Anatomy of a Fallgained international recognition after winning the prestigious Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, yet France made the controversial decision to snub the movie as itsOscarcontender for Best International Feature Film. Instead, the title selected wasThe Taste of Things,orLa passion de Dodin Bouffant, a period romance about a talented gourmet chef, who decides to win over the heart of Eugenie, his beloved cook, by finally cooking for her.
The two movies haven’t got much in common beyond the French language.Anatomy of a Fallis a harrowing courtroom drama following a renowned writer put on trial after the sudden death of her husband points at suspicious circumstances. With Sandra Hüllerleading the castin a killer performance, the movie had clear chances in the upcoming Oscar race, which makes France’s snub all the more controversial.
Here’s why France didn’t submitAnatomy of a Fallas its Oscar submission for Best International Feature Film.
France Gave Up Guaranteed Nominations With Anatomy of a Fall’s Snub
Almost every year, some of the most anticipated titles show up in the official selection of the Cannes Film Festival, competing for a spot in cinema history by winning the Palme d’Or. Traditionally, the Cannes Film Festival isn’t a valuable metric for the awards season. However, early reactions from both critics and the public audience tend to hint at movies that will definitely have an impact later in the year. As an example of that, journalists make sure to count the minutes of every standing ovation and report angry walkouts or audience members getting sick — details that will definitely be used in the movie’s favor through indirect marketing.
Every once in a while, the unanimous praise around a movie or a performance at Cannes pretty much guarantees a spot in the awards race and the Oscar conversation. In recent memory, such was the case ofParasite,which also won the Palme d’Orand climbed its way to a Best Picture win, and in 2022,Triangle of Sadness, which earned three fairly surprising Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay. In this context,Anatomy of a Fallhad a lot in its favor: besides accomplishing the feat of winning over every Cannes jury member, the acclaim around Hüller’s performance was through the roof.
Anatomy of a Fall Ending, Explained
2023’s Palme d’Or winner, Anatomy of a Fall is a harrowing courtroom drama that leaves plenty of room for interpretation in the end.
Looking ahead to the upcoming Oscars, it was a strong contender for winning Best International Feature, followed by predicted nominations for Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay.Anatomy of a Fall’s promising future was surprisingly disrupted when France’s Oscar committee decided to nominateThe Taste of Thingsinstead, stirring controversy and even prompting NEON to step forward inAnatomy of a Fall’s favor. What’s more, NEON’s Tom Quinn went public to discuss the “horribly broken process” of the International Oscar Selection (viaIndieWire). WhileAnatomy of a Fallcan still compete in other Oscar categories outside Best Internation Feature, the truth is that it is much harder to campaign for an movie once their own country rebuffs them.
The Problem with Selecting Anatomy of a Fall as the French Oscar Contender
In 2020,Parasitemade history as the first non-English-language movie to ever win theBest Picture Oscar, yet the lack of international movies in the ceremony’s top categories (in any given year) is still a big problem. Unsurprisingly, the Academy is predominantly American, and the whole idea of the Oscars hints at a distinctively local event. A good bunch of international members joined a range of Academy branches, yet the old guard is still the dominating class. Whenever an international movie has the right odds to compete in broader categories, the international committee grows stronger, bringing diversity and inclusion to the otherwise conservative Academy. That’s whyAnatomy of a Fall’s snub left French critics and international members so infuriated — and yet, there’s a clear reason why France decided to prioritize another contender.
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In Oscar selection process, each country has to choose a single movie to represent them in the International Feature category, although, as previously mentioned, unselected movies can still campaign in other categories, asRRRdid in 2022 after getting snubbed by India. In 2004, for example, Fernando Meirelles was nominated for Best Director even thoughCity of Godwas snubbed by the Brazilian committee. It’s essentially up to each country to put forward the movie they think is most culturally relevant to them. Generally, the title with the most chance of earning international recognition will get the spot. However, every so often, the most acclaimed movie from a country doesn’t necessarily do a great job of representing said country, and that’s how the French Oscar committee might have felt aboutAnatomy of a Fall, especially when compared toThe Taste of Things.
Justine Triet’s movie is psychologically intense, shocking, and mesmerizing, but it’s difficult to ignore how at least 50% of the movie is spoken in the English language. Hüller’s character is a foreigner and can’t quite express herself in French, which results in the star of the movie barely speaking French in its entirety. A few years back,Anatomy of a Fallwouldn’t even be eligible for a French submission.
With that in mind, it’s reasonable to conclude that France acknowledges the relevance ofAnatomy of a Fallas a work of fiction, but is far from being the right movie to represent their country. Alternatively,The Taste of Thingsisa French romancein its most traditional form: set in the 1880s, the movie is a charming look into ancient French cuisine, standing as a unique portrayal of ancient customs and practices. At the end of the day, France’s decision feels much more like an effort to preserve its identity than a maneuver to sabotage Triet’s powerful movie.
