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The cultural hegemony of Hollywood can make it seem as if the American film industry were the biggest in the world. However, some nations produce even more cinema than the US, and, annually, there's a much greater number of non-English-speaking features than Anglophonic ones. Since the Oscars tend to relegate such films to the Best International Feature category, it's possible to get a skewed view of the global realities of movie-making from them. In truth, the Academy's very local in its choices. With that in mind, let's explore the submissions of three countries whose industries are as robust as America's…
LEAP (China)
Most sports movies based on real events are created to inspire the viewer and to celebrate real-life heroes. In that regard, Leap is an inoffensive example of the subgenre, playing like a collection of clichéd archetypes organized through a set of slightly creaky mechanisms. Spanning from the late 70s to the Rio Olympics, the movie tells the story of the Chinese women's volleyball team, centering itself around Lang Ping, a former star player turned legendary coach. Structurally, it's two films clumsily sutured together, and only one of them stars Gong Li in the lead role. The first hour is dedicated to Lang Ping's youth and the start of the Chinese supremacy in women's volleyball, while the second finds her returning to her home country after years of training American athletes. So far, so good. It's when we get into the particularities of Leap and its agitprop enthusiasm, that we find ourselves faced with a uniquely lousy sports drama. Propaganda can still be good cinema, but Peter Chan's approach is inelegant. The fervor of nationalistic pride propels the movie to trip over its own two feet as it tries and fails to achieve inspirational sentiment. Gong Li is wasted by her movie, though the star's severe magnetism still shines through. As for the volleyball set pieces, they are so frenetically put together, every motion cut to smithereens, that it's difficult to keep up. Instead of exciting, they're exhausting. The nicest thing I can say is that Leap's miles better than some of the director's previous attempts at hagiographic propaganda. D
JALLIKATTU (India)
A buffalo fated for the slaughter goes rogue in India's Oscar submission. As it escapes from its confines, a crowd of angry men chases the beast through the village and into the forest. Soon, the ecstasy of violence reveals the animalistic nature of human beings. Directed by Lijo Jose Pellissery with fearless excess, Jallikattu is an experience of sensorial extremes from minute one. While watching it, one can't help but feel the energy cranking up, scene to scene, the freight-train motion of the hunt becoming more vertiginous until the entire mechanism of the movie precipitates itself of a cliff and plunges into the depths of insanity. The rapid editing can be disorientating, and the same can be said about the camerawork, but that's the point of the picture. Jallikattu wants to drown the spectator in the intoxicated and intoxicated excitement of its characters. At the same time, the brutality of what's seen on-screen serves to undercut the men's bravado, highlighting the savageness of their actions, be it against the buffalo or against the women who they undermine and mistreat at any opportunity. It's a nightmarish spiral of madness executed with such exquisite craft one can almost ignore the vague simplicity of its central metaphor or the way the movie feels slightly too enamored by the behaviors it pertains to condemn. All in all, it's the kind of explosive experiment one rarely associates with the Academy. As such, it's not only an exciting film but a bold Oscar submission too. B
TRUE MOTHERS (Japan)
During the last two decades, Naomi Kawase has affirmed herself as one of the most consistent auteurs of current Japanese cinema. The Cannes darling often shows a taste for subdued emotion, delicate observation done through a tremulous hand-held camera, and an acting style of disaffected naturalism. While Kawase's personal stamp is evident in all her works, her directorial hand is light, almost airy. It could be said to be delicate to a fault if someone wished to be ungenerous toward the filmmaker. Her latest film, True Mothers, exemplifies all these characteristics even as it invests more attention on plot than most Kawase flicks. It details the story of adoption by breaking up the narrative between different perspectives, dividing the action into truncated sections. We get to witness the pain of an infertile couple living within a society that places great importance on biological descendants, the dilemma of a pregnant teenage girl, and the way these people's choices age and transform throughout the years. The languid rhythms of the picture allow the performance space to breathe and the cast delivers, though it's difficult not to feel like something is missing. It's not often that I say this, but True Mothers may have worked better as a TV miniseries where each storyline could shine on its own, the sentiment could blossom in more vibrant shades, the passage of time would perchance feel organic rather than forcedly segmented. As a reflection on complicated motherhood, True Mothers is a precious thing, glistening like a gem of crystalized humanism. However, as a piece of filmed drama, it's somewhat disappointing. B-
Regarding predictions, it's difficult to imagine any of these titles making the cut. Leap's got the stardom of Gong Li going for it, and Jallikattu has the advantage of being available on Amazon Prime, but I doubt they'll be among the 15-wide shortlist. True Mothers might be part of the finalists, though. Its warm gentility and sentimental appeal are likely to find fans in the Academy.