Foreign Language Film Short-list

[ITALIANO]

Yes, it's certainly a reaction to a certain excess of PC - a reaction which, by the way, having been often to Scandinavian countries, I can understand and even find interesting. And for example I also find interesting that this movie points out how children have a sexuality, too - a confused maybe, but very strong sexuality. (This doesn't mean, of course, that adults should interfere with it - but fighting pedophilia, which is perfectly right and necessary, unfortunately often means ignoring the extraordinary force of sexuality in children).
Still, even I found the Christian metaphor a bit too much - and too obvious even, and it's true that while the ending was very good, very intelligent, the second half of the movie was generally a bit repetitive, muddled even.

Yet, now I have seen The Broken Circle Breakdown, and I must say that The Hunt is a miracle of sublety compared to it. While its love for American country music may have been one of the reasons why the Academy liked this Belgian entry so much, the fact that it's been critically so praised in Europe - and nominated for six European Film Awards, winning one (Best Actress, and she's actually good) - is a bit more difficult to understand. It's certainly honest, and full of raw emotions - too full, actually: every scene is a guaranteed tragedy - but by the end I was more exhausted than moved. It will certainly be nominated though, so Oscar completists shouldn't miss it.

[The Original BJ]

I'm woefully behind on commenting on so many of the best movies this season, but here's my quick down-and-dirty reaction to The Hunt:

I thought it was mostly a mixed bag. I felt that it opened strong, with two scenes early on that were PERFECTLY played: the little girl's advance on Mikkelsen (who gives quite a good performance) and his tender but firm rejection of it, and then her explanation of the sex abuse (pretty impressively acted by that little girl, who delivers just the right combo of vengeance and obliviousness to make her actions completely believable). And I thought a lot of the story beats that played out after that had an innate power to them, buoyed by the emotionalism of the actors and the pressure cooker situation their characters came to inhabit.

But as the movie went on, I started to feel like it wasn't giving me an especially fresh slant on this subject matter, and I think part of the problem is that the narrative just doesn't go in interesting enough directions in the last act. By the time we got to that church scene, I thought the movie even started to become muddled, with no real reason for Mikkelsen's best friend's "I see it in his eyes" turnaround, and the big outburst that felt completely over-the-top to me, when earlier portions of the movie had trafficked in a lot more nuance. After that, the little girl's conversation with her dad also didn't entirely work for me -- it wasn't clear why her words really landed this time -- and the beat after that with Mikkelsen and his friend just seemed vague to me when it could have been more clear about what exactly was being resolved between them and why. When the narrative jumped ahead a year after this part, I actually had to rewind because I thought I had missed something, so jarring was the jump into the last scenes of the movie.

I did very much like the ending -- it seemed to me there was some genuine ambiguity about whether or not what happens actually DOES happen, or if it was just Mikkelsen's imagination, both of which strike me as unsettling outcomes for his future. So, as I said, ultimately it's a movie that I felt did some things rather well, but lacked enough of a clear point of view on the subject matter to make me cheer for a Best Foreign Film victory, as I loudly did for the last two victors in that race.

[Uri]

I know that some found that scene very powerful, but I personally hated it.

Worst scene in the movie.

I'd sure like to hear why.

As far as I can remember – it was shown commercially here in Israel way back in 2012 (and I have no idea why it pops up in this year’s race) - The Hunt is a misogynistic boo-hoo cautionary tale about how miserably men are treated in this age of female oriented PC dictatorship in the shape of a very Christian Passion of which that scene in church is its highlight. I’m afraid to some of us it appeared to be extremely manipulative.

[ksrymy]

I know that some found that scene very powerful, but I personally hated it.

Worst scene in the movie.

I'd sure like to hear why.

[The Original BJ]

And The Hunt should win for the church scene alone.

I know that some found that scene very powerful, but I personally hated it.

Worst scene in the movie.

[ITALIANO]

And The Hunt should win for the church scene alone.

I know that some found that scene very powerful, but I personally hated it.

[ksrymy]

The Hunt may very well win, but I don't know what's so reassuring about it. It ends with [SPOILER] the protagonist being shot at - in the alternate ending on the DVD he's shot and killed.[END SPOILER]

Although the protagonist is exonerated, he is still held in suspicion and treated very badly by most of the town. I'd call it unsettling, not reassuring.

Martyr or not - and he's not killed in the version the Academy will see - he's still a saint.

Having an ending with Mikkelsen's character dead is awful. There is too much closure, and it seems like a really cheap move. The whole point of the movie is that, even after he is legally exonerated from the accusations, public opinion and stigma will forever stay with Lucas. He will never be remembered for anything other than being "that rapist guy who escaped charges." That's why the film is set in such a small town obviously - the whole lynchmob, gangup feeling.

And The Hunt should win for the church scene alone.

[ITALIANO]

The Hunt may very well win, but I don't know what's so reassuring about it. It ends with [SPOILER] the protagonist being shot at - in the alternate ending on the DVD he's shot and killed.[END SPOILER]

Although the protagonist is exonerated, he is still held in suspicion and treated very badly by most of the town. I'd call it unsettling, not reassuring.

Martyr or not - and he's not killed in the version the Academy will see - he's still a saint.

[Big Magilla]

The Hunt may very well win, but I don't know what's so reassuring about it. It ends with [SPOILER] the protagonist being shot at - in the alternate ending on the DVD he's shot and killed.[END SPOILER]

Although the protagonist is exonerated, he is still held in suspicion and treated very badly by most of the town. I'd call it unsettling, not reassuring.

[ITALIANO]

I kind of expected that The Past wouldn't have been exactly the Academy's favorite movie of the year. I am actually more shocked by the absence of Wadjda. But now I can't deny that what Italians keep saying - and for months now - could actually happen: in such a field, a nomination for The Great Beauty is very, very possible. But then I haven't seen seven of the nine movies in this list (I will see the Belgian entry tomorrow though), so there could be surprises, as there always are in this category. Anyway, I guess that the final five could be Denmark, Italy, Belgium, Germany and either Hong Kong or Palestine.

As I've said, there are always surprises - still, one thing I'm sure of is - The Hunt will win. It's not as good as the Sorrentino, but honestly it's a respectable movie, not banal, and extremely well acted (even the young girl acts as if she's a Bergman veteran). And it's very accessible - not "easy" maybe, but very, how shall I put it, "basic". Which makes it more immediately powerful, of course. I have my problems with it, but then I come from a culture which is very far (and I'm not saying better or worse) from the Protestant, politically correct background which Vinterberg's movie is obviously a product of - and a reaction to. And I'd say that I also come from a country where pedophilia - while much talked about (if only because, I mean, it's not like we don't have priests in Italy) - hasn't become a national and cultural obsession yet. And it hopefully will never be - physical closeness between adults and children is still frequent and accepted without suspicion (too accepted sometimes - for example in some areas of the South parents and relatives still kiss children on the lips, something that makes me a bit unconfortable). So for me the movie felt a bit exaggerated and, at the same time, it didn't have that liberating effect that it may have in other contexts.
In America, for example - and it's mostly Americans who vote for the Oscars. I might be wrong, but I feel that in America this is a very strong issue - pedophilia I mean. Or I should say the suspicion of pedophilia, the ghost of pedophilia, which is what The Hunt is about (this isn't a spoiler, as it's clear from the beginning of the movie: the accused man is actually totally innocent). In American movies this subject is usually treated far more grossly, with less insight, and used (detestably) as a plot device - like in that dreadful The Perks of being a Wallflower. The Hunt is deeper, but it's also, finally, very reassuring. It will win, and it will be a popular winner in the US.

[anonymous1980]

Ilo Ilo is a wonderful film. I'm also disappointed that it didn't make it. The Philippines has the worst luck since technically we had THREE shots of being represented in the race. In addition to our own entry and Ilo Ilo, we also had the UK's entry Metro Manila.

As for who will be the nominees, I think Italy, Denmark and Belgium are locks. The other two slots could be any combination of the other six.

[Precious Doll]

So...

• Belgium, The Broken Circle Breakdown, Felix van Groeningen, director
• Denmark, The Hunt, Thomas Vinterberg, director
• Hong Kong, The Grandmaster, Wong Kar-wai, director
• Hungary, The Notebook, Janos Szasz, director
• Italy, The Great Beauty, Paolo Sorrentino, director

Right?

I'd say pretty much though I would replace The Grandmaster with either Two Lives or Omar.

I was going to write a little piece about the submissions, having seen to my surprise 19 of them. I didn't realise the short list came out quite this early.

I'm shocked at the inclusion of An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker - it is not going to make the final five. And surprised by the exclusion of Wadjda, the most Western of films I have every seen from the Middle East.

The exclusion of The Past is not really surprising. There are more deserving candidates from some of the other countries.

I'm pleased that the Australian entry The Rocket failed to make it because the press here having been carrying on as if it was a sure thing. It was the worst of the 19 films I had seen and deserves to disappear into obscurity.

I can't help but feel disappointed that Ilo Ilo failed to make the shortlist but I really wasn't expecting it to. The Academy seems so be reluctant to nominate anything from Asia with a contemporary and have only done so twice in the last 20 years or so (Departures & Eat Drink Man Woman). Whilst Ilo Ilo is set in the 1990s it's setting is near enough to qualify as contemporary.

I think that this is The Hunt's to loose but it will be interesting if the new voting system makes any difference in the winner.

[Sabin]

So...

• Belgium, The Broken Circle Breakdown, Felix van Groeningen, director
• Denmark, The Hunt, Thomas Vinterberg, director
• Hong Kong, The Grandmaster, Wong Kar-wai, director
• Hungary, The Notebook, Janos Szasz, director
• Italy, The Great Beauty, Paolo Sorrentino, director

Right?

[FilmFan720]

Which cut of The Grandmaster is being screened for the foreign film committee? The longer cut or the shortened American cut? If it is the longer cut, does that mean that the longer cut is eligible here and the shorter one is eligible in all the other categories?

[anonymous1980]

Having seen The Missing Picture, it wouldn't surprise me if that film was a committee selection. I can't imagine old retirees voting for that film since it's a documentary which uses still clay figure dioramas for re-enactment scenes interspliced with archival footage. I'm also guessing The Grandmaster is also a committee-selection since the snubbing of Wong-Kar Wai is one of the reasons for its existence.