OVP: Best Foreign Language Film (2017)
The Nominees Were...
A Fantastic Woman, Chile
The Insult, Lebanon
Loveless, Russia
On Body and Soul, Hungary
The Square, Sweden
My Thoughts: We are going to get into the 2017 Foreign Language Film category, which weirdly enough I have a lot of notes to fall back upon. I was able to last year do a podcast (link here for the interested) of the podcast The One-Inch Barrier, which is tackling the nominees in this category from every year at the Oscars. They're in their final season, so if you have a lot of interest in the rich (and varied) history of this category, I suggest you check it out; we'll get to some of my top-level thoughts on the films today, but if you want more in-depth, especially on Loveless (which was the focus of that podcast) click on over & have a listen.
We'll start with Loveless today, since it's the one that I've looked at the most in-depth of these five. This is a very good movie, though it's quite dark & cold. It says a lot about modern Russia (though, as it was made in 2017, not super modern Russia), and it's weirdly critical of the Putin regime (as much as can be expected) given that it made it out of the country. I love the slow-building tension not just in the marriage onscreen, but also the tension in the story & on the audience, as our expectations are continually subverted from what we'd normally expect from a disappearance tale of this nature. Particularly in the increasing red herring aspect of the missing child, it plays really well as both a thriller and a nasty marital drama.
A Fantastic Woman was the winner with Oscar, and I can see why. It has the aura of both an important film (it's hard to argue given the bigotry of people like Ron DeSantis & Kristi Noem that transgender rights is a conversation to keep at the forefront these days) and it has a wonderful central performance from Daniela Vega. The film didn't leave enough information about Vega's Marina & her actual relationship with her onscreen love Orlando, and some of the characters (particularly the ex-wife) felt too cartoonishly evil for my tastes (though DeSantis & Noem are good reminders that truly heartless people exist in this world). That said, a really strong central performance, one that I hope will lead to continued work for Vega in other films.
The Insult is the stinker in the bunch for me. I thought the film was resonant (the way that outrage can feed slights and the need for absolution rather than acceptance), given the cultural demand on social media to seemingly be outraged all the time, but the film's characters lacked any actual nuance. The scene were the lawyers are father-daughter underlines this-The Insult is more interested in shocking the audience than having an honest conversation about modern life & our need for unceasing gratification.
The Square isn't really a movie you're supposed to like, but I did anyway. I love conversations about modern art & the state of the art world (Art History was my minor in college, and I enjoy getting a chance to trot that out when I can). The film has a fascinating look at the need for an artist to not just be creative, but to produce a type of celebrity in a modern culture largely centered on "buzz" over substance. The condom scene (and Elisabeth Moss, showing up in the one film with a substantial subset of English) is hilarious & absurd, but totally real in the sense of catered ego. I also think Claes Bang was superb, playing a man so ludicrously handsome you'll instantly assume he's smarter & more assured than he actually is.
Our final nominee is the unusual On Body and Soul. The film has a lot of potential, particularly Reka Tenki as the psychologist (who is operating in a much different, better movie), but I wasn't into it. I thought the film's magical realism felt less like the plot opening up and more like a red herring, and it clearly distracted from the melding of these two soulmates (the title is not a misnomer). It's thoughtful (I didn't actively dislike it like I did The Insult), but it's not a film that really connected with me or felt like it had a distinct game plan for its plot.
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 only count the Globes among the awards bodies we check-in with for Foreign Language film. The Globes went with In the Fade, which was the shock snub on Oscar nominations morning (it was submitted by AMPAS favorite Germany) over A Fantastic Woman, First They Killed My Father, Loveless, & The Square. I have to assume In the Fade was the sixth place finisher, as France's BPM didn't make it to the finalist list despite a strong critical backing, though Israel's Foxtrot also made some waves that year.
Films I Would Have Nominated: I don't see enough of the contenders to have a cohesive opinion here, and I don't have an obvious nominee I would've included that was in the running (I didn't see In the Fade and BPM, and I don't think I'll be able to by the time we get to My Oscar Ballot).
Oscar’s Choice: With both In the Fade and BPM out, the only film in this bunch that had a proper amount of momentum was A Fantastic Woman, which won by a comfortable margin.
My Choice: I'm also giving my win by a comfortable margin, but to Loveless, which is a really well-mounted movie that finds ways in an oppressive regime to make commentary about an oppressive regime (not easy). I'll follow that with The Square, A Fantastic Woman, On Body and Soul, and The Insult, in order.
Those are my thoughts-what about you? Are you going to stick it out with Oscar & A Fantastic Woman, or would you like to join the darker recesses of Loveless? Why do you think that Oscar skipped over heavy favorites like BPM and In the Fade in this lineup? And does anyone actually love The Insult or On Body and Soul (from what I can tell, both of these movies have very few ardent admirers)? Share your thoughts below!
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