Oscars 101: Best Foreign Language Film

In which I run down on the nominees (and likely winners) of the Academy Awards.

It's easy to forget, with the seemingly endless parade of films to come out every year, that the cinematic world encapsulates more than just America.  Some of the best films of every year come from the far corners of the world, where English is just one of many spoken languages (if it's spoken at all) and the too-familiar Hollywood style is the standard to avoid.  This year's nominees are:

Ida
Leviathan
Tangerines
Timbuktu
Wild Tales

I'm always surprised when, for good or for ill, the Palme d'Or winner of any given year isn't nominated in this category.  The Palme d'Ore is the cinematic equivalent of a Nobel Prize, and generally signifies the best regarded film amongst the international community.  Whether deserving or no, it always feels like the Academy is missing out on something through its exclusion.

As I have already mentioned, I have no idea why Indonesia elected to not submit their much lauded, international hit The Raid 2 for this category.  Its odds of being nominated were far better than a patriotic period piece that few outside of its country would care about one way or the other, and The Raid 2 easily sits prominently among the best films of the year.

The same goes for The Tale of the Princess Kaguya.  It's by far the most notable Japanese film of the year, with the largest international profile, and yet its home country elected not to make it its Oscar submission.  The fact that it earned a nomination for Best Animated Feature Film speaks to its support within the Academy.  Regardless of perceived merit or bias, this was Japan's best chance of earning a nomination, and they chose to ignore it instead.

Ida - Although most critics have settled on Leviathan as the inevitable winner of this category, Ida may surprise its detractors on Sunday.  It is the only one of the nominees to show any kind of wider acceptance within the Academy, even if that's only for Best Cinematography.  Still, when it comes to Oscars, nominated films will take what they can get.

Focusing on a young woman's journey of self discovery before taking her vows as a nun, in which she discovers that she is actually a Jew whose parents were murdered during the German occupation of Poland, Ida is a riveting tale of intermingled national, historical and personal identity.  It's a tightly framed, elegantly composed and methodically staged production.  If any film can upstage the category's heir apparent, it is Ida.

Leviathan - This is the film that people are talking about.  If any of the nominees can be considered a front runner in this category, it's Leviathan.  Drawing from both the real-life story of Marvin Heemeyer (who destroyed several buildings in Granby, Colorado - including Town Hall and the Mayor's home - over a zoning dispute) and the biblical parable of Naboth's Vineyard,  "it deals with some of the most important social issues of contemporary Russia while never becoming an artist's sermon or a public statement; it is a story of love and tragedy experienced by ordinary people"

Combining weighty themes, social importance and a raised international profile (including a 99% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 91 on Metacritic), Leviathan is the likeliest candidate to win this category.  While some have accused the film of being nothing but awards bait - lacking an earnest emotional core - that's never seemed to stop the Academy in the past.

Tangerines - Set in the disputed territory of Abkhazia (debatably part of Georgia) during the War in Abkhazia, Tangerines follows an Estonian farmer caught in the crossfires of war.  After an especially brutal encounter, the farmer nurses two enemy soldiers back to health while trying to keep them from killing one another while under his care.

When it comes to the socially and historically cognizant Academy of Motion Picture Sciences, no subject matter is too controversial - nor too obscure - to warrant attention.  Never mind its actual merits, Tangerines touches a particular chord among voters that might give it an edge over more highly lauded and arguably better films.

Timbuktu - In an age when Islamist law is increasingly viewed with outright disdain, Timbuktu draws a line in the sand.  Following an increasingly outrageous blood feud between a farmer and a fisherman over the accidental death of a cow, the film uses its narrative as an occasion to show the extremism, absurdity and heavy-handedness of Islamist justice and the waste of human life that it produces.

Like Tangerines, Timbuktu's odds of winning directly reflect its themes and message, rather than its quality.  It certainly has acclaim enough - between a 98% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 90 on Metacritic, it's hovering only slightly below Leviathan's standard of quality.  Its biggest obstacle, however, is its considerably lower profile and voters that may think that its message goes without saying.

Wild Tales - Co-produced by the Almodóvar brothers, Wild Tales presents a series of six vignettes with the common themes of violence and vengeance.  The real problem with Wild Tales, however, is not its small profile, but its segmented nature.

Whereas films often develop a single narrative over their run time, Wild Tales must do the same six times over, with considerably less time to present each tale.  Despite the strength of each individual story, and the picture that they paint when combined, such contrivances rarely win over too many voters.

Safe Bet: Leviathan

Long Shot: Ida

Longer Shot: Tangerines

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