On "Marriage Italian Style" and "The Shop on Main Street"
Friday, October 22, 2021 at 11:00AM by Nathaniel R
Have you either of these classics of mid 60s international cinema? In one of the strangest timetables in Oscar history, both of these two film's leading ladies were honored with Best Actress Oscar nominations but neither in the year their film was honored: Sophia Loren (Marriage Italian Style) was nominated for Best Actress in 1964; Ida Kaminska (The Shop on Main Street) was nominated for Best Actress in 1966; inbetween those Oscar years the films themselves were nominated for Best Foreign Language Film of 1965 (now called Best International Feature Film).
I was thrilled to rejoin Juan Carlos Ojano on "One Inch Barrier" to discuss 1965's Best international race, a strong vintage, which also included the family drama Blood on the Land (Greece), the very horny Dear John (Sweden), and the supernatural Kwaidan (Japan). We discuss Best Actress, Oscar's resistance to Asian cinema, sex in cinema, and Sophia Loren's magnetism...
Reader Comments (8)
And what exactly was the weird timeline issue that allowed both actresses to be nominated a year after the fact? Seems that it did the same with Day For Night winning in 1973, yet V. Cortèse being nominated in 1974. Public outcry, so the rules are bent a year after the fact?
TOM -- in this case though it's even stranger because this group of films stretched across three Oscars, not just two.
The Marriage-Italian Style situation is unique. There is no other time a film was nominated in any of the regular categories, and then nominated for Foreign Film in a subsequent year.
I love Kwaidan but was surprised to learn it was Japan’s submission that year since it seems kind of atypical. Actually, looking back at that period, Japan was nominated regularly but rarely for the movies you’d expect in retrospect. Dodes’ka-den was the only Kurosawa film they submitted that was nominated, and the likes of Ozu, Mizoguchi, Oshima, and Imamura were never nominated in this category. I have no idea if any of their films were ever even submitted.
The old rule that allowed international films to be nominated in different categories across multiple years is also fascinating. I wonder which recent movies were most affected by that no longer being the case? I’m pretty sure Hero (nominated for Best International Film in 2002) would have gotten multiple craft nominations in 2004 when it received its U.S. release.
I haven't seen the Loren film, but THE SHOP OF MAIN STREET is excellent.
Yes I have.
Saw The Shop on Main Street during the first outbreak. Blew my mind. The male lead should have been also nominated.
I own The Shop on Main Street and Marriage Italian Style. Love them both so much. Peggy Sue, totally agree Kroner should have been nominated.
Enjoyed listening to the podcast. It feels like there are fewer Oscar podcasts in general this year, though it is still early.
I haven't seen Marriage Italian Style in so long, but I really enjoyed it. Not familiar with the other film, but now I want to seek it out.
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is another one of those films with nominations in multiple years (Foreign Film one year and 4 other nominations the next)...exactly how common was this?