Japan's three-hour Best Picture contender Drive My Car, popular Norwegian relationship drama Worst Person in the World and triple-threat animated documentary Flee are triple frontrunners for Best International Feature Film (once named Foreign Film) at the 94th Academy Awards.
It’s tough to predict how this race will go, but ultimately movie-goers are the big winner. All five are inspiring films that will take you around the world in human experience — and all are available to stream at home before the Oscars show. Also, lots of cigarette smoking. Here’s what you need to know.
DRIVE MY CAR
Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s three-hour Cannes Best Screenplay-winner Drive My Car is up for Best Picture, Best Director and Best International Feature Film. Japanese director Ryusuke Hamaguchi takes viewers on a ride in this quiet-masterpiece featuring Yusuke (Hidetoshi Nishijima) and his driver Misaki (Toko Miura). Raise the seat back, get comfy and keep your eyes on the narrative which shifts between the two effortlessly and memorably.
It’s a long film in four parts, consider watching it as your next binge series.
Where to watch: HBOmax
The Ten Buck Review: Worth ten bucks.
It’s a long film in four parts, consider watching it as your next binge series.
Where to watch: HBOmax
The Ten Buck Review: Worth ten bucks.
THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD
Norwegian writer-director Joachim Trier (Thelma) perfectly casts Reate Reinsve (Oslo) as Oslo medical student Julie, a magnificent mess who changes career plans too often in her early twenties and may just have similar problems with relationships. Also, perfectly cast are her men— a Robert Crum-style comic-book artist Aksel (Anders Danielson Lie) and Eivind (Herber Nordrum) a married stranger she meets at a party.
If you haven't guessed already, it's a dramatic comedy about a woman on the verge of figuring out who she is. She's unlikely "the worst person in the world" nor is she the "nicest." One thing I can reveal is that she is "funny" in a way we haven't seen since TV's Fleabag.
The whole film is pretty likable too. it delights and generates some solid, rootin-'tootin' laugh-out moments. Until a third arc conversation between Julie and Aksel that delivers a gut-punch about the artifacts of youth that was the most memorable scene of the year for me.
Where to watch: VOD
The Ten Buck Review: Worth ten bucks.
Director Jonas Poher Rasmussen's film tells the story of Amin, a young refugee fleeing his home in Afghanistan to Denmark. It's a story of perseverance and hope that will surely impact even the least emotional viewers.
Amin and friend Rasmussen's story is filled with enough suspense to make you forget you are watching an animated film. The animation, of course, hides the identity of the Afghan refugee but serves as a thrilling storytelling device that stretches the format into new directions and will surely push both documentary and animated crafts forward.
A contender for Animated Feature, Documentary and International Feature, which is quite a feat. Flee has already made history and is one to watch before Oscars Night.
Where to watch: Hulu
The Ten Buck Review: Worth ten bucks.
Amin and friend Rasmussen's story is filled with enough suspense to make you forget you are watching an animated film. The animation, of course, hides the identity of the Afghan refugee but serves as a thrilling storytelling device that stretches the format into new directions and will surely push both documentary and animated crafts forward.
A contender for Animated Feature, Documentary and International Feature, which is quite a feat. Flee has already made history and is one to watch before Oscars Night.
Where to watch: Hulu
The Ten Buck Review: Worth ten bucks.
Italian auteur Paolo Sorrentino delivers a personal, coming-of-age story set in his hometown Naples. He also delivers a scene that is, well, oh so Italian. Everything here is big and bright and oversized, but it’s quite a trip to go on the trip of one young boy, Fabietto (Filippo Scotti, not Timothy Chalamet), and his own dolce vita.
Where to watch: Netflix
The Ten Buck Review: Worth ten bucks.
The Ten Buck Review: Worth ten bucks.
LUNANA: A YAK IN THE CLASSROOM
In Pawo Choyning Dorji’s film from Bhutan, a reluctant teacher is assigned to a school that’s an eight-day up the mountains of Bhutan. It is perhaps the most remote classroom in the planet.
Shot high in the remote Himalayas with local villagers and rookie musician-turned-actor Sherab Dorji, Lunana tells the story of a city teacher who finds inspiration through the schoolchildren he encounters. At the beginning of the film, he’d rather be a musician in Australia. By the end, well you’ll likely feel as similarly transformed as Lunana.
Where to watch: VOD
The Ten Buck Review: Worth ten bucks.
The Ten Buck Review: Worth ten bucks.
Enjoy your trip around the world!
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