Oscars 2021: A Look At This Year's 'Best International Films'

The films in the International Film category deserve more attention for their diverse worldview

With all eyes on the Oscar race for Best Picture, the films in the International Film category seldom attract the same attention. Parasite was of course the exception, rather than the rule. When Bong Joon Ho spoke of “the one-inch-tall barrier of subtitles,” he was also calling out the media's myopic focus on English-language movies. The films nominated each year for Best International Film (once called Best Foreign Language Film) serve a snapshot of worlds beyond Hollywood.

More so than the other Oscar categories however, the final shortlist of these “international films” don't always reflect the best that cinema has to offer, but simply what most appealed to Academy voters. Each year, countries around the world — via their special selection committees — submit one film which epitomises their cinematic achievements. In a country like India which averages an annual output of nearly 2000 films in over a couple dozen languages, the task to choose one representative is obviously an absurd one. It's partly why we haven't broken into the category since Lagaan. The whole system sure needs an overhaul.

This year, India's selection committee chose Jallikattu, which competed for an Oscar nomination along with 92 other films. Lijo Jose Pellissery's film failed to make it to the final five of the Best International Film race. But here’s a rundown of the films that did.

Another Round | dir. Thomas Vinterberg | Denmark

What makes Thomas Vinterberg’s new film such an intoxicating joyride is you know how it’s likely to end — not without some tragedy. Yet, every time Mads Mikkelsen and co. embark on new misadventures to cure their midlife malaise, you can’t help but shout to yourself in faux-drunken glee: “Bottoms-up”. Mikkelsen plays a high-school history teacher who joins his colleagues on a scientific experiment of sorts: microdose with alcohol to a level that makes their lives less miserable, more enjoyable without reaching the threshold of alcoholism.

Initial results give them the Dutch courage, in this case Danish, to increase their dosage until it becomes a gateway to self-destruction. But the film isn't simply about knocking back one too many every day as an exercise in male bonding. It's about using alcohol as a crutch to face the deep feelings of inadequacy and world-weariness that comes with aging. The film particularly strikes a chord as we all try to deal with the ennui brought on by self-isolation.

Better Days | dir. Derek Tsang | Hong Kong

Tired of being relentlessly bullied, a young girl leaps to her death from the top floor of her school within the first five minutes of Derek Tsang's Better Days. While the other students gather around the body to snap and post photos, her classmate Chen Nian (Zhou Dongyu) covers her face. This tiny act of decency turns her into the next target for the school's mean girls. The only way out of this hellhole is to ace the university entrance exams. With mom on the run from creditors, and the school and police of little help, Chen Nian enlists the help of small-time punk Xiao Bei (Jackson Yee) for protection till she can run off to college.

In their daily walks to and from school, the two dispossessed youth become friends, a makeshift family, and more in a society that has discarded them. Cooking up one brutal ordeal after another, Tsang shows bullying for the dehumanising practice that it is. But mid-way through the movie, things take a tonal hard right turn from a miasma of violence into a melodrama full of painful revelations. This leads to some narrative rough patches, which even Zhou Dongyu and Jackson Yee's undeniable chemistry can't smooth over.

Collective | dir. Alexander Nanau | Romania

Alexander Nanau's riveting documentary plays out like a classic conspiracy thriller, as dogged journalists follow a trail of bread crumbs that lead them to the heart of a sinister apparatus. It took a terrible tragedy for Romania to come to terms with its institutional corruption. A fire in a nightclub in its capital Bucharest left 27 people dead on 30 October, 2015. Among the injured taken to various healthcare facilities across the country, 38 more died due to hospital-acquired infections. The investigation led by Romanian journalists exposed how many of these patients had died because hospitals were using substandard disinfectants, putting patients in need of critical healthcare in hazardous conditions.

They also found that a pharmaceutical company had sold diluted disinfectants to these hospitals, which diluted them further to save costs. Whistle-blowers bring in more revelations, that undermine the already shaky foundations of Romania's political establishment. In parallel, we see the new Minister of Health try to restore confidence in the country's healthcare system with transparency and sweeping changes (only for them to be undone by the succeeding administration). We also follow a survivor try to reclaim her body in the aftermath of the tragedy. Tapping into our deep sense of unease and distrust in our own governments, Collective is a vital reminder of why a free press is indispensable for a well-oiled democracy. For keeping authority at all levels in check helps better serve the interests of its citizens.

Quo Vadis, Aida? | dir. Jasmila Zbanic | Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnian filmmaker Jasmila Zbanic takes us back to a dark day in her country's history. In what is considered the worst episode of mass murder in Europe since World War II, more than 8,000 mostly Muslim men and boys — meant to be under UN protection — were killed by Bosnian Serb forces on 11 July 1995. Zbanic's film follows UN translator Aida (Jasna Djuricic), who tries to coordinate the rescue of thousands of Bosnians, including her husband and sons, seeking refuge in the UN base camp.

In Aida and the Serb forces taking over the city, we see the true face of humanity and inhumanity respectively. Powerless to stop the massacre are UN peacekeepers, who resort to making false promises. In this chaos as hope dwindles, we cling to Aida — resilient even in the face of unimaginable evil — all the way through. It's a testament to Djuricic's devastating performance and Zbanic's empathetic direction.

The Man Who Sold His Skin | Kaouther Ben Hania | Tunisia

The first Tunisian film to be nominated for an Oscar, Kaouther Ben Hania's new film confronts Western exoticisation of the East. “I just made Sam a commodity, a canvas,” proudly asserts Jeffrey Godefroi (Koen De Bouw), a Belgian contemporary artist who convinces Syrian refugee Sam Ali (Yahya Mahayni), it would be easier for him to freely cross the borders of Europe if he were a “commodity.” Stuck in Lebanon, all Sam wants is to be reunited with his fiancé in Belgium. When Jeffrey offers to tattoo a Schengen visa on his back, Sam accepts, not realising what he has traded away in this Faustian bargain.

Exhibited like a piece of art in museums — shirtless with his back facing art patrons — Sam learns his ticket to Europe may have come at the cost of his freedom. Jeffrey and gallery owner Soraya Waldy (Monica Bellucci) embody the hypocritical guise of Western philanthropy. The film also indicts a consumerist culture always ready to appropriate anything and anyone for profit. Painting in broad brush strokes however doesn't always pay off for Ben Hania. As she juggles an art world satire with romantic reunion, the film loses a lot of its narrative momentum. The best way to get most out of The Man Who Sold His Skin is to treat it like a museum exhibit. Each viewer should treasure and take away different moments, and make it their own.

Who will win: Another Round
Who should win: Collective
Who should've been in the running: La Llorona (dir. Jayro Bustamante), About Endlessness (dir. Roy Andersson), A Sun (dir. Chung Mong-hong), The Painter and the Thief (dir. Benjamin Ree), A White, White Day (dir. Hlynur Pálmason)