Awards Season 2009

[xavier110]

All I needed to see the title Winter in Wartime (omg, WWII!) to know that it's the winner.

The nominees will probably be:

Ajami (a review I just read compared it to Crash)
A Prophet
The Secret of Her Eyes
The White Ribbon
Winter in Wartime

It seems like the committee, which adds three films to the six top vote-getters, threw in festival favorites Milk of Sorrow and Samson & Delilah and possibly the Kazakh entry, since that doesn't sound like a film that would work with this conservative, 65+ crowd. Perhaps they had to save one of the big two instead, but I kind of doubt it.

Judging by what I've read, I think Eyes could be a contender too. Most people will foolishly think The White Ribbon is a slam-dunk. I will believe Michael Haneke is an Oscar winner when I see it.

[domino harvey]

The Best Foreign Film Oscar is year for year the most wrong Academy Award

[reno dakota]

The Best Foreign Film Oscar is year for year the most wrong Academy Award

Maybe that should be our next List Project project.

[zedz]

Maybe that should be our next List Project project.

Except that I'd imagine a very large number of nominees (and winners) have by now long since receded into the obscurity whence they momentarily emerged.

[reno dakota]

Good point, zedz. And, given the disappointing quality of the nominees in the Best Picture category throughout the years, I can only imagine how unsatisfying the Foreign Language nominees may turn out to be. Still, part of me would be willing to do it . . .

[zedz]

I've just had a quick look at this and it's sort of interesting. Based solely on what was nominated and what films have retained reputations, the awards only really go off the rails in the mid-seventies, and they really start wandering through adjacent fields running over livestock in the eighties.

In the 50s and 60s, the choices are generally sound from the perspective of posterity. Although there are a few years when you might quibble about the relative value of a key also-ran (La Strada vs. The Burmese Harp; The Shop on Main Street vs. Kwaidan), there are only a couple when the winner looks embarrassingly outflanked by the losers (e.g. A Man and a Woman beating both The Battle of Algiers and Loves of a Blonde; or De Sica's Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow frothing to victory while The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and Woman of the Dunes fume in the background). There are some high profile losers (e.g. Tristana, Ma Nuit chez Maud) but the winning films in those years were respectable. This is, of course, leaving aside the vast number of truly great films from whatever year that were never in contention!

Then, in 1976, Seven Beauties loses out to Black and White in Colour - though the reputations of both have faded considerably since - and the following year Bunuel's last film is pipped by Madame Rosa, an event which seems to usher in an era of forgotten obscurities and bizarre slights (and, more cheerfully, weird threads of enthusiasm I'd never suspected, such as the Academy's fascination with Spanish director Jose Luis Garci, who wins in 1982 and is subsequently nominated twice more. Who?)

Since 1980, the number of winners that could generously be described as major films by major filmmakers could be counted on the fingers of one horribly maimed hand. (And in my opinion you could change that to 'nominees' and the statement would still be true.)

[fiddlesticks]

Hmm...I'm not sure I belong on this bus, as I like Black and White in Colour and A Man and a Woman very much (although not, of course, more than The Battle of Algiers.) In the long history of Oscar mistakes, these would hardly be outcomes I'd use as examples.

[zedz]

Hmm...I'm not sure I belong on this bus, as I like Black and White in Colour and A Man and a Woman very much (although not, of course, more than The Battle of Algiers.) In the long history of Oscar mistakes, these would hardly be outcomes I'd use as examples.

None of the above was based on value judgements about the worth of the films, simply on the longevity and resilience of their critical reputations. Black and White in Colour has a relatively negligible one nowadays, whatever its qualities, whereas Seven Beauties has retained a bit more of a profile (though its stock has also dropped markedly). And both of A Man and a Woman's also-rans have ascended in reputation (and into the Criterion Collection) whereas that film and Lelouch in general have sunk. Again, maybe regardless of the actual quality of the films.

And for all I know, Jose Luis Garci is a greater filmmaker than Victor Erice. I've never knowingly seen any of his films.

[life_boy]

Aren't there unusual loopholes that films have to go through in order to get on the shortlist for foreign film or documentary (beyond simply screening in NY or LA by the end of a calendar year)?

Speaking of ineffectual foreign language Oscar winners: way back in 2002 or so I asked for the Kolya DVD for Christmas because I remembered it from the first year I got really into the Oscars (1996). It was probably one of the first foreign films I ever owned. I still haven't ever felt like watching it.

[HypnoHelioStaticStasis]

And for all I know, Jose Luis Garci is a greater filmmaker than Victor Erice. I've never knowingly seen any of his films.

I've seen The Grandfather, which was pretty tedious, almost annoyingly austere and tidy. However, I've heard Sesion Continua (Double Feature) is supposed to be a very sweet little film.

It is pretty amazing to look back on this category, and even many of the nominees from the late 80s/early 90s have disappeared completely from the scene. Has there ever been any kind of study on the politics of this category, i.e., maybe trying to chart some kind of political pattern the Academy has in nominating films from certain countries? It always seems that there are token countries (Iran, Bulgaria, etc.) being mixed in with the countries with real distribution power (France, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Japan, et al.). It could make for worthwhile discussion.

[brendanjc]

Aren't there unusual loopholes that films have to go through in order to get on the shortlist for foreign film or documentary (beyond simply screening in NY or LA by the end of a calendar year)?

I believe foreign films have to be released in September of the prior year to be eligible, unlike by December for all the other categories. They also must be in a foreign language, and for a long time they were required to be in the official language of their submitting country but that was done away with fairly recently. The documentary category is the more controversial one, Wikipedia is probably a good place to start reading about the process for both.

[domino harvey]

The submitting country chooses one film to represent them, usually a winner from their local version of the Oscars. It's why marginal but more interesting films get overshadowed by boring Oscar-bait-- SOUND FAMILIAR?! Both Fucking Åmål and Lilja 4-Ever were Sweden's submissions and neither even made it to the nominations. That alone is worth disbanding the award.

[Caged Horse]

I've always thought Japan made up for refusing to submit Ran (or was it Kagemusha that got the snub?) by audaciously nominating Pom Poko in 1994.

[Dr Amicus]

I've always thought Japan made up for refusing to submit Ran (or was it Kagemusha that got the snub?) by audaciously nominating Pom Poko in 1994.

I thought the reason Ran wasn't nominated was because it wasn't eligible due to the heavy French involvement in Financing / production? Or maybe I'm misremembering Barry Norman (who may not have been right in the first place).

The Academy sort of made up for it by nominating Kurosawa for Best Director.

But I would like to add my chorus of "WTF?" when it comes to the Best Foreign Film Oscar - a lists project on this might be fun (depending on the availability of some of the more obscure nominees).

[swo17]

Yeah, the selection process is so arbitrary, you might as well do a lists project on the best films whose titles include the letter 'Q'.

[aox]

The submitting country chooses one film to represent them, usually a winner from their local version of the Oscars. It's why marginal but more interesting films get overshadowed by boring Oscar-bait-- SOUND FAMILIAR?! Both Fucking Åmål and Lilja 4-Ever were Sweden's submissions and neither even made it to the nominations. That alone is worth disbanding the award.

It might be because both sound like pornographic films. Middle America can't have that. Could you imagine when this category comes up and the announcer had to read off the nominees to puritanical America?

[Matt]

It might be because both sound like pornographic films. Middle America can't have that. Could you imagine when this category comes up and the announcer had to read off the nominees to puritanical America?

That's a rather offensive generalization, both of the films and of "Middle America."

[Antlion]

Argentina, “El Secreto de Sus Ojos,” Juan Jose Campanella, director;
Australia, “Samson & Delilah,” Warwick Thornton, director;
Bulgaria, “The World Is Big and Salvation Lurks around the Corner,” Stephan Komandarev, director;
France, “Un Prophète,” Jacques Audiard, director;
Germany, “The White Ribbon,” Michael Haneke, director;
Israel, “Ajami,” Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani, directors;
Kazakhstan, “Kelin,” Ermek Tursunov, director;
The Netherlands, “Winter in Wartime,” Martin Koolhoven, director;
Peru, “The Milk of Sorrow,” Claudia Llosa, director.

Quiet interesting titles, but I definitely miss Canada ("Polytechnique"), Taiwan ("Yang Yang") and South Korea ("Jal Aljido Mothamyeonseo"). The latter mentioned being one of the greatest films of the 21st century!

[aox]

It might be because both sound like pornographic films. Middle America can't have that. Could you imagine when this category comes up and the announcer had to read off the nominees to puritanical America?

That's a rather offensive generalization, both of the films and of "Middle America."

Really? I don't agree at all. It was supposed to read as satire to be honest. It's hard to convey a sarcastic tone on the internet sometimes while trying to maintain a level of minimalism. In fact, I thought I was being rather too obvious.

[nredding2]

I have seen "Winter in Wartime" and it is a good movie. It's about a teenage boy during the last winter of WW2. His father is a small-town mayor who has to fraternize with the German occupiers and his son isn't happy with that. A British flyer is shot down and the boy tries to help him escape.

I have also seen "A Prophet" and it is basically "Scarface" set in a French prison.

[zedz]

I have seen "Winter in Wartime" and it is a good movie. It's about a teenage boy during the last winter of WW2. His father is a small-town mayor who has to fraternize with the German occupiers and his son isn't happy with that. A British flyer is shot down and the boy tries to help him escape.

I do believe we have a winner.

[Antlion]

I would've prefered "De laatste dagen van Emma Blank" instead of "Oorlogswinter". Has anyone else watched it?

[Awesome Welles]

On the topic of Best Foreign Film Oscar Lists Project I was also recently thinking about Plame d'Or as a list project after reading this on the Film Comment archive. I never really thought about it until it was pointed out.

Keeping this thread on topic, the Cesars have been announced.

[jbaart]

I would've prefered "De laatste dagen van Emma Blank" instead of "Oorlogswinter". Has anyone else watched it?

Seen both. (They were both in the Palm Springs Festival) The latter is the better film. As a matter of fact Oorlogswinter/Winter in Wartime has a good shot of winning. Not because it's a second world war movie, but because it is a wonderful film.

Good to know it's worth watching. I speak Dutch and had been considering buying the release during my holidays there last year but didn't. Will do so this summer then