OVP: Best Foreign Language Film (2015)
The Nominees Were...
My Thoughts: We continue on (see-I can keep a promise to do two of these a week...he said mostly to himself), with the foreign language film contenders of 2015, and similar to Animated Feature (links to all of the contests we've done previously for 2015 below), this is a weird hodgepodge of films no one seems to talk about anymore. Just four years after the fact, while there are definitely good films here (this is a better slate than the animated race), one has to wonder why none of these caught on in a meaningful way, especially with at least three of them putting in fascinating film-making and just being good movies overall.
Sexism might play a part, as one of the best nominated pictures here is Mustang, a movie centered around the lives of five sisters growing up in a conservative Turkish household. A movie focusing on unknown female leads from a female director is the sort of thing that cinephile websites often brush by, but they'd be fools to do so. Mustang is breathtaking though, the sort of cinema that feels so easy but is so rare that it's clearly difficult to achieve. I loved the chemistry between the sisters, and the way they are written. Most films go with the cliches of "the smart one," the jock one," "the confident one" to differentiate family members, forgetting that most siblings are relatively similar growing up with the same parents and genes and all that. Here, they manage to keep them distinct but connected, and the increasing claustrophobia of the house is used for brilliant effect.
Another film that from a technical standpoint is a wow is Son of Saul. I was almost nauseous in the first fifteen minutes, as we get herky-jerky camera motions around a concentration camp, but the director gives us some reprieve from this (I remember it genuinely starting to hurt my eyes it was so jumpy), and we get what might be one of the more fascinating war stories I've seen in a while, with a central look at Saul and a man he's trying to bury. I don't want to give away too much (Son of Saul has more twists than you'd expect from an historical epic), but it's a deeply human story, one that stays with you even years after, fixating on the tragic life of one man.
A War, on the other hand, is not treading new territory. The Danish entry here feels throughout its entire run like the sort of movie that doesn't get made anymore...because it's basically just an episode of Law & Order. The movie, in a similar fashion to American Sniper a few years back, tries to have a conversation about the devastation of war, and the "casualties are inevitable" aspect employed by hawks in conversations about military conflict, and if it'd just pursued this line it might have been captivating. But the back-half of the film is a dull legal drama that has twists that feel pulled out of a Dick Wolf "how-to" guide. Occasionally movies sneak in here because they're in a foreign language and would never be taken seriously enough to land a Best Picture citation-A War is a pretty good example of that.
Another, sadly, is Theeb, arguably the most cliche genre represented here, as we see two enemies being forced to work together, and in this case we get the casual trope of "poor child in trouble" as part of the package. The movie throws western viewers (who would have assumed that Jack Fox's character would be the principle focus of the film before he's quickly sidelined), but that's about the only story beat that feels fresh here. The film works best as a survivalist metaphor, with Theeb being forced to venture out into the world rather than stay at an oasis forever, but the movie gets too heavy-handed after he leaves, and he remains unknowable as the film progresses.
The final movie is no one's idea of a cliche in this field-Embrace of the Serpent. The Colombian nominee is a staggering, gorgeous black-and-white movie about two separate journeys through the Amazon, showing us a world that feels distinct from space-and-time. It takes a while to get into, and the ending is polarizing, to say the least, but it's mesmerizing as you get there. I loved the weird similarities between the two journeys, and how they used subtle shifts in the landscape & scant buildings to show us the change in the world of our travelers. This is a movie to watch twice, not because it's hard to understand, but because there's so many visual clues that you blink and miss them (it's not a film you can get away with being on your phone).
Sexism might play a part, as one of the best nominated pictures here is Mustang, a movie centered around the lives of five sisters growing up in a conservative Turkish household. A movie focusing on unknown female leads from a female director is the sort of thing that cinephile websites often brush by, but they'd be fools to do so. Mustang is breathtaking though, the sort of cinema that feels so easy but is so rare that it's clearly difficult to achieve. I loved the chemistry between the sisters, and the way they are written. Most films go with the cliches of "the smart one," the jock one," "the confident one" to differentiate family members, forgetting that most siblings are relatively similar growing up with the same parents and genes and all that. Here, they manage to keep them distinct but connected, and the increasing claustrophobia of the house is used for brilliant effect.
Another film that from a technical standpoint is a wow is Son of Saul. I was almost nauseous in the first fifteen minutes, as we get herky-jerky camera motions around a concentration camp, but the director gives us some reprieve from this (I remember it genuinely starting to hurt my eyes it was so jumpy), and we get what might be one of the more fascinating war stories I've seen in a while, with a central look at Saul and a man he's trying to bury. I don't want to give away too much (Son of Saul has more twists than you'd expect from an historical epic), but it's a deeply human story, one that stays with you even years after, fixating on the tragic life of one man.
A War, on the other hand, is not treading new territory. The Danish entry here feels throughout its entire run like the sort of movie that doesn't get made anymore...because it's basically just an episode of Law & Order. The movie, in a similar fashion to American Sniper a few years back, tries to have a conversation about the devastation of war, and the "casualties are inevitable" aspect employed by hawks in conversations about military conflict, and if it'd just pursued this line it might have been captivating. But the back-half of the film is a dull legal drama that has twists that feel pulled out of a Dick Wolf "how-to" guide. Occasionally movies sneak in here because they're in a foreign language and would never be taken seriously enough to land a Best Picture citation-A War is a pretty good example of that.
Another, sadly, is Theeb, arguably the most cliche genre represented here, as we see two enemies being forced to work together, and in this case we get the casual trope of "poor child in trouble" as part of the package. The movie throws western viewers (who would have assumed that Jack Fox's character would be the principle focus of the film before he's quickly sidelined), but that's about the only story beat that feels fresh here. The film works best as a survivalist metaphor, with Theeb being forced to venture out into the world rather than stay at an oasis forever, but the movie gets too heavy-handed after he leaves, and he remains unknowable as the film progresses.
The final movie is no one's idea of a cliche in this field-Embrace of the Serpent. The Colombian nominee is a staggering, gorgeous black-and-white movie about two separate journeys through the Amazon, showing us a world that feels distinct from space-and-time. It takes a while to get into, and the ending is polarizing, to say the least, but it's mesmerizing as you get there. I loved the weird similarities between the two journeys, and how they used subtle shifts in the landscape & scant buildings to show us the change in the world of our travelers. This is a movie to watch twice, not because it's hard to understand, but because there's so many visual clues that you blink and miss them (it's not a film you can get away with being on your phone).
Other Precursor Contenders: Awards ceremonies like the Goyas and the Cesars aren't good representatives here since it's 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 picked Son of Saul as their victor, and kept Mustang in the mix, but otherwise went with The Brand New Testament (Belgium), The Club (Chile), and The Fencer (Finland) as their nominees. It's worth noting that Brand New Testament and The Fencer also made the Oscar shortlist, with Viva (Ireland) & Labyrinth of Lies (Germany) joining them.
Films I Would Have Nominated: While I make a point of seeing a lot of foreign-language films each year, 2015 I didn't see any film that jumps out as "snubbed" in a major way, and of the also-ran films, I've only caught Labyrinth of Lies, and I wasn't that impressed.
Oscar’s Choice: Oscar had to choose between Mustang and Son of Saul, and went with the more traditional war epic Saul.
My Choice: I'm genuinely at a loss between Mustang and Embrace of the Serpent. Mustang is arguably the better film, while Embrace of the Serpent is the more impressive achievement, and for some reason I'm feeling Embrace of the Serpent just a little bit more today so it's getting my vote. I'll follow it with Son of Saul, A War, and Theeb.
Those are my thoughts-what about you? Are you with me that Embrace is the finest of the bunch, or are you more siding with AMPAS and Son of Saul? Or are you also like me, and hedging a bit toward Mustang? And are any of the also-ran films particularly good (ones I should check out?)? Share your thoughts below!
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