OVP: Best Foreign Language Film (2015)
The Nominees Were...
Don't Tell, Italy
Joyeux Noel, France
ParadiseNow, Palestine
Sophie Scholl: The Final Days, Germany
Tsotsi, South Africa
Joyeux Noel, France
ParadiseNow, Palestine
Sophie Scholl: The Final Days, Germany
Tsotsi, South Africa
My Thoughts: 2005 is the earliest we've gone with the Oscar Viewing Project "official ballots," and throughout the front half of this year profile we've seen a few things happen that show that we are in a different Oscar era. We've seen categories we know as five-wide today (Animated Film, Sound Editing, Visual Effects) be three-wide, and we've run across at least a couple of precursor awards that didn't exist in 2005. Perhaps the biggest difference happens here, though, and it's qualitative. In the late 2000's, the foreign language film category had received criticism repeatedly for being too vanilla, too European, too focused on the same subject matter over-and-over again. This came to a head in 2007 with 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days not getting in despite being considerably better than any of the nominated films (critics say this, as do I). This led to an upheaval of the process, and a better slate of films being nominated annually. As we move further back, from, say, the late 1970's to about 2007, we're going to see more misses than hits in this category-it makes it arguably the category that I'd most want to skip for that reason (as a reminder, I don't do the Shorts or Documentaries, the former because they're impossible track down, the latter because it's too difficult to judge retroactively), but we're in this eleven contests deep, so we're going to keep on trucking, and we'll start with a movie that proves my point.
Joyeux Noel is by pretty much every definition a pleasant film. It's a fictionalized story about an actual event that took place in World War I where during battle, around Christmas, they would call a temporary truce, and in one case a famous opera singer performed for both German and French soldiers who were literally killing each other otherwise. It's fictionalized, though, and it's really not gritty or realistic at all, and becomes a bit saccharine. It's the sort of film that you wouldn't think about again, or really begrudge (like I said-pleasant), except when it's being nominated for an Oscar, and you're forced to admit that it's just okay, and not exceptional in any way. This was the case for a lot of (AMPAS-blessed) Foreign Language films during this era, where bolder cinema was replaced with middle-of-the-road light drama.
Joyeux Noel is better than Don't Tell (also know as The Beast in the Heart). Here we have a movie that's also a bit middle-of-the-road, but dealing with more serious subjects, and frequently becomes problematic in ways we wouldn't find acceptable today, and likely wouldn't have approved of even in 2005. The film's depictions of rape and molestation are played more like they're in a cheap thriller, as shocks that will come up as twists for the audience, rather than violent acts that the character are going through, and as a result while Joyeux Noel is sugary but well-intentioned, this film reads as almost unwatchable and downright gross in some sequences. I'm kind of stunned that this was nominated, and am chalking it up to Italy being the host country (as Italy is one of the most well-loved nations with Oscar).
Of the films that are most in Oscar's wheelhouse, though, Sophie Scholl was by-far my favorite. The film is again in Oscar's backyard (a World War II setting, here based on the real-life anti-Nazi crusader Sophie Scholl), but it's told as a compelling, nail-biter thriller. I loved it-the production design is really interesting (note the way that they overuse the color red), and Julia Jentsch is phenomenal in the title role. This isn't breaking new ground in terms of cinema (this isn't what this category does today or what it was in the 1960's), but it also shows that conventional films that are done really well still snuck into this category despite frequent criticism from cinephiles.
The other two films were atypical, the first because of its setting. Tsotsi was the first film from South Africa nominated in this category and the first African film nominated in the category that wasn't in French, so it was historic. It has the sort of story that we'd usually assume would be too schlocky for most tastes (a petty criminal whose life is torn upside-down by being forced to care for a baby), but it's better than you'd think. There are moments where it's not great (the schmaltzy ending and certain other sequences in the way that Tsotsi is portrayed don't lend themselves well), but there are intriguing aspects to the film, especially Tsotsi's extended conversations with a young mother in the middle of the picture. I liked this movie, and it's the sort of premise I normally can't stand, so kudos to it, even if it never gives us a really striking reason to say it's better-than-good.
Paradise Now is the one film in this category that feels like it'd survive in the more modern Oscars. The film has a vision-it's cinematic, with some really strong editing, and a great central performance from Kais Nashif. The movie attracted a lot of controversy at the time, possibly costing it an Oscar nomination, for essentially humanizing a main character who is committed to executing a terrorist plot, but it's not the politics that hurt the film in hindsight, but instead the way that the filmmakers are so against making a political statement (wanting to just present Nashif's Said as "blank slate" as possible), that they ultimately cost the movie's script from really packing a proper punch in the film's shocking finale. That said, this is from a technical standpoint the only "groundbreaking" flick in this bunch of movies.
Joyeux Noel is by pretty much every definition a pleasant film. It's a fictionalized story about an actual event that took place in World War I where during battle, around Christmas, they would call a temporary truce, and in one case a famous opera singer performed for both German and French soldiers who were literally killing each other otherwise. It's fictionalized, though, and it's really not gritty or realistic at all, and becomes a bit saccharine. It's the sort of film that you wouldn't think about again, or really begrudge (like I said-pleasant), except when it's being nominated for an Oscar, and you're forced to admit that it's just okay, and not exceptional in any way. This was the case for a lot of (AMPAS-blessed) Foreign Language films during this era, where bolder cinema was replaced with middle-of-the-road light drama.
Joyeux Noel is better than Don't Tell (also know as The Beast in the Heart). Here we have a movie that's also a bit middle-of-the-road, but dealing with more serious subjects, and frequently becomes problematic in ways we wouldn't find acceptable today, and likely wouldn't have approved of even in 2005. The film's depictions of rape and molestation are played more like they're in a cheap thriller, as shocks that will come up as twists for the audience, rather than violent acts that the character are going through, and as a result while Joyeux Noel is sugary but well-intentioned, this film reads as almost unwatchable and downright gross in some sequences. I'm kind of stunned that this was nominated, and am chalking it up to Italy being the host country (as Italy is one of the most well-loved nations with Oscar).
Of the films that are most in Oscar's wheelhouse, though, Sophie Scholl was by-far my favorite. The film is again in Oscar's backyard (a World War II setting, here based on the real-life anti-Nazi crusader Sophie Scholl), but it's told as a compelling, nail-biter thriller. I loved it-the production design is really interesting (note the way that they overuse the color red), and Julia Jentsch is phenomenal in the title role. This isn't breaking new ground in terms of cinema (this isn't what this category does today or what it was in the 1960's), but it also shows that conventional films that are done really well still snuck into this category despite frequent criticism from cinephiles.
The other two films were atypical, the first because of its setting. Tsotsi was the first film from South Africa nominated in this category and the first African film nominated in the category that wasn't in French, so it was historic. It has the sort of story that we'd usually assume would be too schlocky for most tastes (a petty criminal whose life is torn upside-down by being forced to care for a baby), but it's better than you'd think. There are moments where it's not great (the schmaltzy ending and certain other sequences in the way that Tsotsi is portrayed don't lend themselves well), but there are intriguing aspects to the film, especially Tsotsi's extended conversations with a young mother in the middle of the picture. I liked this movie, and it's the sort of premise I normally can't stand, so kudos to it, even if it never gives us a really striking reason to say it's better-than-good.
Paradise Now is the one film in this category that feels like it'd survive in the more modern Oscars. The film has a vision-it's cinematic, with some really strong editing, and a great central performance from Kais Nashif. The movie attracted a lot of controversy at the time, possibly costing it an Oscar nomination, for essentially humanizing a main character who is committed to executing a terrorist plot, but it's not the politics that hurt the film in hindsight, but instead the way that the filmmakers are so against making a political statement (wanting to just present Nashif's Said as "blank slate" as possible), that they ultimately cost the movie's script from really packing a proper punch in the film's shocking finale. That said, this is from a technical standpoint the only "groundbreaking" flick in this bunch of movies.
Other Precursor Contenders: Awards ceremonies like the Goyas and the Cesars aren't good representatives here since they're typically honoring the main films of a specific country, so I usually only count the Globes among the awards bodies we check-in with for Foreign Language film. They gave the trophy to Paradise Now, besting both the Oscar-nominated (Joyeux Noel, Tsotsi), and the Oscar-ignored (Kung Fu Hustle, The Promise).
Films I Would Have Nominated: I don't see enough of the contenders to have a cohesive opinion here, but I will say that both L'Enfant (Belgium) and Cache (Austria) both would have taken the OVP without much issue over any of these five films and were submitted options that Oscar should have considered.
Oscar’s Choice: Oscar could've gone with the controversy, but as we'd find out later in the evening, they weren't willing to get too political at the 2005 Oscars, and picked Tsotsi instead of Paradise Now.
My Choice: I'm fine with controversy, but I'm also going to go against Paradise Now by a nose and give this to Sophie Scholl, which I think is a better overall film. In third is Tsotsi, followed by Joyeux Noel and Don't Tell way in the back.
Those are my thoughts-what about you? Are you with me that Sophie Scholl was the best of this bunch, or do you want to side with Oscar with Tsotsi? What do you think was the boldest choice Oscar ever made in this category? And are we all in agreement that Haneke & the Dardennes outdo this entire lineup? Share your thoughts below!
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