The international trend started by “Parasite” 2020 continues. On the morning of the Oscar nominations, Jacques Audiard’s “Emilia Pérez” (Netflix) was expected to lead nominationsand did not disappoint, with a record 13 chances (beating fellow international films “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and “Roma,” with 10 apiece) to win an Oscar on March 2.
Nearly 10,000 academy voters are invited to cast their ballots from February 11 to 18, and about twenty percent of those voters live overseas. Both France’s Spanish-language “Emilia Pérez” and Brazil’s Portuguese “I’m Still Here” (Sony Pictures Classics) landed in Best Picture and earned at least one acting nod, along with the expected Best International Picture Film.
“Emilia Pérez,” about a Mexican drug cartel boss who transitions to being a woman, is now positioned to win several The Oscars. Spanish actress Karla Sofia Gascón and New Jersey native Zoe Saldaña received acting nominations, with Saldaña expected to win supporting actress. But will dominant streamer Netflix break its Best Picture losing streak? (Including shorts, the streamer received 18 nominations, while Universal, including DreamWorks Animation and Focus, boasted 25.) Many Academy voters continue to feel antipathy toward the streamer, which has deep pockets that it doesn’t always share.
Danish-Iranian filmmaker Ali Abbasi’s Cannes entry “The Apprentice,” which performed much better internationally than in America, still picked up two key acting spots for best actor Sebastian Stan and supporting actor Jeremy Strong. While the BAFTA nominations largely echoed the Oscars, critics’ favorite Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Bleecker Street’s “Hard Truths”) gave way to “I’m Still Here” Globe winner Fernanda Torres and James Mangold’s “A Complete Unknown.” ” (Searchlight), with strong momentum, breakout Monica Barbaro added to the supporting cast over SAG and BAFTA nominee Jamie Lee Curtis (“The Last Showgirl”). Been there, done that.
Hollywood still has some power. Steps to Screen Adaptation”Evil” (Universal) received three more Oscar spots (ten) than BAFTAs and is on pace for a Best Picture win. Like “Emilia Pérez,” “Wicked” delivers the visual and aural sweep of a musical. (Six have won best picture, from “The Sound of Music!” and “Oliver!” to the more recent “Chicago.”)
While “Wicked” director Jon M. Chu didn’t receive a nomination, landing a spot for best editing is a sign of the film’s strength, even if the WGA recognition didn’t herald an Oscar nod. “Wicked” makes people smile and brings joy in a time when many are not happy with what they see in the world. And the film’s anti-fascist message adds necessary gravitas to what is otherwise a frothy green-and-pink confection.
Brady Corbet’s $10 million indie “The Brutalist” (A24) packs plenty of gravitas and also landed ten nominations, including best picture, director and editing. It can win all three. And Oscar winner Adrien Brody (“The Pianist”) is positioned to take home the best actor win, as the ambitious post-World War II immigration tale leans squarely on him. At three and a half hours, critics’ darling “The Brutalist” carries the ambition and scope of a Best Picture contender, but it may not play as well as its competition in the mainstream of academia.
While eight nominations mark a strong showing for Vatican potboiler “Conclave” (Focus), including best cinematography and editing and acting nods for Ralph Fiennes and Isabella Rossellini, German director Edward Berger (“All Quiet on the Western Front”) missed out on a directing slot. . The likely scenario for “Conclave” is a repeat of the Golden Globe win for screenwriter Peter Straughan. Focus had a good day, earning nominations not only for “Conclave” but four craft nods for Robert Egger’s elevated horror film “Nosferatu.”
“Anora” (Neon) received six respectable nominations, including Sean Baker for picture, editing, original screenplay and direction, lead actor Mikey Madison, supporting actor Yura Borisov. But will the raging, anarchic comedy win anything? Scripting seems most likely, along with editing. The young actors have promising careers ahead of them.
French filmmaker Coralie Fargate not only celebrated five nominations for Cannes body-horror smash “The Substance” (Mubi’s first-ever Oscar contender), but landed a coveted Slot for best director (only the tenth for a woman) along with Best Original Screenplay, Makeup & Hairstyling, and the expected Best Actress position for Demi Moore, who could win her first Oscar on March 2.
Female directors also made a mark among the documentary films, such as Shiori Ito’s “Black Box Diaries” (the first Japanese director of a Japanese subject to score in this category) and co-directors Emily Kassie (Canada’s “Sugarcane”) and Rachel Szor (Palestine and Israel’s “No Other Land”) landed both slots. Also of note, “Sugarcane” is the first film directed by a Native American to be nominated for an Academy Award. As expected, “Soundtrack for a Coup d’Etat” and “Porcelain War” also received documentary mentions. Banned from nonfiction were three Netflix hopefuls: “Will & Harper,” “Daughters” and “The Remarkable Life of Ibelin.”
Although the Scandinavian voice block didn’t come through for “Ibelin,” they did deliver an international filming location for “The Girl with the Needle.” Also in that category was Latvian entry “Flow”, which also landed in Animated Feature, and German entry “The Seed of the Sacred Fig”, as expected. “Flow” is the second time a film lands in both international and animated cinema, after “Flee”.
Left out of the Best Picture race in favor of presumed tenth slot “Nickel Boys” (which also landed Adapted Screenplay but not Film) was “Sing, Sing” (A24), which landed Best Actor Colman Domingo and Best Adapted Screenplay nods. Also stars “September 5” (Paramount) and “A Real Pain” (Searchlight) both nominated for original screenplay. A consolation prize for “A Real Pain” is likely Best Supporting Actor winner Kieran Culkin.
Not had a good day: Luca Guadagnino, whose best actor hopeful Daniel Craig (the art film “Queer”) was shut out, as well as the box office “Challengers”.
We’ll see what comes at home as the Oscar contenders make their final stands.
