Foreign Films - all 5 nominees

A Fantastic Woman, Chile; Directed by Sebastián Lelio

A Fantastic Woman is the story of Marina, a trans woman in a loving relationship with her partner, Orlando, who dies suddenly at the beginning of the film.  The humiliations exacted upon her from government officials and most of Orlando's family are indescribable.  From the moment that Orlando's son comes home for the funeral, he all but kicks Marina out of her home, and even steals her dog.  She is told explicitly that she is not welcome at the funeral to mourn her lover.  Marina is strong in some ways and also extremely vulnerable.  She has an exquisite voice, and she will not be so easily knocked off the path to her dreams.  It's a beautiful movie.

The Insult, Lebanon; Directed by Ziad Doueiri

Here's how the day begins - a Lebanese Christian, Tony, has an illegal drain system on his balcony.  A team of construction workers have been charged with doing repairs on the building, one of these repairs is to bring this drain system up to code, but it so happens that the foreman is a Palestinian Muslim, Yasser.  After repairing the drain, Tony takes a hammer to it, and Yasser yells at him and curses at him.  The next day, Yasser goes to Tony to apologize, at which time Tony screams that it would have been better if the Israeli's had killed all of the Palestinians, in exchange for which Yasser punches Tony.  This results not only in a lawsuit, but in the entire community taking sides, each insult escalating into greater and greater insults.  (Somehow, this dispute between these two men is ultimately blamed on the Jews, so you can tell how insane the escalation goes.)  The story is personal, political, existential, and very well done.

Loveless, Russia; Directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev

Two divorcing parents begin the movie by discussing how neither of them wants their son, and how they will give him up to an orphanage, sadly, this 12 year old boy overhears this discussion and goes to bed devastated.  They have both moved on from each other and already have new partners, both so self absorbed that they have no idea what their son is doing most of the time.  It is not until the school calls that either has any idea that their son is even missing.  The rest of the film is them and a search and rescue team trying to find the boy.  I found the film slow, frustrating (because the characters are such assholes), and deeply unsatisfying.

On Body and Soul, Hungary; Directed by Ildikó Enyedi

There's always a weird one in the foreign film category, and this one is it.  An older man, Endre, and a strange young woman, Maria discover that they are dreaming the same dreams in which they frolic together as deer in the wilderness.  They build a strange friendship and relationship, he the confirmed bachelor no longer interested in love, and she the icy loner who seems to have no need for the most casual of connection.  I didn't dislike the film, but it takes a certain amount of focus to watch.

The Square, Sweden; Directed by Ruben Östlund

"The Square is a sanctuary of trust and caring. Within it we all share equal rights and obligations." This is the display in modern art museum curated by main character, Christian.  And then the film embarks on a series of "what would you do" scenarios - would you help a person being attacked, would you stalk a community if you thought a member of that community stole your wallet and phone, would you stand idly by while a woman is being dragged by her hair, would you call a woman after you've slept with her, would you bring your children to a poor community and engage them in helping others, the list goes on and on.  The film is as much a cutting edge art piece as is portrayed in the film.  It is long, but if you like a good thinker, this is a good movie for you.