List of submissions to the 92nd Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film

[Reza]

The entry from India

Gully Boy (Zoya Akhtar, 2019) 9/10

Also posted my review on a different thread earlier this year.

Passionately directed coming-of-age story is set in Dharavi, a slum right in the center of Mumbai, where thousands of people live in extremely cramped quarters. These are people whose lives are ordained by abject poverty, petty crimes, drug dealing and who are too scared to dream of a better life simply because they know this is the only way of life they will live. The sensitive screenplay uses this milieu while focusing on Murad (Ranveer Singh), a young Muslim student fond of American rap music, who to his delight discovers that his city has an underground Hindi hip-hop scene where young men and women weave their sad, angry, poverty ridden lives into songs which talk about injustice and humiliation that surrounds them. This is also a vivid story of the slum dwelling itself - small living quarters housing entire families - which is superbly photographed by a camera that weaves snake-like through narrow streets and in and out of small homes in the densely populated slum. Every character, big or small, is written with such vivid detail that just looking at them on screen one can easily etch out their life arc. The story charts the defiant course taken by Murad to follow his dream of becoming a rap singer and this brings him into conflict with his violent father (Vijay Raaz) who not only tells him to stop dreaming big but who has also disturbed their family equilibrium by marrying a second time and moving his younger wife into their one bedroom home which already houses his first wife, elderly mother and two sons. On a lighter side is Murad's intense romance with Safeena (Alia Bhatt), a possessive Med-student, who dresses conservatively and wears a hijab. The film's myriad of characters surrounding Murad include Sher (Siddhant Chaturvedi) his rap mentor, Moeen (Vijay Varma) his close friend who is a petty thief and drug dealer and Sky (Kalki Koechlin) a rich girl who encourages him to make a video and with whom he has a one night stand which complicates his relationship with Safeena. Superbly acted film has career high performances by both the leads. Ranveer Singh completely tones down his familiar flamboyance giving a remarkably restrained portrayal while Bhatt matches him every step of the way playing a vivacious and sharp witted young woman who knows with great precision the path she has chosen in life - to be a surgeon and to marry Murad her childhood sweetheart. Their scenes together have great heart as their romance plays through various ups and downs. No Bollywood film would be complete without its songs and this is where the story soars through the exciting use of over 20 rap songs which provide hard hitting social commentary through their lyrics. This heartfelt film, full of vibrant energy, uses its long running time to lovingly create characters, atmosphere and also manages to observe Mumbai's sharply contrasted Westernised elite and contrast them with the servant underclass. Superb film is a must-see.

[Precious Doll]

Beanpole (Russia) 6/10

Kantemir Balagov's second feature film is a rather strikingly told story of two women struggling with multiple difficulties after WW2. Whilst Beanpole is a more accessible film than Balagov's little seen first feature film Closeness its nevertheless a very confronting film. Its main failing is that when it reaches it climatic moment it all turns out to be rather 'so what'. This could make the shortlist but a spot in the final five is going to be harder.

Queen of Hearts (Denmark) 9/10

Another second feature this one by May el-Toukhy is a drama of forbidden love and desire. A happily married middle aged couple with two young daughters have their lives altered when the husbands teenage son from an earlier marriage comes to live with them. His wife (in what is the knockout performance of 2019 so far) played by Trine Dyrholm unwittingly begins sexual relationships with her underage teenage step-son. The film has a along way to go from this point and the on-going drama piles up beautifully. Its a very confronting piece of work, sexually explicit and emotionally devastating.

This film certainly deserves a place in the final five but it just hard to see what Academy selectors will think of this. Maybe in the era of #MeToo this may be considered too hot to go near particularly as the guilty party is unquestionably the adult and makes for very uncomfortable and shocking viewing.

That Breaking Glass Pictures have secured the US rights illustrates that the major minor distributors didn't want to go near this film and I doubt Breaking Glass would have a clue how to mount a campaign.

Despite the brilliant of the film I think its chances a minimal. I hope I'm proven wrong.

[Mister Tee]

It'll probably hurt Portrait that it has the same distributor as Parasite, which was already going to get the lion's share of the push in the main categories. With this category officially hopeless, Neon may just play for art-house audiences for Portrait, and not throw trade money at a not-impossible best actress run.

[dws1982]

(You can hear EVERY noise the audience makes during it, not to mention the soundtrack of any film that may be playing in the cinema next store - my next viewing will be a home in a very quite environment thanks, I can assure you watching Portrait of a Lady on Fire with Rocketman playing in the neighbouring cinema is not a happy experience, even if it only lasted about 5 minutes).

This reminds me of two of the three times I saw First Man. The second viewing was in a cheap not very well-maintained theater in my home town. The scene where they exit the spacecraft and go onto the moon had really resonated with me, partially because of the way the soundtrack mostly goes silent when he first steps onto the moon. The soundtrack went silent, and instead of the silence, we got Lady Gaga in the room next door singing about how she'll never love again. The second time it was at a nice theater in Nashville, and it was my fault for getting there so late that the only seats were right by the walkway to one of their other screening rooms, which was showing Gaspar Noe's Climax, which apparently had a very hyperactive soundtrack.

[Precious Doll]

Somewhat surprisingly, France has gone with Les Miserables as their submission and not Portrait of a Lady on Fire.

Les Miserables (France) 8/10

Its sort of a surprise in one way but not in another. For me the most surprising thing the French did was to omit By the Grace of God from its shortlist as it is easily the most Academy friendly French film eligible.

Les Miserables is a very accessible enjoyable thill ride that moves at a break neck pace. Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a very slow deliberately paced period piece with scant dialogue and no music until the last scene. (You can hear EVERY noise the audience makes during it, not to mention the soundtrack of any film that may be playing in the cinema next store - my next viewing will be a home in a very quite environment thanks, I can assure you watching Portrait of a Lady on Fire with Rocketman playing in the neighbouring cinema is not a happy experience, even if it only lasted about 5 minutes).

I do think Portrait of a Lady on Fire is the best of the these three French films but the Academy did make the better choice with Les Miserables in trying to appeal to the Academy. Queer dramas have always struggled in this category and Portrait of a Lady on Fire isn't helped being what I refer to as an 'acquired taste'. Yes, it was very much to my liking but I anticipate a number of people being bored shitless by the whole enterprise.

Les Miserables has a very good shot at making the shortlist and the final five for that matter. However, I'd be surprised to see it win over Parasite or Pain & Glory.

[dws1982]

Somewhat surprisingly, France has gone with Les Miserables as their submission and not Portrait of a Lady on Fire.

[Reza]

The submission from Pakistan is Laal Kabootar, a noir-like crime thriller which explores the underbelly of Karachi, the country's largest city.

[anonymous1980]

The Philippines' entry for Best International Feature Film is Verdict, which won a prize in Venice.

My review:

Verdict, The Philippines (Raymund Ribay Gutierrez) 8.5/10 - After she is severely beaten by her abusive husband, a woman decides to take him to court and seek justice and what follows is an excruciatingly matter-of-fact look into the justice system in the Philippines as experienced by both sides. As I was watching this, I thought, "This feels awfully like a Brillante Mendoza film" and when the credits rolled, lo and behold, he is a producer and creative consultant. His fingerprints are all over this film. The film feels almost like a documentary in its strictly procedural undertaking. Its approach strips down plot and melodrama to simply explore and marinate in the bureaucracy as well as the sexist and classist system we have in the Philippines. It's enough to make you angry. It's not a pleasant watch but it should be seen.

Can it get in? Doubtful but not out of the question. It's not our worst submission but it's not our best submission either. Brillante Mendoza's name on the credits along with his Academy membership and status as an auteur of note will give it a boost. Along with the fact that it's relevant in the #MeToo era and its prize at Venice. One thing in its favor is that Parasite and Pain & Glory are so far ahead, the three spots could be a random crapshoot.

[Precious Doll]

Dear Ex (Taiwan) 5/10

A rather pleasant diversion about a woman who discovers that her late husbands insurance policy is going to be paid out to his male lover. This sets off all kinds of anxiety and stress and ties itself up rather neat and tidy in the end. In other words its a rather formulaic comedy/drama.

Just the whole style of the film makes it a very unlikely candidate for consideration and there is nothing really arresting about the film itself to draw it any special attention.

This is available in most countries on Netflix.

[Precious Doll]

Pain & Glory (Spain) 7/10

Well, here is the probable winner so far. I certainly do not think that this is actually the best film submitted to date but it is probably the one that will have the most appeal to the Academy. Given its subject matter this semi-autobiographical about an ageing film director from one of cinemas most beloved directors in the world that also features a career best performance from leading man Antonio Banderas really makes this category Almodovar's Pain and Glory to lose.

[Precious Doll]

Joy (Austria) 7/10

This very timely film deals with the disturbing issue of people trafficking, in this particular case young women from Nigeria forced into prostitution in Europe with large debts to pay off. That is just the being of this disturbing by highly effective film by Sudabeh Mortezai.

Its been playing on Netflix for months now in most countries and regardless of whether it gets the Academy's seal of approval is worth seeking out.

[Precious Doll]

Out Stealing Horses (Norway) 4/10

This starts out as a rather captivating premise that at about the half way mark starts falling apart which by near the end of the film when some idiots mobile phone went off in the cinema and he actually started a conversation I found it something of a relief (though other members of the audience didn't feel the same and heckled the idiot out of the cinema). So clearly the film does strike a chord with some people and despite with reaction to the film appears to have struck a positive response with some.

By the way this 'stars' Stellan Skarsgard but he is barely in it.

I probably should rate what I have seen as well:

The Invisible Life of Euridice Gusmao 9/10
It Must Be Heaven 6/10
Monos 6/10
Parasite 10/10
Weathering with You 4/10
The Whistlers 6/10

[anonymous1980]

So we begin....

Parasite, South Korea (Bong Joon-ho) 10/10 - A family of con artists struggling to make ends meet cross paths with an upper-class well-to-do family then slowly but surely ingratiates themselves into their lives by getting them to employ all of them. That's about all you need to know. Part of the joy of watching this film is watching how everything plays out with its twists and turns and it slowly but surely reveals what it's really all about. This being a Bong Joon-ho film, it goes from being a very funny and demented black comedy to a thriller to a comedy again without missing a beat even in its dark denouement. It even manages to end with a layer of poignancy. This is simply masterful filmmaking, first-class storytelling all around. I was laughing, I was at the edge of my seat and I probably mouthed the words "Oh, my God!" more than a few times. It is the best film I've seen this year so far. I don't throw the masterpiece a lot....but this may be Bong Joon-ho's masterpiece.

Can it get in? Yes, I would venture to say it's a lock for a nomination and maybe even a frontrunner for a win. It could even get in Original Screenplay, Picture and Director.

Weathering with You, Japan (Makoto Shinkai) 8.5/10 - A runaway teenage boy befriends and eventually falls in love with a girl who has powers to clear the weather. This gem of a film is from the director of Your Name and just like that film, this features a romance with a super high fantasy concept that's specifically and uniquely Japanese. Just like that movie, it somehow lets you into this world and you get caught up by the high emotions of it all. Even though I prefer the earlier film, this is still a beautiful, rousing piece of work. It features absolutely gorgeous animation (having been to Tokyo this year, I recognize some of the places featured in animated form). This is Japan's entry to the Best International Feature Oscar race this year.

Can it get in? Animated films haven't done so well in this category so I'm not optimistic. It might make it to Animated Feature though.

[Reza]

Here's an article discussing predictions.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.indiew ... 68513/amp/

[Precious Doll]

Weathering with You (Japan)

I think it has been more than 20 years since Japan has selected an animated film as its submission for this category and sadly this is no Princess Mononoke which was submitted in 1997. Animated features have been a rarity in this category and whilst Weathering with You may have a chance in the animated feature category it has very little hope in this category.

Its a rather twee story which throws in the issue of climate change into the mix - honourable intentions don't always make good films. It serviceable stuff but nothing more.

Monos (Colombia)

I quite liked this rambling story of some rebels taking a hostage for political game that goes progressively out of control. Its very free wheeling and has some impressive set pieces but to be honest I can't see this playing all that well to the Academy.

The Whistlers (Romania)

The latest film by Corneliu Porumboiu is probably his most accessible work to date and though I don't think it is as thoughtful or stimulating as some of his earlier films its likely to play much better than as of his prior work to a larger audience. I would not be surprised to see this sneak its way into the history books as Romania's first nominee in this category but its by no means a given.

The Invisible Life of Euridice Gusmao (Brazil)

I'm so pleased that this truely wonderful and moving film was selected. I know there is a degree of handwrining on the internet that Bacurau has been overlooked but Euridice Gusmao is simply a far superior film and to put the icing on the cake will play better to the Academy. One off the kilter film a year (and this year it will be Parasite) is all they can handle in one year so Bacurau was never going to any further than the shortlist.

TILIEG on the other hand has real potential to make it all the way. Its story of two adult sisters separated is unfolded in a mixture of social realism and melodrama which is more than appropriate as most of it is set during the 1950s. Its a gorgeous production in every respect and I must say that I was quite taken aback by it because nothing I have seen from Karim Ainouz before prepared for his craftsmanship with this.