From sport to show business, nationalist fervor boils over the lifting of one more global trophy, the Oscar World Cup for Argentina, 1985. The chance foreseen in the forecasts became feasible this Tuesday when the nominations for the 95th edition were announced. of the Academy Awards to be held on March 12 at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles, where Santiago Miter’s film will compete in the shortlist for Best International Film along with four other non-American films: the German No news at the front, the polish Eothe Belgian Close and the irish The Quiet Girl.
The feature film that recreates the Judgment of the Juntas and headed by Ricardo Darín and Peter Lanzani is the eighth film of Argentine origin to be a candidate for the statuette, which up to now has won The official story in 1986 and The Secret in Their Eyes in 2010.
Argentina, 1985 arrives at the Oscars with strong endorsement, that of having won the Golden Globe in the same category two weeks ago, an annual award given by the foreign press in Hollywood and which serves as a thermometer for the distribution of subsequent statuettes at the Dolby Theater.
That without counting the inscription of the film in the theme of the last Argentine dictatorship that it shares with The official story y The Secret in Their Eyesthe classic-universal story mould, the recognizable leading role outside the borders of Ricardo Darín and the thriving production of Amazon Prime Video and Axel Kutchevatsky (also a producer of The Secret in Their Eyes).
Even the local movie had extra luck getting rid of the Indian epic RRR by SS Rajamouli, who triumphed at the prestigious Critics’ Choice Movie Awards but was not sent by his country as a shortlist for the Oscars.
Favorite Opponent
The way to the coveted prize of the American industry would thus be paved if it were not for the outstanding presence as a favorite of No news at the fronta German war drama by Edward Berger (available on Netflix) that competes in the shortlist of Argentina, 1985 in addition to aspiring to eight other categories, including Best Film.
Adaptation of the German novel by Erich Maria Remarque, already made into a film twice (the first version by Lewis Milestone in 1930 won an Oscar), the film evokes the traumatic experiences lived by a young German soldier in the trenches of the First World War. .
In addition to having been one of the most watched 2022 premieres on the influential platform, No news at the front swept the international season garnering multiple nominations and recognitions. Yes ok Argentina, 1985 stole the Golden Globe, the outcome of the imminent Bafta will be key, the British Academy Awards where both films compete in the same shortlist and which they awarded to No news at the front a whopping 14 nominations.
It happens that all the last winners of the Bafta for Best Non-English Film replicated themselves without exception at the Oscars (Drive My Car, Another round, Parasite y Roma), and for this reason it is worth keeping an eye on what happens on February 19 at the Southbank Center in London.
In this sense, the Hollywood Academy has recently been awarding double nominations for Best Film and Best International Film with disparate results: only Parasite made history in 2020 triumphing in both categories, while Roma y Drive My Car they won for Best International Film without wielding the top award.
That gap in reverse logic is what could pave the Oscar for Argentina, 1985: that the German take the award for Best Film –as the specialists warn– and that the film by Miter receives the golden approval in its shortlist.
The miracle is possible: if something characterizes the Oscars, it is its unpredictability, the result of the decision of an overwhelming jury in which the tangled criteria of quality and correctness weigh. It will be the last sentence for Argentina, 1985to which a country in suspense will be waiting.