OVP: Best International Feature Film (2002)
The Nominees Were...
El Crimen del Padre Amaro (Mexico)
Hero (China)
The Man without a Past (Finland)
Nowhere in Africa (Germany)
Zus & Zo (The Netherlands)
My Thoughts: We are hitting the Foreign Language Film category today (now called the International Feature Film category), and in a year where Oscar had very little to indicate his taste. Usually when you talk about this category, it's obvious who is the frontrunner for the win partially because it's cited in other categories. Sometimes it's Best Picture or Director, even more so it's Screenplay or Cinematography, but there's a clear message to people watching at home that "this one is the leader." In this category, though, every film we're going to discuss today is only nominated just once, and as a result it's our only dance with this film.
I'm going to start with Zus & Zo, the weirdest of the five movies less because of its subject matter and more because it's such a strange choice for the Oscars. Sometimes in this category AMPAS nominates films (usually comedies) that they wouldn't touch with a ten-foot poll in, say, the writing or directing categories, and this is one of them, as Zus & Zo functions as a bad CBS sitcom. Much of it probably gets its cache from having a gay main character (which in 2002 was still something of a novelty), but it's not good, and perhaps more crucially, it's not funny.
The Man Without a Past works much better as a comedy, though it's dry and a bit dark, to the point where you fear if you should actually be laughing or not. I wasn't as smitten with this as other critics were, mostly because of the central performances, which are two-dimensional and didn't read well to me. The ending, as well, fits the script but not the movie, where it feels a bit unearned. This is Finland's only nomination in this category to date, so kudos for that at least?
The Crimes of Padre Amaro is one of two movies in this list you might've heard of, largely due to the presence of international superstar Gael Garcia Bernal. Garcia Bernal is breathtaking in this movie (I audibly gasped at points because he was so beautiful onscreen), but this is not a good performance from him (he was much better two years later in Pedro Almodovar's Bad Education, where I cited him for my Oscar Ballot). The film's subject matter is unnerving (about a priest who has an affair with a teenager and then pressures her to get an illegal abortion), particularly given the Catholic Church tried to get this movie banned (given what would become a regular headline for the Church in the following months, this censorship feels less like shock and more like shame), but the sensationalism is not in the actual movie, which is dry & very surface-level.
The other film that you might've heard of is Hero, which was a genuinely big domestic hit in 2002 (and stars well-known actors Jet Li, Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung, Zhang Ziyi...it's a who's who of early 2000's East Asian cinema). The film is gorgeous, with incredible set design & miraculous action set pieces. This film was made in the wake of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and while it doesn't compare to that film (it doesn't have the same level of visual ingenuity or as compelling of a central romance), that doesn't seem fair to compare it to one of the best films of the aughts. This is a triumph from a visionary director.
Our final nominee is Nowhere in Africa, a good if far too long film from Germany. The movie is quite romantic, and while its racial politics haven't aged well (and quite frankly weren't particularly progressive even in 2002), I think it comes together nicely in the end. But the length only underlines the fact that there are clear opportunities for more character development (things about key players in the story are either assumed or glossed over), and I think more investment in developing the script & acting would've made it more memorable.
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 Talk to Her, which was not submitted by Spain in something of a scandal at the time (many attribute Pedro Almodovar's nomination for Best Director as a bit of a middle finger to the Spanish nominating committee for not picking the otherwise obvious frontrunner for this statue). Talk to Her beat Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, City of God (which was eligible for Oscar but since it wasn't nominated, ended up being a big player at the following Oscars), The Crime of Padre Amaro, Hero, and Nowhere in Africa. It does not appear to be a case where there was a shortlist in 2002, but in addition to City of God, the Dardennes' The Son, Francois Ozon's 8 Femmes, Roberto Benigni's Pinocchio, and Susanne Bier's Open Hearts were also eligible in 2002, so a lot of well-known options.
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 am at best mixed on City of God, which we talked about a lot when we went through 2003).
Oscar’s Choice: With Talk to Her not eligible, Nowhere in Africa was a good compromise against some esoteric cinema competing.
My Choice: Not a hard choice-Hero was a hit for a reason, and is the best film of this bunch. Behind it I'd go Nowhere in Africa, The Man Without a Past, The Crimes of Padre Amaro, and Zus & Zo (in order).
Those are my thoughts-what about you? Are you with Oscar & its continued passion for films about World War II (Nowhere in Africa) or do you want to fight epic battles with me (Hero)? Why do you think Oscar embraces atypical films like Zus & Zo here but never for its other major categories? And why do you think Oscar skipped out on City of God, knowing a year later it would be all the rage? Share your thoughts below!
Past Best Foreign Language Film Contests: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
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