period drama “Corsage,” starring Vicky Krieps as 19th-century Austrian Empress Elisabeth; Lukas Dhont’s tender coming-of-age film “Close,” the Belgian selection; Jerzy Skolimowski’s nearly wordless “EO,” a road movie from the point of view of a donkey that was submitted by Poland; and South Korean director Park Chan-wook’s stylish crime story/love story hybrid, “Decision to Leave.”Other films that could be positioned to do well include the German selection, Edward Berger’s harrowing new version of the classic antiwar novel “All Quiet on the Western Front,” a Netflix release; Spain’s “Alcarras,” a drama by Carla Simon that won the Golden Bear at this year’s Berlin Film Festival; and “Our Brothers” from director Rachid Boucharev, who has represented Algeria seven previous times in the Oscar race, landing three of the country’s five nominations.As usual, the rule that allows an Academy-approved body from each country to choose that country’s Oscar submission has led to some surprises.
India, continuing a long history of bypassing the films that seem to have the best chance of landing nominations, went for the “Cinema Paradiso”-style “Last Film Show” instead of the international sensation “RRR.” When that news was announced, “RRR” immediately appealed to Oscar voters to consider it for Best Picture.Romania, meanwhile, chose Monica Stan and George Chiper’s “Immaculate” rather than the Cannes entry “R.M.N.” from Cristian Mungiu, one of the directors who helped launch the acclaimed New Romanian Cinema movement with films like “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days.” (The country’s selection committee has often chosen films from key directors in that movement, including Cristi Puiu, Corneliu Porumboiu and Radu Jude, but none of those.
Read more on thewrap.com