An Oscar Shortlist Tilts East

In the past,however,the committee overseeing the shortlist selections has shown a fondness for historical epics,which may have worked in favour of the film,directed by Wei Te-Sheng and co-produced by the Hong Kong action film director John Woo. It also features a story line strikingly similar to that of Avatar. In both,an indigenous clan-based people living in harmony with nature find their way of life threatened when violent interlopers from another culture arrive,intent on seizing their natural resources and enslaving them.

Though A Separation is the odds-on favourite,there has been growing buzz about the chances of two dark-horse entries,one from Canada and the other from Israel. The Canadian Monsieur Lazhar is an affecting drama about a Montreal school thrown into turmoil after a teacher commits suicide. In its favour: the director,Philippe Falardeau,who adapted the script from a one-man play,coaxed sensitive performances from child actors and took the bold step of casting a little-known Algerian comedian,Mohamed Said Fellag,in the title role,that of an Arab immigrant brought in as a substitute teacher.

Israel’s submission,Footnote,directed by Joseph Cedar,has won festival prizes,especially for its clever screenplay. The film,which mixes drama and comedy and satirises academic ambition,examines the complicated relationship,personal and intellectual,between a father and son,who are Talmudic scholars at the same Jerusalem university. Cedar,is hoping for his second nomination,having advanced to the final stage with Beaufort (2007),a war drama about Israeli troops in Lebanon. Turkey’s submission,Once Upon a Time in Anatolia,is a highly regarded mixture of existential drama,murder mystery and road movie,while the Lebanese entry,Where Do We Go Now?,takes a satirical look at tensions between Christians and Muslims in that country. The remaining directors include international luminaries like Agnieszka Holland of Poland,competing with In Darkness,a Holocaust drama,and Wim Wenders of Germany. But some other well-known directors,like Zhang Yimou of China,were lost out in favour of new or unfamiliar names. Zhang’s film,a war epic called The Flowers of War,has Christian Bale,an Oscar winner last year,in the lead role and is the most expensive film ever made in China. But it has received reviews that could be called lukewarm at best,and a December incident in which Bale,in China for the film’s premiere there,was roughed up by government security agents as he tried to visit a human rights advocate,may have further hurt the film’s prospects.

Even among the European contenders there were some departures,most notably Wenders’s Pina,a documentary about the German choreographer Pina Bausch. Pina is shot in 3D,is not a narrative film,involves nine languages and is also competing in the best documentary category. Also striking was the inclusion of Belgium’s controversial submission,a crime drama called Bullhead.LARRY ROHTER