NYFF 64: Austria’s “Rose” is much more than merely another Sandra Hüller showcase

by Cláudio Alves

While our TIFF 51 coverage isn’t over – sometimes, it feels like it will go on forever, with Eurocheese and I falling into Sisyphus' fate – one must acknowledge the other big festival of the moment. Right now, the New York Film Festival is blessing audiences with some of the best in world cinema, from September 25 to October 12. As we’ve done in years past, Joanna Sodeman-Taylor will join me in covering the fest from a distance, relying on screeners and whatnot. Hope you enjoy this wild virtual ride.

To kickstart these NYFF musings, why not consider another Best International Oscar submission? This one’s from Austria and last Berlinale’s Best Leading Performance Silver Bear winner, Rose. Indeed, most of the chatter about Markus Schleinzer’s latest has focused on Sandra Hüller’s work, a tour de force at the heart of a film that, nevertheless, is much more complicated than a mere acting showcase. Set in the aftermath of the Thirty Years’ War, Rose is a story assembled from various cases documented in legal archives of the time, about those who were born as women to society’s eyes yet assumed male identities to liberate themselves from the limits of their sex. In the 17th century and beyond, there were and there are many Roses…

Click to read more ...

The Philippines delay Oscar submission! What gives?

By Juan Carlos Ojano

FILIPIÑANA has the potential to break the Philippines’ Oscar-less streak… if it gets submitted.

The Film Academy of the Philippines was set to announce the country's official submission for Best International Feature Film at the 99th Academy Awards last September 4. However, a statement was issued instead, postponing the whole thing to give way for further deliberations.

This comes after the Filipino theatrical release as well as the US theatrical release of the supposed frontrunner, Rafael Manuel's dark comedy Filipiñana, which depicts a day at a luxury resort where the difference between classes is starkly illustrated. Think of it as an arthouse White Lotus, if Mike White gave creative authority to some formalist-minded director or an anti-colonial auteur like Lav Diaz. Executive produced by Jia Zhangke and distributed by Kino Lorber (North America) and BFI Distribution (UK and Ireland), the film is enjoying a healthy run in international circles, while maintaining well-attended screenings in limited release in its home country.

And yet, there's trouble afoot with the matter of its selection as the nation's Best International Oscar submission...

Click to read more ...

Venice: "Wild Horse Nine" is an Instant Oscar Contender

Elisa Giudici reporting from Venice

WILD HORSE NINE © Searchlight

Two days into Venice, and the new Martin McDonagh movie already seems close to ending the competition for the Golden Lion. There are more than a few dark horses and wild cards waiting over the next ten days of the festival, but the enthusiastic applause at the end of the press screening and John Malkovich's immediate entrance into the Oscar conversation as a leading actor should give everyone a clear idea of just how strong and convincing the film is. Believe the hype: this is a very solid movie about male friendship (no surprise here) that really does not shy away from the political.

McDonagh will not be the last filmmaker arriving here at the Lido with a movie that is quintessentially his creature, "just" another version of his usual work. Nevetheless this one is written and directed with such control and cocksureness, that the result is impressive in its formal perfection...

Click to read more ...

Review: “The Odyssey” is Signature Christopher Nolan (Both Good and Bad)

By Ben Miller

13 feature films into his career, director Christopher Nolan has developed a string of touchstones for his films. You can expect an all-star cast, massive practical set pieces, underdeveloped women, stunning visuals, and clunky dialogue. With his new film The Odyssey, Nolan again delivers on everything you come to expect from a Nolan movie.

This time, Nolan (a well-documented child of cinema history), decides to take his chances with a sword and sandals epic in the vein of Ben-Hur or Quo Vadis. While the filmmaker might not have the reverence for the genre, he dives headfirst into the craft and scope necessary to make a film of this magnitude. When this film is big, bold, and a little silly, that’s where everything excels. It’s when things get more intimate that the film loses its way...

Click to read more ...

Are the new Best International Film rules a good idea?

As the summer stands between us and the awards season to come, Cláudio Alves and Juan Carlos Ojano discuss some of this year’s new Oscar rules, focusing on their beloved Best International Film race.

Visar Morina's SHAME AND MONEY became the first film eligible for the Best International Feature Oscar this season, when it won the World Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival.

CLÁUDIO: Much was said about the Oscar rule changes when they were first announced at the beginning of May, with various opinions going around. While the possibility of actors double-dipping in the same category for the first time since the 1930s is enticing, the transformations to the Best International Film race are perhaps more important and worthy of discussion. And who better to discuss it with than Juan Carlos Ojano, the only person I know who has seen every single nominee in the category's history and discussed them through The One-Inch Barrier podcast? But first, let's assess the rules themselves…

Click to read more ...