The Film Experience

The Oscar Volleys continue. Today, ERIC BLUME and NATHANIEL R discuss the Oscar race for Best International Feature Film.

NO OTHER CHOICE, Park Chan-wook | © NEON

ERIC: Hi Nathaniel, I feel lucky getting you all to myself to discuss Best International Film. I do think the slate is ultimately very strong overall, but before we get to our five nominees and an assessment on the race, can we take one last brief moment to mourn the EXCLUSION of a film in both of our Top 10 lists, Park Chan-Wook's No Other Choice? It's no easy feat to make a film that's both political and funny, and he really nailed his tiny little bullseye.

NATHANIEL: Maybe it's a tiny bullseye but I bet if you zoom way in that bullseye is as intricate as the lines in a diamonds or as multi-colored and weirdly patterned as an iris. Which is to say that not only was it my favourite of the submissions but it's quite literally my #1 film of the year. (Why leave everyone in suspense since it takes me so long to post my awards). I really am just obsessed with it and Lee Byung Hun absolutely deserved a spot in the Best Actor lineup too. The Korean superstar is so confident in his gifts that he's able to be goofy and pathetic and sad without ever losing his Movie Star-ness. It's really a miracle performance if you ask me because he does all that while feeling utterly spontaneous in each scene. Anyway I could talk about this movie for days...

THE VOICE OF HIND RAJAB, Kaouther Ben Hania | © Willa
As a side bar to your opening volley, the other finalist I think should have been there is Left-Handed Girl which is really so lovely and economical and wisely miniature. And finally I'm bummed that Iceland's The Love That Remains didn't make the finals because it's continually surprising and visually inventive despite covering ground that you think you've seen a gazillion times (a marriage falling apart but the family unit trying to deal).

I suppose we should talk about the nominees though so my opening question to you is which film would you boot to include No Other Choice?

ERIC: We are aligned on No Other Choice. It's not quite as high up on my top ten list, but it's a true original for sure, surprising and edgy and cheeky and sad sometimes all in the same moment. Expert filmmaking!

If I personally had to bump one of the nominees to make room for it, it would be The Voice of Hind Rajab. It's a fine film, and in another year it would make a strong nominee... but personally, for me, it's not at the level of the other four. Which one would you bump to make room for it?

Guessing we're on the same page that "the race" is ultimately between Sentimental Value and The Secret Agent, but I'd love to discuss the movies quickly one by one to get your thoughts. Let's take the other two nominees first?

I'm not sure how It Was an Accident ran out of steam so quickly during the season...in addition to the outside narrative of the film and how it was made, the internal narrative has such a potboiler element to it, with such a conventionally satisfying conclusion... it's strange that it couldn't really score beyond this category. Maybe it was too talky for people? I thought Panahai did a beautiful job of finding new twists on similar beats, and laying in some smart comedy in such a potentially heavy-handed story. He handles the actors expertly and the film never loses sight of its roiling angry center.

SIRAT, Oliver Laxe | © NEON

Sirat is kind of an ordeal to sit through, and Oliver Laxe does some things extraordinarily well (the tension, the strong point-of-view, stunning framing) and some things less well (he struggles with the non-professional actors, and as the film becomes increasingly allegorical, he can't quite finesse the transition into something transcendent). But he has a huge amount of talent, and the film has undeniable power. I walked out thinking there were only a small handful of people I could really recommend it to. I love how political the film is, and I love that Laxe has a merciless streak in the Haneke tradition... but woof, that film is tough.

Your thoughts before we tackle the two frontrunners?

NATHANIEL: I love what you said about Sirat and agree for the most part (minus the acting which I had no issue with) . For me it was the feel bad film experience of the year by which I mean that it was definitely an EXPERIENCE that I'm glad to have had but at the same time, I wouldn't repeat. It did not provide the kind of catharsis or even the aesthetic high that some great films that happen to dwell in misery have achieved. I respect it wholeheartedly for a few truly sterling elements (cinematography, score, sound design). In fact, what happened to it through awards season is kind of the inverse mystery of what happened with It Was Just An Accident.

Sirat seemed so entirely niche and hard to recommend and yet it kept collecting fans and growing while It Was Just An Accident started out feeling like a universal choice, but then started to be a niche obsession toward the end of the season. I'm not an enormous fan of either, if I'm being honest. They're a bit repetitive for my tastes even as I fully understand that that is structurally purposeful in both films as they're downward spiral / looping traps of a kind.

IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT, Jafar Panahi | © NEON

Regarding their different trajectories, I wonder if it comes down to the feeling of "discovery" that voters sometimes need? It Was Just An Accident was kind of forced on the industry's radar with that Palme d'Or win and all Oscar pundits deciding super early that Panahi was a shoo-in for Best Director. Meanwhile, Sirat just hung back acting like an acclaimed non-starter but it did actually find enough devotees and those same devotees were probably excited to vote for it rather than feeling like they "should".

I hope that makes sense even if its still puzzling. They're super respectable nominees but I would personally have preferred to see Left-Handed Girl and No Other Choice in the mix instead.

You may have noticed that I have avoided saying anything about The Voice of Hind Rajab. This is only because I never got around to seeing it. I intended to but the cold hard truth is that each December/January I am basically freebasing movies trying to absorb everything. Every January I reach a breaking point where I suddenly can't bear the thought of watching another movie and just want to move on from that film year and accept that I will just never see those 10-15 pictures that are still on my "you should watch this" list. I am not proud of this but that's just the way i am / it is. Part of it is my fault and part of it is the fault of distributors and awards strategists whose religion is recency bias so they make you wait (I cannot tell you the amount of times I've reached out about screenings / screeners for only to hear that they're not ready to share them yet and then suddenly everyone wants their movie to be seen in the exact same two week window.)

Happily this "I could not possibly watch a movie!" aversion is temporary insanity and only occurs for a four week stretch each year. Then I'm an eager and happy moviegoer again. Should we move on the frontrunners? I'm really rooting for Sentimental Value and it has NINE nominations... so why am I (currently) predicting that The Secret Agent prevails in the end?

ERIC: Nat, I co-sign all of your thoughts as I almost always do because you are one of my film twinsies.

I also agree with your comment on the two frontrunners. I am really, really, and one more really rooting for Sentimental Value, but I am also thinking that The Secret Agent wins here. The Brazil double-run of it all feels somehow inevitable? My dream is that SV wins this award, and Wagner Moura is our surprise Best Actor winner. (I know this is not the Best Actor volley, but I feel frontrunner Chalamet is *very* vulnerable and that Moura really does have an outside shot... am I delusional?)

THE SECRET AGENT, Kleber Mendonça Filho | © NEON

But yes, it feels most likely that it will come down like it did last year, when I'm Still Here won International Film but Fernanda Torres lost Best Actress.

Personally, I think The Secret Agent is a better film than I'm Still Here. It's an incredibly dense film, packed by Kleber Mendonça Filho with an extraordinary amount of detail and texture. I admired its rich, layered nature and would hands-down be my winner for the Best Casting Oscar. Every actor in it is so freakishly perfect and real. The film is expansive, political, personal, and complex. But can I admit to also finding it just a *tad* big sluggish? It just felt about 10-15 minutes too long for me. I had the same issue with I'm Still Here, which is basically an excellent film but I was also a little bored by it, if I'm honest. The Secret Agent is tighter and less repetitive than that film... but they are similar to me in broad strokes. The Secret Agent is at the very back of my personal Top Ten list, while Sentimental Value is at the very top.

I don't need to go into great detail on why I love Sentimental Value so much, but I'm just grateful for its existence. I found it deeply, deeply moving...with four exquisite and quite perfect performances, an almost novelistic sweep, potentially corny metaphors turned vibrant and new, and packed full of interesting and compelling ideas. And it has in my opinion the best ending of any film this year... absolutely transcendent for me.

So... why are we both predicting The Secret Agent to win?

NATHANIEL: It's almost freakish how much we agree on this category! Maybe we should not be paired further (kidding!). I'm anxious to hear what our fellow cinephiles think on this but I co-sign what you said about The Secret Agent. I thought it was at least 15 minutes too long but the stuff that would likely be cut if someone were concerned about the length would be my favourite parts... so in a way, meander all you want Mendonça... I do however think that the thriller elements don't work as well as they should because they arrive so late and it's not that cumulative rush you get in taut thrillers when you've felt it building and building to this. The scene which evolved into something like a setpiece where the would be assassin calls out our hero's real name to see if he'll turn is exciting but I'd argue that it would be a classic scene immediately and would feel way more climactic if the film had built to it and focused on this rather than sort of zig zagged around on all of its neighborhoods on the way to its sad destinations. That said it will make a great winner and I also prefer it (by some margin) to the similarly themed and similiarly beautifully acted I'm Still Here.

I don't love Sentimental Value as much as you do (further down my top ten list) but agree that it's a fascinating movie and exquisitely acted. I'll be sad to see it lose since Norway has never ever won despite worthy nominees (Brazil was in that same position just last season!) The only way I would have ever rooted against Sentimental Value this year is if No Other Choice had made the list and forced me to betray it.

Cute anecdote to wrap this up. I was at a cocktail event honoring Stellan Skarsgård the other night and I told him that I've been obsessed with Joachim Trier since Reprise came out in 2006. He said 'you and me both'. It's always fun to get reminders that famous actors can be fans, too.

ERIC: That’s a fun story. If both Skarsgård and his film go home empty handed, I will be incredibly sad. And it’d be fun to see Norway finally win this prize! Thanks for sharing the other half of my brain on this category this year. Eager to see the reader responses as always!

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