5 Days 'til Nominations: FOREIGN FILM FINALISTS
Wednesday, January 19, 2011 at 1:45PM
NATHANIEL R in Gael García Bernal, Javier Bardem, Scandinavia, foreign films

Actually 5 days and 19ish hours but who is counting?

Gael García Bernal in "Even the Rain"

Today's Topic: Foreign Films
One has to wonder why Oscar has a finalist round that's only announced one week before the nominations. Like the visual effects nominations finalists, which get narrowed down to practically the shortlist before the official announcement, it seems unneccessarily sadistic like "omg you're going to be nominated. NOPE!" But for now 9 countries remain from the original 65*. They are....

So, no country will get to be a first time nominee this year.

Ulrich Thomsen and screen son in Golden Globe winner "In a Better World"

Star Power. Spaniard Javier Bardem and Mexican Gael Garcia Bernal (who have flip-flopped countries here) are both regular fixtures in this category, frequently starring in submissions and on Hollywood's red carpet. Danish star Ulrich Thomsen, is less globally famous, but he's a very familiar face in movies subtitled and otherwise.

TRAILERS TO ALL FINALISTS AND MORE INFO

 

Welcome Back: Denmark's Susanne Bier, who flirted with Hollywood  (Things We Lost in the Fire with Halle Berry, a cancelled film with Michelle Pfeiffer) and who just won a Golden Globe for this very feature was nominated previously for After the Wedding; Algeria's Rachid Bouchareb was previously nominated for Days of Glory (Indigenes). 

Surprise! The shocker in the lineup is Japan's violent Confessions about a teacher who aims to take revenge on children who she believes murdered her child. It's been compared to films like Battle Royale... i.e. the type of films that never get nominated. One has to assume it's something the special committee shoved onto the list. The large regular foreign committee chooses six films (top vote getters) and a special panel, the Executive Committee, adds 3 others to the list. Then the final round of voting commences. It's a polite way of keeping the foreign committee a little more in tune with what's happening in foreign cinema and a little less focused on, one presumes, heartwarming sentiment and pretty pictures... both of which translate quite nicely no matter the language, merci beaucoup. If your favorite is eliminated in the first round, maybe you're going to vote for one of the Executive Committee approved choices in the second round?

Japan's "Confessions"

That's the theory at least.

Snubbed: We'd originally believed that the Cannes favorite OF GODS AND MEN from France, about Christian monks in a Muslim village, was going to be an easy finalist and a threat for the win. It's quite thematically topical, serious and beautiful but maybe it proved a touch too reserved to generate passion? We'd also thought that maybethe Executive Committee would put the Cannes winner UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES into this final grouping but no dice. Other relatively high profile snubs include UNDERTOW (Peru) and KAWASAKI'S ROSE (Czech Republic) which both had regular theatrical releases in 2010 and  WHEN WE LEAVE (Germany) about a Muslim woman (played by Sibel Kekilli) whose family turns on her when she decides to leave her husband and take her son with her.

MY PREDICTIONS

[All the trailers below]

*The Academy's press release states that there were 66 films eligible but there initial press release some months ago -- and thus our charts -- only included 65 films were included. Apparently Afghanistan's entry BLACK TULIP which was disqualified was reinstated.

ALGERIA

CANADA

DENMARK

GREECE

 

JAPAN

MEXICO

 

SOUTH AFRICA

 

SPAIN

SWEDEN (Yes, that's Alexander Skarsgård's baby brother in the lead role)

 

Article originally appeared on The Film Experience (http://thefilmexperience.net/).
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