Head vs. Heart: Counterfitters or Katyn?

HEAD: Now that the Global Cinema class has spoken on their thoughts for the foreign-language Oscar, it's my turn.

HEART: Our turn!

HEAD: Ok, our turn.  But I'm not so sure about this mind/body dichotomy.  Does Descartes know you nicked his blog password?

HEART: Erm....right.  So let's see what the collective intelligence of COMM 371 has to say about Sunday, and we'll throw in our two cents too.

HEAD: First off, nobody's buying Beaufort, which was actually Israel's second choice for their national pick.  I just realized that each and every film nominated this year centers around war.  Sign of the times?

HEART: Afraid so.  The Russian film 12 got two votes--I have to say that I really hope this film doesn't win.  I want to see the film a lot, but having a bunch of Russians sitting around in a Chechyn gymnasium to decide this case (we get it, folks, we get it) is more than I can stomach.

HEAD: Don't you think the 12 Angry Men angle helps it more than it hurts?  But I think that's negated by the fact that Mikhalkov already won one of these in the mid-'90s--Burnt by the Sun is a great film, by the way.

HEART: Then we have a tie--two films that got 2 1/2 votes.  Mongol is a Kazak film on Genghis Khan--we're going to be seeing a lot more films from Central Asia @ BSC in the next year (thanks Soros!), and a win here would be a nice catapult.

HEAD: But...even though this is the foreign-language category, don't you think this is a bit too....erm....foreign for US audiences?  

HEART: And the other film at 2 1/2 is Katyn, the latest from Andrzej Wajda.  We watched several films of his in 430 last semester (Ashes & Diamonds, Man of Marble) and the latter is screening this week for 371.  Did you know that Wajda won a lifetime achievement Oscar several years back, but has never won the foreign-language Oscar?  Here's the chance to right that wrong before he's dead.

HEAD: But they've already done the right thing with that lifetime achievement award--I think they're going to go elsewhere....to The Counterfeiters, to be specific.  Collective intelligence points to the Austrians to win, albeit narrowly at 3 votes.  You've got the WWII angle like Katyn, but it targets Nazis instead of Soviets (always a better Oscar strategy).

HEART: Do we get to talk about the crowds in Vienna welcoming Hitler with open arms upon annexation?  Or do we talk about how we were all victims of Nazism?  I'm afraid it's the latter, and it's depressing.  My vote is for Katyn.

HEAD: And I'm saying The Counterfeiters takes home the trophy.  In the end, I just hope these nominees make their way to Boston-area screens sometime this year--or at least get to f**king Netflix.

HEART:  Peace out.  Tune in Sunday!