Thursday | January 21, 2010 | 1:43 pm
Short List For Best Foreign Film Oscar And a Rant About Film As Art. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have narrowed down their long list of 2009’s foreign titles to just nine. There are still four more to be eliminated before the Oscars roll around, but regardless of what the five nominees may end up being, it will be an impressive collection of films. Of all the flicks I watched this year, and of all the ones I posted on my top ten, most of my favorites were not American pictures. I’m about to go way out on a limb here and possibly stir up some debate, but the appeal of foreign film, for me at least, is its higher artistic value. Granted that American filmmakers do, from time to time, create brilliant works of cinematic excellence of extremely high artistic caliber, but for the most part, filmmakers as artists are allowed to express themselves a great deal more beyond the restrictions of the Hollywood system and the MPAA. Like I said, the art of filmmaking definitely still exists in America, but just more so in other countries. It’s been proven time and time again as Hollywood constantly adopts evolving trends in cinema from other countries as they did with film noir, the french new wave, and now even the independent film movement to some extent. Some may not agree with me, but it’s for these reasons that I dig so deep into the world of cinema to find the best foreign titles each year and some of the hidden gems that go completely undiscovered. I hope I’ve been able to reveal some of these films through this site. Now onto the list, and my favorites for the year. El Secreto de Sus Ojos, Juan Jose Campanella - ArgentinaSamson & Delilah, Warwick Thornton - AustraliaThe World Is Big and Salvation Lurks around the Corner, Stephan Komandarev - BulgariaUn Prophete, Jacques Audiard - France The White Ribbon, Michael Haneke - Germany Ajami, Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani - IsraelKelin, directed by Ermek Tursunov - Kazakhstan, - KazakhstanWinter in Wartime, directed by Martin Koolhoven - The NetherlandsThe Milk of Sorrow, directed by Claudia Llosa - Peru If it were up to me the clear winner would be Un Prophete, Jacques Audiard’s fantastic examination of a man’s rise to incredible power and his subsequent descent into guilt driven madness. Michael Haneke’s latest effort, however, has been constantly gaining momentum since its premiere at Cannes. It seems as though The White Ribbon might be the critic’s favorite for this year, having taken home both the Palm D’or at Cannes, and the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film. The White Ribbon is an excellent picture by all means, and almost flawless by technical standards, but Haneke is a veteran, and for the first time in his career it’s beginning to show. Audiard had done minimal directing work before Un Prophete, and his films portray an overall love for the art and a youthful vigor that many Academy favorites lack. I should know by now though, that the Academy love to play favorites, and will usually only give out an award to someone who has been nominated before. The Foreign Language category has been notoriously hard to predict in the past though, so while The White Ribbon looks like the clear front runner, it’s still entirely up in the air. The final five will likely include both Haneke’s and Audiard’s films, and hopefully the fantastic little Dutch film Winter In Wartime. This movie went on quite the journey in 2009. The film initially enjoyed a huge amount of critical acclaim and box office success, and was well on its way to being the Netherland’s official submission to the Academy Awards. Soon after its premiere, however, the lackluster and unappreciated film White Light was recut and shipped out for international distribution. The new version, now titled Silent Army, was received so well that it bumped Winter In Wartime out of its Oscar spot, and was officially put on the ballot. Months later, in yet another strange turn of events, the Academy sent Silent Army back because recuts aren’t allowed in the Foreign Film section, and Winter In Wartime was once again in the running for the Academy Awards. Talk about a stressful year for the filmmakers! Anyways, here’s to hoping that Winter In Wartime makes it to the final round. -William Gutheil

Short List For Best Foreign Film Oscar And a Rant About Film As Art.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have narrowed down their long list of 2009’s foreign titles to just nine. There are still four more to be eliminated before the Oscars roll around, but regardless of what the five nominees may end up being, it will be an impressive collection of films. Of all the flicks I watched this year, and of all the ones I posted on my top ten, most of my favorites were not American pictures. I’m about to go way out on a limb here and possibly stir up some debate, but the appeal of foreign film, for me at least, is its higher artistic value. Granted that American filmmakers do, from time to time, create brilliant works of cinematic excellence of extremely high artistic caliber, but for the most part, filmmakers as artists are allowed to express themselves a great deal more beyond the restrictions of the Hollywood system and the MPAA. Like I said, the art of filmmaking definitely still exists in America, but just more so in other countries. It’s been proven time and time again as Hollywood constantly adopts evolving trends in cinema from other countries as they did with film noir, the french new wave, and now even the independent film movement to some extent. Some may not agree with me, but it’s for these reasons that I dig so deep into the world of cinema to find the best foreign titles each year and some of the hidden gems that go completely undiscovered. I hope I’ve been able to reveal some of these films through this site. Now onto the list, and my favorites for the year.

El Secreto de Sus Ojos, Juan Jose Campanella - Argentina
Samson & Delilah, Warwick Thornton - Australia
The World Is Big and Salvation Lurks around the Corner, Stephan Komandarev - Bulgaria
Un Prophete, Jacques Audiard - France
The White Ribbon, Michael Haneke - Germany
Ajami, Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani - Israel
Kelin, directed by Ermek Tursunov - Kazakhstan, - Kazakhstan
Winter in Wartime, directed by Martin Koolhoven - The Netherlands
The Milk of Sorrow, directed by Claudia Llosa - Peru

If it were up to me the clear winner would be Un Prophete, Jacques Audiard’s fantastic examination of a man’s rise to incredible power and his subsequent descent into guilt driven madness. Michael Haneke’s latest effort, however, has been constantly gaining momentum since its premiere at Cannes. It seems as though The White Ribbon might be the critic’s favorite for this year, having taken home both the Palm D’or at Cannes, and the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film. The White Ribbon is an excellent picture by all means, and almost flawless by technical standards, but Haneke is a veteran, and for the first time in his career it’s beginning to show. Audiard had done minimal directing work before Un Prophete, and his films portray an overall love for the art and a youthful vigor that many Academy favorites lack. I should know by now though, that the Academy love to play favorites, and will usually only give out an award to someone who has been nominated before. The Foreign Language category has been notoriously hard to predict in the past though, so while The White Ribbon looks like the clear front runner, it’s still entirely up in the air. The final five will likely include both Haneke’s and Audiard’s films, and hopefully the fantastic little Dutch film Winter In Wartime. This movie went on quite the journey in 2009. The film initially enjoyed a huge amount of critical acclaim and box office success, and was well on its way to being the Netherland’s official submission to the Academy Awards. Soon after its premiere, however, the lackluster and unappreciated film White Light was recut and shipped out for international distribution. The new version, now titled Silent Army, was received so well that it bumped Winter In Wartime out of its Oscar spot, and was officially put on the ballot. Months later, in yet another strange turn of events, the Academy sent Silent Army back because recuts aren’t allowed in the Foreign Film section, and Winter In Wartime was once again in the running for the Academy Awards. Talk about a stressful year for the filmmakers! Anyways, here’s to hoping that Winter In Wartime makes it to the final round.

-William Gutheil

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