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2020 Foreign Film Oscar Analysis

2020 was a weak year for American movies, but a great one for international films. The fact that this wasn’t reflected by the Academy was horrible. This slate of five nominees is one of the worst in quite a while. They failed to nominate the best foreign films of the year and we are here left with either fine, solid or downright weak movies.

My Ranking of the Nominees:

5. Better Days

The worst of the bunch has to be this Hong Kong crime flick. It rubbed me the wrong way that they nominated this mess of a movie when there were so many infinitely better choices out there. The main stars here are both great and quite memorable. Some scenes were cinematic and quite memorable. But that’s about it. The rest was bad. It attempts to mix the crime and romance elements, but fails at both of these genres. The crime storyline was tiresome and the romance was underutilized.

4. The Man Who Sold His Skin

The Man Who Sold His Skin is a Tunisian entry that was the most surprising addition here. Nobody had expected it to land here, but thematically speaking, it makes sense as this is something that the Academy loves. The basic concept and idea are great and the central performance is excellent as is the cinematography, but my main gripe here is its repetitious second half. It’s a movie that simply could not support the feature length treatment. A short film would have been a much better fit for it.

3. Quo Vadis, Aida?

Much has been said about this Bosnian movie, but it was undoubtedly an exceptionally well crafted Oscar bait for the Academy that they obviously ended up nominating it. The bunker elements were great as were the ‘Schindler’s List’ parallels. Technically speaking, the movie is strong, and its restrained approach at showing the crimes was terrific. I just wish that it had more to say about its subject. It was all very well done, but ultimately empty inside while also being overly limited in scope.

2. Another Round

Another Round is tonally inconsistent with the comedic elements being silly and quite problematic in intentions, but the dramatic elements undoubtedly worked, especially the movie’s depiction of the male midlife crisis. The direction from Vinterberg is strong and some scenes here are quite impactful. The highlight of the film is definitely Mads Mikkelsen whose performance here is one of the best of the year. It’s a good film for sure, but not as amazing as clearly the awards people think it is. There is one better nominee this year.

1. Collective

Yes, Collective is my choice for the best foreign nominee this year. While far from the best foreign movie overall (they really snubbed too many greats this time), I was more than happy to finally see Romania receive its nomination in this category as well as the documentary one. It’s an important look into the tragedy that happened in Romania during 2015 while particularly focusing on the aftermath of the incident and the journalists’ quest to find justice. It is a sobering look into how difficult it is to prevail in a system set against you, and although somewhat limited in scope, the film is very impactful and  necessary to watch for sure.

Films That Should Have Been Nominated:

The Endless Trench – How in the hell they failed to nominate this incredible period piece is beyond me. The Endless Trench is one of the greatest Spanish Civil War films of all time, one that is emotionally exhilarating, thematically immensely complex and just incredibly well acted, directed and written. It’s one of the best films of the year.

Jallikattu – Jallikattu is an Indian film that is different in its look that it is unlike anything else released this year. The plot is disturbing, the film explores some very dark sides of humanity incredibly well and the sheer strength of the movie’s direction and impressive cinematography is to be congratulated.

Two of Us – ‘Impetigore’ was also amazing, but clearly the Academy would never nominate a horror movie here, thus I went for this French romance for the last honorable mention. It’s a beautiful lesbian drama that deals with a very difficult issue, but with a lot of care and nuance. It’s not only moving, but also genuinely deep and poignant.