A Potpourri of Vestiges Feature
Embrace of the Serpent is the film from Colombia this year and this came from director Ciro Guerra. The film shows Karamakate, the last shaman and member of his tribe, on two journeys through the Amazon with outsiders. They work over four decades to find a sacred plant that is hidden deep within the jungle. This is a coup for the director, as he was under consideration for a previous movie but never made it to the shortlisted nominations.
The category of best foreign film at the
Oscars this year is more competitive than ever, with a number of exceptional
movies in the category. Although these may not be particularly mainstream
movies they still have everything that viewers could ask for in a film.
Embrace of the Serpent is the film from Colombia this year and this came from director Ciro Guerra. The film shows Karamakate, the last shaman and member of his tribe, on two journeys through the Amazon with outsiders. They work over four decades to find a sacred plant that is hidden deep within the jungle. This is a coup for the director, as he was under consideration for a previous movie but never made it to the shortlisted nominations.
The 37th nomination for France
came in the form of Mustang this year, though this narrowly missed out on being
the 38th, had Blue
is the Warmest Color made it to the nominations two years ago.
Mustang examines the family dynamic in a conservative atmosphere, as five
sisters are imprisoned by their family. This is the result of the sisters being
spotted having fun and this is seen to be impure behaviour, then they are
locked away from the world. This is the only female directed films in the
category and the female perspective of the family comes through in every aspect
of the film.
The nomination from Hungary comes from director
László Nemes with his touching movie Son of Saul. This director is a fan of gambling, like those in PayPal casinos on www.paypal-casinos.co,
and perhaps this is what really paid off. The movie puts viewers in the shoes of
main character, Saul, who undertakes a journey to bury his son in a Jewish
ceremony within a concentration camp. Fans of foreign film will be able to
detect the directorial influences from names such as Ingmar
Bergman and Andrei Tarkovsky.
The first ever entry into this category for
the country of Jordan comes from the surprise nomination of the film Theeb. The
name of the film is shared by its main character, who becomes orphaned at an
early age. The film examines the friendship of Theeb and his new companion that
he finds near death in the desert. The cultural
aspects of the film make it harder for Westerners to grasp but it’s an
incredibly rewarding film.
The last nomination in the category is A
War, from Danish director Tobias Lindholm. This film takes a snapshot of the
military life that many soldiers endure in the Helmand province. The main
character of the film, Claus, is a Company Commander in the army and makes
choices through the course of the film that change his life forever.
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I haven't seen 2 films : Son of Saul & Embrace of the Serpent.
ReplyDeleteTheeb was quite an ordinary film. Krigen was really brilliant. Having said that, only Mustang stands a chance to beat hot fav "Son of Saul". I was rather disappointed with the nomination this year. They missed out on far better films than Theeb, and there were few better films than Krigen. Like, Aferim! , A Pigeon Sat on the branch.... , El Club to name few.
Couldn't have agreed more... the Academy never really gets it right when it comes to the Foreign films!
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