| home
> foreign language films > oscars
2005 |
|
Learn
a language with a foreign language movie!
A special
feature by www.languageadvantage.com
|
|
On Sunday 27th February 2005, the frocks come out for a brand new
airing in Hollywood to world-wide acclaim (along with a few films!)
at the 77th Annual Academy Awards®.
|
foreign
language film nominations 2005
|
Once again,
there are five films that have been nominated for the Foreign Language
Film category. And they are:
The Sea Inside *WINNER*
Spain
Directed by Alejandro Amenábar
After 26 bed-ridden years, Ramón Sampedro, paralyzed from
the neck down, decides he wants to end his life. Even though he
is beautifully cared for by his family and friends, he starts to
take legal action to permit him to end his life. This is based on
a true story.
As it is in Heaven
Sweden
Directed by Kay Pollak
While recovering from a heart attack, a gifted conductor goes back
to the streets of his childhood. He begins to confront his past
demons and starts to upset the inward-looking local town when he
starts to lead the church choir.
The Chorus
France
Directed by Christophe Barratier
Using music to help the students at a very strict reform school
for boys, a new teacher finds it hard to fall into line with the
domineering director of the school. Conflict arises over the teacher's
new ways of teaching and disciplining the boys.
Downfall
Germany
Directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel
This film looks at the downfall of the Third Reich in the final
days of World War II as Adolf Hitler grows increasingly distanced
from reality. The experiences of characters close to the leader
are featured, including Hitler's young secretary and an S.S. doctor.
Yesterday
South Africa
Directed by Darrell Roodt
A young lady and her daughter, walk to a clinic to get treatment
for AIDS. Yesterday is turned away from the centre, but fights on
and is eventually helped by a local teacher.
The Academy® selects five foreign language films from a list
of films from 87 countries who have been invited to submit films
for consideration. This year, 'The Sea Inside' is hotly tipped to
be the winner of the Foreign Language Film category. This film has
also been nominated in the Make Up category (Jo Allen and Manuel
García).
There are also
a few other foreign language films that are included in the Oscars®
but outside the Foreign Film category. The 2004 hit 'The
Motorcycle Diaries' (Brazil - Walter Salles) has been
nominated for Best Music (Song) - 'Al Otro Lado Del Río'
*WINNER*.
This film was well received when it came out depicting the early
years of the Communist revolutionary hero Ernesto 'Che' Guevara.
'The Motorcycle Diaries' has also been nominated for Best Writing
(Adapted Screenplay) by José Rivera.
Other nominations this year include the Australian film 'Birthday
Boy' for Best Short Film (Animated). Shown in the Korean
language, it depicts the Korean War in 1951 when a boy called Little
Manuk is playing on the streets of his village and dreaming of life
at the front where his father is a soldier. He returns home to find
a parcel on the doorstep and, thinking it is a birthday present,
he opens it but its contents will change his life.
'Born into Brothels' (US - Zana
Briski & Ross Kauffman) is nominated in the Documentary Feature
category for its depiction of the children of the Sonagachi red
light district in Calcutta. This film is in English and Bengali
with English Subtitles. 'The Story of the
Weeping Camel' (Mongolia - Byamsuren Daura & Luigi
Falorni) has also been nominated in this category. This film is
about the adventures of a family of herders in Mongolia's Gobi region
who face a crisis when the mother camel unexpectedly rejects her
newborn calf after a difficult birth. The Polish film 'The
Children of Leningradsky' (Poland - Hanna Polak and Andrzej
Celinski) is nominated in the Documentary Short Subject category.
Two nominations for Best Cinematography go to 'House
of Flying Daggers' (China - Zhao Xiaoding) and the current
release 'A Very Long Engagement'
(France - Jean-Pierre Jeunet) respectively. The French cinematographer
Bruno Debonnel (A Very Long Engagement) was previously nominated
for Amelié at the 2001 Oscars. Aline Banetto is also nominated
for Best Art Direction who was also previously nominated for Amelié.
'Little Terrorist' (India -
Ashvin Kumar) is nominated in the Short Film (Live Action) category
and finally, 'Maria Full of Grace'
(US/Colombia - Joshua Marston) - the Colombian actress Catalina
Sandino Moreno has been nominated for Best Actress in a Leading
Role.
|
new
foreign language film releases 2005
|
There are many
foreign language films around at the moment that are worth checking
out. Current new releases to look out for include '2046'
(China/France/Germany/Hong Kong - Kar Wai Wong). Set in late 1960s
Hong Kong, the film catches up with Chow Mo Wan, who was last seen
brooding over his affair in 'In The Mood For Love'. In '2046' he
is a lonely, alcoholic, womanising writer, alone in room 2047 of
a cheap hotel and working on a sci-fi novel called '2046'.
'Head
on' (Gegen die Wand - Germany/Turkey - Fatih Akin)
is a melodrama exploring the turbulent relationship between two
German Turks, a middle-aged man and a twenty-something woman.
'La Niña Santa' (Argentina/Spain/Italy
- Lucrecia Martel) tells of a country doctor who gropes a young
16 year old girl in the street. She likes him but being a practicing
Catholic girl is convinced that God wants her to save him from himself.
'Solaris'
(Russia 1971 - Andrei Tarkovsky). This is Tarkovsky's original classic
psychological drama depicting a spaceman, who trying to resolve
his relationship with his dead wife, gets lost amongst his hallucinations
and dreams. This film was recently portrayed in the re-make by Steven
Soderbergh, starring George Clooney and Natascha McElhone.
And lastly,
something to whet the appetite of all of you 'culture vultures'
out there! 'Spanglish' (US -
James L. Brooks). One of this director's previous films 'As Good
as it Gets' won several Oscars in 1998, and this film, while not
strictly a foreign language film, takes an interesting look at cross-cultural
issues in Los Angeles. It stars Tea Leoni and Adam Sandler and is
a comedy portraying the more serious issue of cultural conflict
between white, middle class Americans and poor, working class Mexicans
and the very separate lives they lead in LA. Paz Vega (Spanish actress)
plays the Mexican working class girl who is hired as a housekeeper
in an affluent Bel Air house where Tea Leoni and Adam Sandler try
to play happy families. Vega must contend with the language barrier,
the eccentric family and a clash of culture and language that leads
to significant events in both families' lives.
|
learn
a language with a foreign language movie
|
Your next holiday
abroad may be some time away, but why not make good use of the cold
winter evenings to build up your language skills with a foreign
language movie. Turn the heating up high, snuggle under a blanket
on the sofa with a nice warm drink in your hands … and press play.
With a DVD, you can choose the language for the soundtrack and the
language for the subtitles. With a video, choose to buy it in the
original language version. Always check
that the DVD or video is in the right format and/or region for your
particular country and your particular player ... especially if
you are buying on-line.
Click here for
a full list of all nominations
for the Academy Awards® this year is available on the BBC
website.
Academy Awards®,
Oscar® are the registered trademarks and service marks of the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
DVDs now make
it very easy for us to get our favourite films in many different
languages. Most DVDs come with the soundtrack in a selection of
languages and accompanied by a selection of subtitles. On some DVDs
you can get up to 25 language and subtitle combinations - so you
could end up watching the film in Greek with Hebrew subtitles. A
language learning dream.
A word of warning
though. The film industry has adopted a Region system for all DVDs
- and consequently DVD players. You need to check closely that the
DVD you are purchasing is the correct region for your DVD player.
Even if you manage to buy a multi-region DVD player, still check
that the DVD that you are purchasing has the correct language and
subtitle combination. For example, you may have to buy your DVDs
from France to get the French/English language combination, as the
UK version doesn't have French, but may have Swedish, Danish and
Greek.
Also,
visit our Language Advantage Films for more
foreign language films and movies and Language
Advantage Courses for more of the best and most innovative language
providers in the world.
For
other special features go to Language
Advantage Features.
|
