Oscar nominations: ‘Roma,’ ‘Cold War’ lead a bracing foreign invasion

Richmond Times ^ | Jan 23, 2019 | Justin Chang

[CondoleezzaProtege]

“Roma” was just one of many foreign-language films to figure prominently in the academy’s main categories this year, a trend that may just as well stem from its recent and ongoing push to diversify its ranks.

While Cuaron received a director nomination as expected, for example, he was joined by Pawel Pawlikowski for another black-and-white picture, the moody Polish romance “Cold War.” (Pawlikowski previously directed “Ida,” which won the Oscar for foreign-language film in 2015.)

2019 the first time two entirely non-English-language films have earned directing nominations since 1976, when Ingmar Bergman (“Face to Face”) and Lina Wertmüller (“Seven Beauties”) made the cut.

And 2019 marks the first time that three of the five cinematography nominations have gone to non-English-language pictures: “Roma” (shot by Cuaron) and “Cold War” (shot by Lukasz Zal) were both recognized for their distinct monochrome palettes, while veteran American cinematographer Caleb Deschanel earned his sixth nomination for his ravishing color photography on “Never Look Away,” an absorbing historical drama from Germany’s Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (“The Lives of Others”).

Not to be forgotten in the animated feature category was “Mirai,” a gorgeously intimate tale of family ties from Japanese writer-director Mamoru Hosoda that will face off with big-studio releases like “Incredibles 2” and “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.”

Meanwhile, Ali Abbasi’s troll tale “Border,” an uncategorizable Swedish crowd-pleaser that probably narrowly missed the academy’s foreign-language shortlist, nonetheless eked out a makeup and hairstyling nomination for its remarkable prosthetic work.

And “Roma,” “Cold War” and “Never Look Away” all drew more traditional nominations for foreign-language film, a category rounded out by Hirokazu Koreeda’s marvelous Palme d’Or winner, “Shoplifters” (Japan), and Nadine Labaki’s “Capernaum” (Lebanon), an emotionally raw, formally unruly tale of child poverty on the streets of Beirut.

[Borges]

You never watch films? Do you also not read books or listen to music?

[CondoleezzaProtege]

Saw Roma a few weeks ago and Cold War today. Both exquisite films indeed. Been awhile since I have seen an American film at the theater to be honest.