I understand the use of the word “overlooks” in the headline is a little misleading. After all, I haven’t seen all 76 Foreign Language films that were submitted for Best Foreign Language Oscar this year. So to say The Past was the film that absolutely deserved to be among the shortlisted nine is a little arrogant on my part.
After all, I haven’t yet watched my screener of Belgium’s The Broken Circle Breakdown, which was shortlisted, but I have heard it is quite good. I have, however, seen The Hunt (which I loved) and The Great Beauty (which I respect).
I think it’s interesting to see Wong Kar-wai‘s The Grandmaster on the list as I’m not sure if this is the full international cut or the domestic version released by The Weinstein Co. The film certainly had its fans, but a spot on the shortlist isn’t necessarily something I was expecting. It too, however, is another film I need to watch.
Finally, it is a surprise to not see Wadjda, Saudi Arabia’s first ever submission and a film that is not only directed by a woman, but a film many have already praised this year. Perhaps with both The Past and Wadjda missing the cut this is more on the shoulders of Sony Classics, but then again, I don’t necessarily know if there is much campaigning and politicking that can be done with this category.
The full list of nine is as follows:
- Belgium – The Broken Circle Breakdown (dir. Felix van Groeningen)
- Bosnia and Herzegovina – An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker (dir. Danis Tanovic)
- Cambodia – The Missing Picture (dir. Rithy Panh)
- Denmark – The Hunt (dir. Thomas Vinterberg)
- Germany – Two Lives (dir. Georg Maas)
- Hong Kong – The Grandmaster (dir. Wong Kar-wai)
- Hungary – The Notebook (dir. Janos Szasz)
- Italy – The Great Beauty (dir. Paolo Sorrentino)
- Palestine – Omar (dir. Hany Abu-Assad)
I have to add a few of these to my database before I can begin predicting the Foreign Language category officially, but if I had to pick one now I’d go with The Hunt. While I love it personally, I know there are others out there that love it just as much, but how will the Academy’s representatives feel?
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 10, through Sunday, January 12, viewing three films each day and then casting their ballots.
The 86th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Thursday, January 16, 2014, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.
