The Hollywood Foreign Press Association often differs from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences when it comes to films that are not written in English. This year, two titles that did not qualify for the International Feature Oscar race made the cut with the Golden Globes this morning, as both Italy’s The Life Ahead and A24’s Korean-American family drama Minari made nominations for Best Picture – Foreign language achieved. As a US production, Minari does not qualify for the similar category of the Oscars, but can compete there in all others.
Lee Isaac Chung’s Minari status as a foreign language title at the Globes made it suitable for all other races except for Best Picture – Drama, Best Picture – Musical or Comedy, and Best Picture – Animated. Despite the awards for stars Steven Yuen and Youn Yuh-jung, they were not recognized today. Named Film of the Year by AFI, Minari has won over 50 awards from film critic associations and festivals since making its Sundance debut in 2020, but has only received one Globe nomination today.
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The story of a Korean-American family who moves to a small farm in Arkansas in search of the American dream has a large number of followers who were nevertheless indignant when they landed in the Foreign Language Globes race and thus made them out of the top Displaced categories. The conditions of participation state that every film with at least 50% non-English dialogue falls into the foreign language category.
While much of Minari is in Korean, filmmakers and fans pointed out how American the story is in December. At the time, Daniel Dae Kim tweeted that Minari was “the movie equivalent of going back to your country when this country is actually America” in the Best Foreign Film category. This morning Twitter is waking Stateside with a number of people returning to the topic.
Also on the Globes list is The Life Ahead, Netlix ‘Sophia Loren star, directed by her son Edoardo Ponti. Italy did not submit it as a representative for the Oscars, but opted for Gianfranco Rosi’s documentary Notturno. The Globes nom is a nice tribute to the well-received drama but bittersweet with icon Loren being removed from the list of top actresses.
As for the rest of the field of five, they are indeed contenders for the Oscar International Feature Shortlist to be announced Tuesday. This includes Jayro Bustamante’s La Llorona, a mix of folklore, magical realism and horror that draws attention to the genocide of native Mayans in Guatemala in the 1980s. This is the first Globe nomination for Guatemala.
Thomas Vinterberg’s acclaimed Danish contribution Another Round, in which Mads Mikkelsen plays the lead role and which won the European Film Awards in December, is also a Globe nominee. Mikkelsen said today: “Thomas made his most beautiful film to date in the most difficult time of his life, and this nomination brings joy to the hearts and especially those of Thomas.” Vinterberg added, “It is an honor that a film about embracing life in this difficult year should be included by (the HFPA).”
And finally, France’s Oscar entry Two Of Us made the Globes roster. Director Filippo Meneghetti will publish the unconventional love story between two aging women on Friday via Magnolia in the USA. Meneghetti said to me today: “I am very touched. It’s a great honor and incredible news. I never thought my first film could go that far, it’s a great gift. I would like to thank the Hollywood Foreign Press Association on behalf of everyone involved. We did everything to make the film. “
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