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2009 Foreign Film Oscar Analysis

2009 wasn’t the strongest year for international cinema and the Academy’s slated reflected on that. There were a couple of superb foreign flicks released this year, but none of them were nominated, leaving us with what is one of the worst and most monotonous slates in the history of this award. Almost all of these movies are crime flicks, which made the slate quite tiresome.

My Ranking of the Nominees:

5. The Secret in Their Eyes

The Secret in Their Eyes should be seen just for its acting performances because both Ricardo Darin and Soledad Villamil did a terrific job in their roles, but otherwise it is a tedious crime film that does not distinguish itself from other films of the genre at all. It is an overly violent movie that is too dreary and quite underdeveloped in characters, plot and ideas. While I am happy that Argentina has an Oscar, I am sad that they won for what is one of their weakest submissions to date. It’s the worst movie on this slate in my eyes.

4. A Prophet

A Prophet is a French crime film that was supposed to deal with some very important issues, but unfortunately it mostly brushed them aside in favor of your typical rising in the ranks of prison storyline. Yes, it’s well acted and directed, but it’s overlong and predictable in its plot. This is just another standard prison gangster flick with nothing new or original to offer. It was made just for the fans of the genre and it had no business being nominated here.

3. The Milk of Sorrow

South America had a strong showing this year and this Peruvian movie fared better than the eventual winner. The Milk of Sorrow is incredibly slow that it quickly loses its momentum and it also could have had stronger emotional investment, but the premise is interesting, the film is authentic in its dark plot and some weird developments while benefiting from good direction, a very strong central performance as well as an inspirational journey of its protagonist.

2. The White Ribbon

Michael Haneke is a hit-or-miss for me and this movie verges more toward the latter. The White Ribbon’s story is important and tragic, the characters are well developed, some scenes are heartbreaking and the movie is well shot, but it is so frustratingly directed by Haneke, featuring such off-putting glacial pacing that it ended up being an overlong, tedious experience. It’s a classic example of style over substance that in this weak slate gets the high second spot.

1. Ajami

Ajami is a very good Israeli movie that depicts a complex sociopolitical landscape while staying human, unbiased and urgent throughout. It’s a very important movie that is even more relevant today unfortunately. Though its structure that jumps between many different characters and scenarios at times led to too much mayhem and confusion, the characters were still painted realistically and the dialogue is quite authentic. It is not only the best movie on this weak slate, but the only one I genuinely liked. It’s a shame that it lost to a much inferior film.

Films That Should Have Been Nominated:

Undertow – Undertow was the better Peruvian movie this year and it’s a shame that the country did not send this one for the Academy’s consideration. It’s a beautiful fantasy romance that is rooted in reality while still being tragic and surreal throughout. It’s one of the most emotional gay movies I’ve ever seen.

About Elly – About Elly is an Asghar Farhadi classic that benefits from a very well utilized seaside setting into the tumultuous narrative. It’s a superbly acted and directed movie that is at its best when exploring its important themes through superb dialogue as usual for the director. This was the time when Farhadi still did not break through as evidenced from his omission here.

3 Idiots – This Rajkumar Hirani movie is an important, even urgent drama about frequent student suicides in India and their extremely strict school system, but it also never forgets to be entertaining and funny thanks to many amusing developments and strong humor. Indian films often get snubbed by the Academy, but this omission particularly hurts as the film is so good.