While we’ve got the 1980s fever on this site with Nathaniel listing some of his favorite films and Cláudio sharing his personal Best Actress ballots from the decade, I will chime in with perhaps the category that is one of the closest to me: Best Foreign Language Film (now named International Feature Film). That’s why in 2020, I started my podcast called The One-Inch Barrier where I - together with guests - discussed this category per year...
The 1980s was a curious decade for this category, with many of the nominees not having the cultural imprint in today’s cinematic landscape save for a few bonafide classics. In this article, I will share my personal ranking of the nominees of this decade per year together with shout-outs to some submissions that the Academy didn’t nominate. You can click on the titles per year for the corresponding podcast episodes in which I discussed the specific years. Feel free to share your own picks or remind me of other submissions that I should catch up with.
1980 (53rd Academy Awards)
1. France - The Last Metro
2. Hungary - Confidence
3. Spain - The Nest
4. Japan - Kagemusha (The Shadow Warrior)
5. USSR - Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears [OSCAR WINNER]
Further Research: Canada - Good Riddance / Italy - A Leap in the Dark / Netherlands - In for Treatment
1981 (54th Academy Awards) - with Chris James
1. Switzerland - The Boat is Full
2. Poland - Man of Iron
3. Japan - Muddy River
4. Hungary - Mephisto [OSCAR WINNER]
5. Italy - Three Brothers
Personal Alternates: France - Diva / Brazil - Pixote (disqualified)
Further Research: West Germany - Lili Marleen / Taiwan - If I Were for Real
1982 (55th Academy Awards)
1. France - Coup de Torchon (“Clean Slate”)
2. Sweden - The Flight of the Eagle
3. Spain - Volver a Empezar (“To Begin Again”) [OSCAR WINNER]
4. Nicaragua - Alsino and the Condor
5. USSR - Private Life
Further Research: Switzerland - Yol / West Germany - Fitzcarraldo / Hungary - Time Stands Still
1983 (56th Academy Awards) - with Cláudio Alves
1. Hungary - Job’s Revolt
2. Sweden - Fanny & Alexander [OSCAR WINNER]
3. Spain - Carmen
4. Algeria - Le Bal
5. France - Entre Nous
Further Research: West Germany - A Woman in Flames / Japan - Antarctica / Taiwan - Growing Up
1984 (57th Academy Awards)
1. USSR - Wartime Romance
2. Switzerland - Dangerous Moves [OSCAR WINNER]
3. Argentina - Camila
4. Israel - Beyond the Walls
5. Spain - Double Feature
Personal Alternate: Philippines - Of the Flesh
Further Research: Thailand - Nam Pu / Hong Kong - Homecoming / Venezuela - The House of Water
1985 (58th Academy Awards)
1. Argentina - The Official Story [OSCAR WINNER]
2. Yugoslavia - When Father Was Away on Business
3. France - Three Men and a Cradle
4. West Germany - Angry Harvest
5. Hungary - Colonel Redl
Personal Alternates: USSR - Come and See / Philippines - This is My Country
Further Research: Taiwan - Kuei-Mei, a Woman / Peru - The City and the Dogs
1986 (59th Academy Awards)
1. Czechoslovakia - My Sweet Little Village
2. France - Betty Blue
3. Canada - The Decline of the American Empire
4. Netherlands - The Assault [OSCAR WINNER]
5. Austria - 38
Further Research: Sweden - The Sacrifice / Mexico - The Realm of Fortune / Puerto Rico - La Gran Fiesta
1987 (60th Academy Awards)
1. France - Au Revoir Les Enfants (Goodbye, Children)
2. Norway - Pathfinder
3. Denmark - Babette’s Feast [OSCAR WINNER]
4. Spain - Course Completed
5. Italy - The Family
Personal Alternate: West Germany - Wings of Desire
Further Research: Japan - Zegen / Cuba - A Successful Man / Hungary - Diary for My Lovers
1988 (61st Academy Awards)
1. Spain - Women on the Verge of the Nervous Breakdown
2. India - Salaam Bombay!
3. Denmark - Pelle the Conqueror [OSCAR WINNER]
4. Belgium - The Music Teacher
5. Hungary - Hanussen
Personal Alternate: Netherlands - The Vanishing (disqualified)
Further Research: China - Red Sorghum / Peru - The Mouth of the Wolf / USSR - Commissar
1989 (62nd Academy Awards) - with Nathaniel Rogers
1. Canada - Jesus of Montreal
2. Italy - Cinema Paradiso [OSCAR WINNER]
3. Denmark - Waltzing Regitze
4. France - Camille Claudel
5. Puerto Rico - What Happened to Santiago
Personal Alternates: Burkina Faso - Yaaba / Austria - The Seventh Continent
Further Research: Taiwan - A City of Sadness / Greece - Landscape in the Mist
What are your favorite Foreign Language Film nominees and winners from the 1980s? Which submissions do you wish got nominated?