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2023 Foreign Film Oscar Analysis

2023 was a very strong year for international cinema. The best movie of the year came from Europe and that continent had a particularly strong output this year in comparison to the other continents and countries that did not deliver their best work this time around. As for the Academy, their slate reflected well on the best foreign films released this year with only a couple of notable exclusions. One of these films is a masterpiece and another one is among the best movies of the year as well while the other three range from solid to pretty good.

My Ranking of the Nominees:

5. Perfect Days

Perfect Days is a Japanese drama directed by Wim Wenders that is very slice-of-life in its storytelling approach for better and for worse. While it’s so well made, it’s also too slow and nowhere near as engaging as it should have been. There is a lot of warmth and charm to this film, but the slightness of the plot and the lack of truly memorable sequences ultimately hurt it. There is not a single bad movie on this year’s slate, but this drama gets the last spot for being the least effective of the five films. It’s the only non-European film on this list.

4. The Teachers’ Lounge

The Teachers’ Lounge is a German drama about anything that can go wrong for a teacher. It deals with many interesting themes and issues, but it fails to make a bigger point about anything, leading to an ending that was disappointing and frustrating. Very well performed and directed, the film is also thrilling and featuring excellent dialogue, but it needed better pacing overall. It’s the film on this slate that is the most muted in its effect, which was a problem as it required a much more urgent and effective handling of its interesting subject.

3. Io Capitano

Following the plight of Senegalese refugees on their trek to Europe, Io Capitano is far from an original road drama as its plot and subject are quite familiar, but the movie still works due to Matteo Garrone’s excellent direction, strong acting and a terrific cinematic quality to it that successfully transcended the script itself. The emotional engagement of the story and its moving ending were the other highlights. It’s the most traditional Oscar-bait film on this slate, but one that was still emotionally engaging and undeniably superbly made.

2. Society of the Snow

Based on a tragic true story of a horrible plane crash that only a fraction of the crew survived, Society of the Snow is the most inspirational of all the films on the list and most generally appealing. A crowd-pleaser can be a bad thing, but not in this instance as the film not only operates on that universally appealing level, but also in every single other area – the audio-visuals are phenomenal, the directing is fantastic, the acting is uniformly strong and the messaging was wonderfully optimistic, which was so refreshing to see in a contemporary film. It’s such an incredible movie that almost made me cry.

1. The Zone of Interest

In most other years the above film would easily take my number one spot, but 2023 saw the best film of the entire year actually nominated in this category and that is Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest. This is a World War II drama, but one that was unlike anything else done in that area by now. What this visionary filmmaker did here was to shy away from depicting any violence, but invite us as the audience to just observe this family living nearby the concentration camp. Through its clinical, slice-of-life approach at storytelling and a minimalist script that is admirably devoid of any unnecessary conflict, the film invites us not just to acknowledge the callousness and complicity of the people that we are observing, but also to recognize our very own tendencies to avoid these unpleasant truths and focus on our own lives and the lives of our closest families, who are effectively just the extension of ourselves. It’s a thematically impressive film, but one that is also visually powerful while featuring strong acting, tremendous sound design and incredible directing from Glazer. It’s a true work of art and an important message film that is nowadays sadly too relatable, so it easily takes the top spot here.

Films That Should Have Been Nominated:

Anatomy of a Fall – Justine Triet’s Oscar nomination in the directing category was such a wonderful surprise as this director did such a fantastic job on this French courtroom drama that is among the best films of the year. It’s so cleverly written in dialogue and characterization. For some silly reason it wasn’t sent to the Academy, so it ended up not being nominated in the foreign category, but it did quite well elsewhere thankfully.

About Dry Grasses – About Dry Grasses is another Nuri Bilge Ceylan that is three hours long. It requires immense patience to properly finish it, but for those who stick with it, it will be a riveting watch. It features some of the best dialogue of the year as it deals with so many interesting issues.

Godland – Godland is an Icelandic drama that felt quite similar in its subject matter to Scorsese’s ‘Silence’, but it is still its own thing due to its unique setting, superb direction and particularly inspired, unique cinematography. It’ another long film, but one that is worth watching as it’s so well made across the board.