"Devdas" : Best Foreign Film Oscar guaranteed?
 

Many people in the industry are waking up to the three hour musical epic called 'Devdas' from India. Its even been submitted in the Best Actress Category for the performance of supermodel Aishwarya Rai who gives a jaw-dropping enactment of the 1920s lower-class girl Parvati.

Have any of you seen this movie? What are your opinions on it? Its been on sale in the US as a 2-Disc DVD set (yes, the DVD already out) for a while now.

I don't think even a nomination is guaranteed.

It may be the best film from India this year, but this past year has been the worst for Bollywood.

As for the film itself, I've heard that it pales in comparison to previous 'Devdas' films. They may have gone too far in galmorizing the original story. The film also has Devdas taking a back seat in the third act and so the ending doesn't carry as much weight as it should.

Rai plays a lower-class girl? She only seemed to be comparatively poor in wealth.

The best chance the film has is for Cinematography but since the whole films looked like it was shot in a studio, forget it. 'Lagaan' probably had a better shot.

Never heard of Devdas. Have they announed the finalists for Best Foreign Picture Category?

I was just wondering if Los Lunes Al Sol (from Spain) or El Crimen De Padre Amaro (Mexico) made the cut.

Devdas
 

Errr, Rai does play a lower class girl - shes considered lower class as her mother comes from the 'dancing girls' social circle, which meant that her mother was 'loose'. The movie also shows you how theres very little in her house that works. Her mother lies on the bed and it falls to bits, etc.

I think its definitely guaranteed a nom at least. Its the best of the lot right now and after losing out twice to the Oscar ('Mother India, and 'Lagaan') its about time they gave it to 'Devdas'.

By the way the official 2-Disc wooden box set is already available from http://www.indiaweekly.com and http://www.nehaflix.com - get it!

The nominees are announced with the rest of the Oscar nominees - in Feb I think.

Here's a thread that lists the official entries. How many have you seen? Foreign Film Contenders

I saw Devdas...didn't think it was that good. Monsoon wedding was much much better; I doubt devdas will get nominated, although the scale of the production was quite impressive).

I can almost guarantee you that Devdas is NOT going to get nominated.

Here is what the nominees may look like:

The Crime of Father Amaro (Mexico)
City of God (Brazil)
Nowhere in Africa (Germany)
Hero (China)

Last choice is hard - I hope it will be "The Man Without a Past", but it can be anything, really.

Odd that Spain's entry is the Aranoa film and not the Almodovar film which won best film at the European film awards. Mind you, I haven't seen the Aranoa film so I can't comment on it's "worth". Also, Elia Suleiman's "Divine Intervention", a wonderful meditation on love, life and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (best non-European film) is absent from Oscar contenders because well, Palestine is not a country.

Yeah, the Oscars seem to have some curious rules. They only accept entries from countries recognized by the UN (for what reason, I don't know). And they also disqualified 'Bloody Sunday' because it aired on TV too soon (again, why the Academy cares, I don't know).