A few minutes ago the shortlist of nine films was announced and what everyone was expecting, except me, became reality. Yes France advanced to the next round and bet you will get a nomination; still deep inside me wish to be wrong.With that awful exception the list is almost perfect as there are three excellent directors that deserve a nomination, Haneke, Mungiu and Meier.
These are the films that will advance to the next round.
Austria: Amour (Love), Michael Haneke
Canada: Rebelle (War Witch), Kim Nguyen
Chile: No, Pablo Larraín
Denmark: En Kongelig Affære (A Royal Affair), Nikolaj Arcel
France: Intouchables (The Intouchables), Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano
Iceland: Djúpið (The Deep), Baltasar Kormákur
Norway: Kon-Tiki by Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg
Romania: După dealuri (Beyond the Hills), Cristian Mungiu
Switzerland: L'enfant d'en haut (Sister), Ursula Meier
What I wish will get a nomination are Austria, Romania, Switzerland, Chile and Canada; but you know that's only what I wish. Sigh.
The shortlist will be winnowed down to the five nominees by specially invited committees in New York and Los Angeles. They will spend Friday, January 4, through Sunday, January 6, viewing three films each day and then casting their ballots. Can't help but to comment that three of the above movies per day will be "torture" as most are really intense; so the first they see each day has better probabilities than the rest and yes, of course, there is only one movie in list that's "entertaining" which will make it look different to the others.
The 85th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Thursday, January 10, 2013, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater.
Yeah it's a little disappointing, but France was bound to be here, and though I hate to say it, I think it will probably end up in the final 5 as well. As you say, it is different from the other eight, none of which are feel good movies. However, I think Norway's entry was entertaining, as is Denmark's, and to a lesser degree Chile's as well, so it is a pretty well rounded group. The only one I haven't seen is the Icelandic film. That one was a surprise for me. I expected to see Germany or Australia in its place.
ReplyDeleteYes, it's disappointing but today was reading news and viewers comments in a few sites and most argue that the French movie is the only that can upset the predictable Amour win. The reason: The US distributor The Weinstein Co.; politics, politics and lots of money...
ReplyDeleteI love Baltasar Kormakur Icelandic films (not the American ones) so was not a surprise for me as also have seen movie around with positive headlines.
No surprise when I tell that believe France is the one that's stealing the spot from Barbara, Lore, Kauwboy, and others that were Oscar material. Sigh.
Yes Norway can be entertaining but too long and with many boring moments ... for me Denmark and Chile were intense but you know me, I pay more attention to what is behind the evident story.
Was thinking that IF France spoils Michael Haneke win, I'll get as upset as when Mungiu first film did not get nominated!!! (lol) and believe I'll not be the only one...
Wish you happy holidays. :)
Could someone explain to me how "The Intouchables" is eligible, considering it was released in 2011? Omar Sy won the Best Actor prizes from both the Prix Lumiere and Cesar awards last year. "Holy Motors" would have been a much better submission from France. "Camille Redouble" as well.
ReplyDeleteMy understanding is that "Amour" will be eligible for Cesar awards since the film is a co-production; it's nominated for Prix Lumiere awards already. How did they decide it was Austrian? It's so downbeat, which could hurt it's chances, but it deserves to win.
Hi, yes The Intouchables was released in France in November 2011, but in America was in 2012, which makes film to qualify for current Oscars. As far as I remember the French committee that selects submission to Oscar had new members that came mainly from government, which definitively facilitates the selection of a "mainstream" or "blockbuster" movie. BUT by the time France selected this film to be their submission, film already had an US distributor: The Weinstein Company, which is VERY well-known to heavily promote their films in the award season. I personally do not doubt that the US distributor has much to do with France selecting this film.
ReplyDeleteThere were MANY excellent French films that SHOULD have been better submissions like the ones you mention or even Jacques Audiard's film too. Sigh.
Amour is an Austria, France and Germany production and in theory film could have been a submission from any of those coutries... perhaps the one with less qualifications is Germany. The director and some of the money are Austrian, thus was eligible to be Austria's submission.
Amour absolutely deserves to WIN! and many of us will be in shock if does not; the strong contender that could spoil Amour winning is France submission! (mainly because who is behind, i.e. the US distributor).
Thanks for your comment and if you have more doubts please let me know.