Sirat - 2 nomination

 

• Best International Feature Film: Spain

• Best Sound: Amanda Villavieja, Laia Casanovas, Yasmina Praderas

A man and his young son are searching raves taking place in the desert looking for their daughter/sister who they haven’t seen in many months. She is an adult but still, they haven’t even heard from here and they are worried, walking around asking everyone they can if they remember seeing her. When the rave is raided by soldiers, they follow some “professional ravers” to another potential venue. The ravers warn them that they don’t have the right kind of vehicle to transverse the treacherous terrain, but they go nonetheless, determined to find their family member. There is something very suspicious about these ravers though, and we are always just a bit on edge while the three vehicles do what they can to stay together.

And then there is THAT moment. The moment when the movie you think you have been watching becomes a different movie entirely. A moment so dramatic and unexpected that the gasp I let out took a few minutes to subside. Those moments continue all the way to the very end of the picture, and it is for these twists and turns that I award Sirat my “hidden gem award.” Longtime readers of the blog know that the award is given every year to a film that I hadn’t even heard of before it was nominated for an Oscar, and then once seen it became one of my favorite and unforgettable movies of the year. For the reason, I highly suggest seeing Sirat. While it is not an easy film, it will not easily be forgotten.

International Features

IO CAPITANO: Italy

While international films can be difficult to watch, this one was absolutely brutal.  Seydou and his cousin Moussa leave Senegal dreaming of going to Europe to find jobs and send money home.  They are 15 years old and they know that it can be risky, but they have saved their money and set out not telling anyone from their family. The hardships they endure include being kidnapped, beaten, starving, and near death more times than I can count, and the film shows both the horrors and the occasional kindnesses they receive along the way. What shows through more than anything is not just their grit, but especially Seydou's humanity, his sense of morality and character, and that nothing will stop him from achieving his ultimate goal. This is an incredible cinematic feat, but it is NOT for the weak of heart.  I cried many times.

PERFECT DAYS: Japan

I really really wanted to love this movie.  It is from Wim Wenders who is responsible for movie masterpieces like Paris, Texas. And, the lead character Hirayama who is a diligent toilet cleaner by trade (and whoa, the public toilets featured are nicer than some people's homes for the designs and architecture, plus the Japanese people must be much more restrained than public toilets you find in the United States, so often soiled by the grossest of indiscretions). He appreciates all of the small things in life, and his daily routine, from which he never deviates, is simple.  He is an avid reader and a music lover. But this slice of life movie offers very little by way of plot (and I think that might be the point) - the first nearly 45 minutes is two full day rotations of his routine from dawn to dusk. I rarely enjoy slice of life films, and though this was certainly one of the better ones, if you like an engaging plot, this might not be for you.

SOCIETY OF THE SNOW: Spain

Society of the Snow is actually nominated for two Oscars, including for Makeup and Hairstyling.

On the other hand, Society of the Snow is Spain's version of the plane crash in the Andes. In the United States, the film was called Alive, and this is a far superior telling of the experience. After the crash, those left alive went through horror after horror, and the plane crash itself is responsible for only some of the deaths on the mountain. The crew had to balance conserving their small number of resources with building enough muscle and strength to try to hike their way out of there. The performances and indeed, the makeup and hairstyling, are phenomenal.

THE TEACHERS' LOUNGE: Germany

Carla, a teacher in a public school loves her profession, and loves her students. Some thefts in the teachers' lounge leave one of her students accused of the crime. She decides to set up a sting operation, leaving her wallet exposed and her computer open and recording. When a colleague's uniquely patterned shirt is identified in the video, all hell breaks loose at the school. Carla is attacked for gathering evidence illegally, and the colleague's son (one of Carla's students) begins to act out as he tries to discover why his mother has been placed on administrative leave.  It's an emotional journey as Carla begins to doubt her own accusation and the other teachers get whipped into a frenzy.  It's a really good movie that is absolutely worth your time.

THE ZONE OF INTEREST: United Kingdom

As a reminder, The Zone of Interest is actually nominated for 5 Oscars including Best Picture, and you can find the review of this film earlier in the blog list.

Pain and Glory - 2 nominations

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role - Antonio Banderas

Best International Feature Film - Spain

Pain and Glory is an exquisite film about a famous movie director who recalls the key moments of his life, those that shaped everything he knows about himself in the present day.  Antonio Banderas is nominated for playing Salvador Mallo, the man who is about to celebrate a significant anniversary for his most enduring film, SABOR.  (This is inexplicably the first Oscars nomination for Banderas.) This means reconnecting with the wild lead actor, a man with whom he had a terrible falling out, who turns Mallo onto the "wonderful world" of heroin addiction.  All the while, he is suffering from a series of very serious ailments, including chronic and severe back pain.  Alone and depressed, he thinks about the history of his life, when he began to discover his homosexuality, what his life was like with an absent father and living in an underground cave as an apartment, and all of the key moments in his autobiography, happy and sad.

The film is more than a character study, it's touching, it's engaging, and Banderas is magnetic. We feel his pain inside our own bodies; both the physical and the emotional.

Almodovar's films are powerful, and I have yet to see one I haven't liked.  Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown is wonderful, but for today I'll recommend Talk to Her for which Almodovar won an Oscar for Original Screenplay.  All About My Mother is another of Almodovar's films to have been nominated for the International Feature award, which it won in 1999. When you have finished that film... just watch everything he's made.  I'm a fan.

Watch the trailer: