Not to diminish the achievement of Denmark’s winning entry, ‘In A Better World,’ that took home the Oscar and previously the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language film, but what happened to ‘Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’?
Comparing the 2011 Academy Award and Golden Globe nominees for the category, Oscar contenders also included ‘Biutiful’ from Mexico/Spain, ’Dogtooth’ from Greece, Canada’s ‘Incendies’ and Algeria’s “Outside the Law’ while the Golden Globes nominees included ‘The Concert” from France, ‘The Edge’ from Russia and ‘I Am Love” from Italy along with ‘Biutiful’ and Denmark’s winning entry. In accepting the 2011 Independent Spirit Award for ‘The King’s Speech’ as Best Foreign Film, even the director said he never expected to receive an award for the film in this category.
The Actor awards in foreign language films also get confusing. Javier Bardem was Oscar-nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role for “Biutiful,” yet no Noomi Rapace under Actress in a Leading Role for her amazing portrayal of Lisbeth Salander in ‘Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ (that did win her the Swedish version of the Oscars). Rapace was also nominated for Leading Actress in the British Academy Film Awards, losing to Natalie Portman for ‘Black Swan.’ ‘Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ did win a BAFA for Film Not in the English Language and a nomination for adapted screenplay.
‘In A Better World’ aka ‘Haevnen,’ the original title, tells the story of the lives of two Danish families. ‘Biutiful’ is described on IMBD as the story of a tragic hero and man in free fall. ‘Dogtooth’ aka ‘Kynodontas’ involves three teenagers isolated on a country estate. ‘Incendies,’ adapted from a play by Lebanese-Canadian Wajdi Mouaward and directed by Canada’s Denis Villeneuve, is about twins who travel to the Middle East in search of family roots. ‘Outside the Law’ aka Hors-la-loi takes place post World Word II and centers on the Algerian fight for independence from France.
Of course, the press is busy reporting on the upcoming American version of ‘Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ under the direction of David Fincher. The actress in the role of Salander, reported by ABC News to be Rooney Mara, will have her work cut out for her to live up to Rapace’s performance. In case you don’t know Mara, she played the girlfriend of Mark Zuckerberg in ‘The Social Network.’ The Swedish version has grossed over $10 million in the U.S. as of February 2011 and over $94 million internationally for a worldwide total of over $104 million from a production budget of $13 million.
Sources:
http://oscarawards2011livestream.com/oscar-predictions-ballots-2011-best-foreign-language-film-is-in-a-better-world/128/
http://www.goldenglobes.org/nominations/
http://www.bafta.org/awards/film/film-awards-timetable,214,BA.html
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/rooney-mara-noomi-rapace-grittier-girl-dragon-tattoo/story?id=11918230
http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=girlwiththedragontattoo.htm
http://www.spiritawards.com/nominees
