Well, there has to be a scandal every year. The Academy has announced the nine films eligible to be nominated for the Best Foreign Language Oscar, narrowed down from 67, and once again they've left out one of the most internationally acclaimed films of the year. While Palme d'Or winner The Class and recent Globe winner Waltz With Bashir made the cut, the acclaimed Italian drama Gomorra didn't make it.
it's a snub on par with last year's list, in which that year's Palme d'Or winner 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days was left off the list. Like Gomorra, that film was a realistic, unflinching take on a brutal underworld-- illegal abortions in Romania then, mafia life in Italy now. I guess the Academy, true to form, isn't so into the gritty stuff, at least if there's not a happy ending involving a dance number at a train station.
You can see the list of the top 9 below, courtesy of the Carpetbagger. From these nine the Academy will select five finalists that will be announced, along with the rest of the Oscar nominees, on January 22.
(Note: Let the Right One In, the Swedish movie that made critics swoon, was not nominated by its home country for the award; that's why you see Everlasting Moments here instead).
“Revanche,” Gotz Spielmann, director (Austria)
“The Necessities of Life,” Benoit Pilon (Canada)
“The Class,” Laurent Cantet, director (France)
“The Baader Meinhof Complex,” Uli Edel, director (Germany)
“Waltz with Bashir,” Ari Folman, director (Israel)
“Departures,” Yojiro Takita, director (Japan)
“Tear This Heart Out,” Roberto Sneider, director (Mexico)
“Everlasting Moments,” Jan Troell, director (Sweden)
“3 Monkeys,” Nuri Bilge Ceylan, director (Turkey)
