Clint Eastwood’s Letters from Iwo Jima (2006) was the last film in a foreign language to be nominated for Best Picture by the Academy Awards in the 2007 ceremony. With the recent announcement of the 71 films that will compete for Foreign Language film, many will agree, there are many in there worthy of a Best Picture citation or win.
From 2007 until now, remove one Best Picture nominee and put in a foreign language film in its spot.
It gets a little difficult as we go on, and I’ll fully admit I don’t watch as many foreign films as I should every year. I’m still going to give it a try.
2007 Ceremony
Babel
The Departed
Letters from Iwo Jima
Little Miss Sunshine
The Queen
Replace – The Queen with Pan’s Labyrinth
2008 Ceremony
Atonement
Juno
Michael Clayton
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood
Replace – Michael Clayton with The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
2009 Ceremony
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire
Replace – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with Waltz with Bashir
2010 Ceremony
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air
Replace – The Blind Side with The Secret in their Eyes
2011 Ceremony
127 Hours
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
The King’s Speech
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter’s Bone
Replace – 127 Hours with I Am Love
2012 Ceremony
The Artist
The Descendants
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
The Tree of Life
War Horse
Replace – War Horse with A Separation
Comment and discuss!
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Tags: Clint Eastwood, Film, I Am Love, letters from iwo jima, the artist, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The Secret in their Eyes, Waltz with Bashir
12 Comments
I agree with most of your choices, at least in your foreign selections. I would probably just pick a different film that’s being left out. For instance, I would replace “Babel” for “Pan’s Labyrinth” and “Atonement” for “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”. For 2010, I’d actually switch “The Blind Side” for “A Prophet”, one of the few films I’m willing to call a masterpiece. There’s also another great Iranian film called “No One Knows About Persian Cats” that I would have no problem switching out with a lot of good but not great titles like “Black Swan”, “The Fighter” or “Winter’s Bone”.
Josh P.(Quote) (Reply)
Great List. I agree completely with the inclusion of ‘The Diving Bell and Butterfly’ in 2007′s Best Picture race. I think that Schnabel should have won for Director, too
Joe Gouveia(Quote) (Reply)
I’d put The Lives of Others over Babel. I wouldn’t touch 2007 (the 2008 awards). Waltz With Bashir over Frost/Nixon. The White Ribbon over The Blind Side. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo over The Kids Are All Right. And I’d put A Separation in over ELIC.
Mark Johnson(Quote) (Reply)
2007 Ceremony
Replace – Little Miss Sunshine with Volver
2008 Ceremony
Replace – Juno with [REC]…why not this seems like a fun choice lol
2009 Ceremony
Replace – Slumdog Millionaire with Let the Right One In
2010 Ceremony
Replace – A Serious Man with Sin Nombre
2011 Ceremony
Replace – The King’s Speech with I Saw the Devil/The Housemaid
2012 Ceremony
Replace – Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close with A Separation
Terence Johnson(Quote) (Reply)
2007 – The Queen with Pan’s Labyrinth
2008 – There Will Be Blood (yes, I’m serious…maybe I need a 2nd look?) with The Kite Runner
2009 – Frost/Nixon with Let The Right One In
2010 – A Serious Man with Sin Nombre
2011 – The Kids Are All Right (although I truly love all 10 nominees) with Incendies
2012 – Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close with A Separation
Squasher88(Quote) (Reply)
2007 Ceremony
Trade Babel for Pan’s Labyrinth (I’d like to trade in The Lives of Others as well!)
2008 Ceremony
Trade Atonement for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (don’t forget The Orphanage!)
2009 Ceremony
Trade The Reader for Che
2010 Ceremony
Trade Avatar for The Stoning of Soraya M.
2011 Ceremony
Trade The Kids Are Alright for The Man from Nowhere (a personal favorite of mine)
2012 Ceremony
Trade Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close for Bullhead (I still haven’t gotten a chance to see A Separation)
Steve Glansberg(Quote) (Reply)
The Queen was a lock for Best Picture for the start. It’s British, focused on a very strong cinematic character and felt like it could have been made in the 1930s. Good, old-fashioned filmmaking at its best.
As far as Waltz with Bashir, there was no way in heck that was going to be nominated. Not only was it a foreign film, but it was also animated AND a documentary. I would include Baader Meinhof Complex instead, although my favorite of the 2008 group is Palm d’Or winner The Class, which many may deem boring due to its 2-hour running time, use of only one setting and the narrowing of its scope to a singular character.
kel doucette(Quote) (Reply)
2006 was such a good year for foreign films with the likes of Apocalypto, The Lives of Others, Letters from Iwo Jima, Pan’s Labyrinth, Volver, Days of Glory, Curse of the Golden Flower, and I consider Babel to be a foreign language film. Tough choice but I’d go with:
2007 ceremony
Replace – The Queen with Pan’s Labyrinth
2008 ceremony
Replace – Can’t do it. This year represents why I think they should go back to five nominees for best picture. It’s just…perfect.
2009 ceremony
Replace – The Reader with Let the Right One In
2010 ceremony
Replace – The Blind Side with The White Ribbon
2011 ceremony
Replace – 127 Hours with I Saw the Devil
2012 ceremony
Replace – Extremely Loud and Incredible Close with A Separation
Jeremy DC(Quote) (Reply)
2007- The Queen with The Lives of Others
2008- Michael Clayton with [REC]
2009- The Reader with Let the Right One In
2010- Precious with A Prophet
2011- Winter’s Bone with I Saw the Devil
2012- The Help with A Separation
Joey Magidson(Quote) (Reply)
You don’t need to replace War Horse with A Separation. There are only 9 nominees. They’re clear they want only American films. But even then, how can the best edited film of the year, in the eyes of the academy (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), not be worthy of Best Picture? Does that even make sense?
Rohit Ramachandran(Quote) (Reply)
2007: “Babel” with “The Lives of the Others”
2008: “Juno” with “Import/Export”
2009: “Milk” with “Revanche”
2010: “Up” with “I Killed my Mother”
2011: “True Grit” with “Of Gods and Men”
2012: “War Horse” & “Extremely Loud…” with “A Separation” & “Halt auf freier Strecke”
(I just could not let any of the 2 remain in the lineup as I think that none of them deserves to be there at all)
Penguin(Quote) (Reply)
I loved Pan’s Labyrinth but in 2007 i would’ve picked my favorite thriller of all time Guillaume Canet “Tell no one”.
Jo(Quote) (Reply)