to their father’s homeland to discover the secret life of their departed mother. Emotionally charged, it says here, one wonders whether it can tick the requisite number of boxes needed for success. The controversial Algerian drama ‘Outside the Law’ has little chance, I would humbly suggest, given its controversial take on the Algerian liberation from France. Our Gallic cousins are up in arms about the way they are shown here, but is that enough for America to finally take her revenge on the Freedom Fries fiasco? One suspects not; exporting Ashton Kutcher movies to Parisian cinemas will have to suffice.
So, there we have it. I’ve been selected as an arbiter of all that is good in foreign movies, despite having only seen 40% of the entries. This quite clearly makes me eligible to be one of the voters, and so I notch my X – both my vote and my signature – next to the wacky, zany, off-the-wall ‘Dogtooth’. Those who surmise that I chose this because it is the only one I’ve seen may go to the top of the class. All together, people, let’s practice barking like dogs!
