Ranking 1980s Foreign Oscar Winners

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Ranking 1980s Foreign Oscar Winners List

The eighties proved to be possibly the best decade for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Yes, a couple of these films are clunkers and some are overrated, but four films here are very strong or even excellent. They stood the test of time wonderfully. Without further ado, here is my ranking of all ten of these films.

10. Dangerous Moves

How boring can a film about chess be? Well, when you think about that premise, it’s bound to be pretty boring, but still this movie is even duller than you would think. Yes, the dialogue is strong, but the characters are underdeveloped, the plot is pretty weak and the film is badly paced, horribly uneventful and simply a waste of time. It’s easily the worst 80s foreign winner.

9. Begin the Beguine

Everything I said above also applies here with the exception of cinematography and score which are both so strong here. But again we get here a tiresome, very tedious and uneventful drama which moves slowly from scene to scene with no point to it whatsoever. It’s rather pretentious and again thoroughly unnecessary.

8. The Assault

I did find The Assault’s ambition admirable and the structure is interesting, but ultimately badly utilized. Its ambition was its undoing as the film never really managed to make use of that epicness owing to particularly weak storytelling, a familiar approach to telling this story and horrible pacing which is at times rushed and at times very slow.

7. Pelle the Conqueror

From here on, we move to the solid movies. Pelle the Conqueror definitely is a solid film which is also highly ambitious, but actually really epic in tone and scope. It’s rather moving at times and particularly gorgeously shot. However, it’s not a particularly entertaining watch and the film’s insistence to pity its characters made it a very unlikable watch.

6. Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears

Although definitely overly lightweight and unimportant in approach, Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears is still a solid, even a bit underappreciated movie which did not deserve its Oscar, but it’s still a charming, endearing look into its characters’ lives plus those characters are all rather well developed.

5. Babette’s Beast

Although Babette’s Beast is gloriously shot with beautiful costumes and imagery, it still remains a very boring experience. Yes, it’s immensely charming and I get the point, but I still found it overly shallow and maybe even a bit pretentious. I liked the film quite a bit, I just did not love it and I found it unfortunately very overrated.

4. Mephisto

The blend of an old tale with a more modern context worked splendidly for Mephisto which ended up being one of the most inspired and different World War II movies. This Hungarian drama is slow at times and definitely overlong, but still effective, very sophisticated and with a fantastic, truly inspired performance from Klaus Maria Brandauer.

3. The Official Story

Now we get to the truly excellent movies. The Official Story is a superb, tough to watch, yet essential Argentine historical lesson which meanders a bit at times, but it provides us with a complex main character so terrifically acted by Norma Aleandro. The more intimate instead of more political approach worked wonders for this film.

2. Cinema Paradiso

I definitely found that romance hastily written and unnecessary, but other than that, Cinema Paradiso is an undeniably effective Italian film which is epic, yet also highly intimate and tender in its approach and tone. The friendship at the core of the film is beautiful and the movie is particularly wonderful as a glorious homage to the classic cinema and its importance.

1. Fanny and Alexander

Fanny and Alexander is easily Ingmar Bergman’s best film and his magnum opus. It’s overly meticulous which is great, but it would have been better for a television series. This film is immensely immersive and authentic in setting, atmosphere and storytelling while being both cold and warm in its many memorable scenes. Above all else, it’s a very deep, undeniably thematically rich film that’s intriguing to watch throughout and thus easily the best one on this list.