Reuters North American News Service, January 22nd, 2008
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Oscar has stirred up some
international intrigue.
Some of 2007's most acclaimed international films will not
be competing for the foreign-language prize at the Academy
Awards next month.
Among the rejected movies are the Romanian abortion drama
"4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days," which won the top Palme d'Or
prize at the Cannes Film Festival last year, and the animated
French movie "Persepolis," which won a jury prize at Cannes.
Instead, organizers said Tuesday that films including
the Holocaust-related dramas "The Counterfeiters" from Austria
and "Katyn" from Poland will compete for the Oscar Feb. 24.
Joining them are the Israeli war drama "Beaufort," Kazakhstan's
Genghis Khan biopic "Mongol" and Russia's "12," a loose remake
of "12 Angry Men."
Each country is allowed to submit one film for
consideration. Local film bodies in a record 63 countries, from
Argentina to Vietnam, accepted the offer this year.
That number was whittled to nine this month by a special
Academy committee. Four were dropped after committee members
watched them again. They were Brazil's "The Year My Parents
Went on Vacation," Canada's "Days of Darkness," Italy's "The
Unknown" and Serbia's "The Trap."
EARLY OMISSIONS
But at least they got that far. "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2
Days" and "Persepolis" failed to survive the first culling, as
did the Spanish horror film "The Orphanage," one of the few
submissions that has actually played in U.S. movie theaters.
The omission of "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days" was "one of
the stupidest things that I've ever seen happen," said Rolling
Stone magazine critic Peter Travers.
"Persepolis" co-director Marjane Satrapi said she lost hope
of getting any Oscar attention after the foreign-language snub
and was relieved that her coming-of-age story set against the
Iranian revolution was noted for animated picture.
Others were rejected long ago. The Academy disqualified
Israel's original submission "The Band's Visit" because there
was too much English dialogue. It also decreed that Ang Lee's
"Lust, Caution" did not have enough Taiwanese talent.
France, faced with an abundance of choices, opted for
"Persepolis" over such strong entrants as "The Diving Bell and
the Butterfly" and "La Vie en Rose."
"Diving Bell" was nominated in four categories, including
best director for American artist Julian Schnabel, while "La
Vie" picked up three nominations, including best actress for
Marion Cotillard.
Director Stefan Ruzowitzky's "The Counterfeiters" is the
true story of concentration camp prisoners forced to print
millions of dollars' worth of phony currency as part of a Nazi
scheme to ruin Allied economies.
"Beaufort," from director Joseph Cedar, revolves around the
Israeli army's 2000 evacuation of the historic stone fortress
of the same name in southern Lebanon.
Director Sergei Bodrov's "Mongol" recounts the early life
of Genghis Khan, with the infamous conqueror played by Japanese
actor Tadanobu Asano.
"Katyn," a box office smash from Poland's most famous
director, Andrzej Wajda, revolves around the massacre of the
Polish officer corps by the Soviets in 1940 and subsequent
cover-up.
"12," from Nikita Mikhalkov, was inspired by Sidney Lumet's
1957 jury drama "12 Angry Men."
(Editing by John O'Callaghan)
