My mild OCD means I can be obsessed with lists. As we've noted in the past, there is something about the Canadian entries for the Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film.
We have prided ourselves for having seen a bunch of those films in a row. Now with Eternal Spring, we have now seen the last 20 years of Canadian nominees. 21 if you count Funny Boy, which we've seen, and we don't count that film. Sorry, Telefilm Canada.
We will know tomorrow if Eternal Spring makes the shortlist, which would only be the second Canadian film on the shortlist in the last decade.
While we are reflecting on the last 20 films Canada has submitted for the Academy Awards, we have now seen 25 of the last 26 entries, including the last 23 entries. We just saw Un crabe dans la tête (2002), which we will review early in 2023.
We have seen Cosmos (1997), August 32nd on Earth (1998), Maelström (2000), and Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (2001). Denis Villeneuve wrote and directed August 32nd on Earth and Maelström and directed a segment of Cosmos. We are now missing Emporte-moi | Set Me Free (1999).
Canadian film review: Eternal Spring
Eternal Spring gets the nod from Canada for Best International Feature Film
In the last 20 years, Canada has had 5 films make the Top 5 cut with 1 film winning the award: The Barbarian Invasions. Water, Incendies, Monsieur Lazhar, and War Witch were the other 4 films to reach the Top 5. 3 other films made the shortlist: Days of Darkness, The Necessities of Life, and It's Only the End of the World. All but the last film came in the first decade (2003-2012) of the last 20 years.
If we were to rank the last 20 entries, which we don't prefer to do, here is some idea of what we think:
Top Tier
The Barbarian Invasions (2003), C.R.A.Z.Y. (2005), The Necessities of Life (2008), I Killed My Mother (2009), Mommy (2014)
Second Tier
Water (2006), Days of Darkness (2007), Incendies (2010), Monsieur Lazhar (2011), Félix et Meira (2015)
Third Tier
Far Side of the Moon (2004), War Witch (2012), Gabrielle (2013), It's Only the End of the World (2016), Antigone (2019)
Fourth Tier
Hochelaga, Land of Souls (2017), Family First (2018), 14 Days, 12 Nights (2020), Drunken Birds (2021), Eternal Spring (2022)
Eternal Spring deserves a better fate but the film is too fresh in my mind to move up. Was hoping for that film to be more in the conversation for the shortlist, though the film is also Oscar-eligible in Best Animated Feature and Best Documentary Feature. Some of this list is subjective: Gabrielle was more uplifting where War Witch, with no visible Canadian content, was too depressing. Family First is one of the worst films I've seen on any list in any context. That film deserves its own tier.
C.R.A.Z.Y. and Mommy are such well-crafted films: still can't believe neither made the shortlist.
The last decade doesn't come close to the previous decade for Canadian films in this category.
Looking back at Canada's Oscars entries for international films
The short-term criticism of Gabrielle (2013), Mommy (2014), and Félix et Meira (2015) was that they didn't match up to the strength of the previous 3 films, all of whom made the Top 5 Academy Awards cut. Mommy should have made the cut. Those 3 films look a lot stronger by comparison to recent films.
CanadianCrossing.com film reviews
CanadianCrossing.com film coverage
Here are the last 20 Canadian films to be nominated in this category for the Academy Awards and whether they made the cut. The Barbarian Invasions | Les Invasions barbares is still the only Canadian film to win the Oscar in this category.
2003 The Barbarian Invasions | Les Invasions barbares Denys Arcand (won the Oscar)
2004 Far Side of the Moon | La face cachée de la lune Robert Lepage
2005 C.R.A.Z.Y. Jean-Marc Vallée
2006 Water Deepa Mehta (nominated)
2007 Days of Darkness | L'Âge des ténèbres Denys Arcand (shortlist)
2008 The Necessities of Life | Ce qu'il faut pour vivre Benoît Pilon (shortlist)
2009 I Killed My Mother | J'ai tué ma mère Xavier Dolan
2010 Incendies Denis Villeneuve (nominated)
2011 Monsieur Lazhar Philippe Falardeau (nominated)
2012 War Witch| Rebelle Kim Nguyen (nominated)
2013 Gabrielle Louise Archambault
2014 Mommy Xavier Dolan
2015 Félix et Meira Maxime Giroux
2016 It's Only the End of the World | Juste la fin du monde Xavier Dolan (shortlist)
2017 Hochelaga, Land of Souls | Hochelaga terre des âmes François Girard
2018 Family First | Chien de garde Sophie Dupuis
2019 Antigone Sophie Deraspe
2020 14 Days, 12 Nights | 14 jours, 12 nuits Jean-Philippe Duval
2021 Drunken Birds | Les Oiseaux ivres Ivan Grbovic
2022 Eternal Spring Jason Loftus
photo credit: C.R.A.Z.Y. film
Comments