If or when one thinks of director Paul Verhoeven one thinks of either lurid sexuality (The 4th Man, Showgirls) or grotesque violence (Robocop, Starship Troopers) or perhaps one thinks of both at once (Basic Instinct). If you're a fan you think the sex and violence is in service (usually) to brilliant satire. But your mind probably doesn't race to Oscar, does it?Nevertheless, that's where the Dutch provocateur could be headed. Seems that the Netherlands have selected his latest film Zwartboek (Black Book) to compete in Oscar's Foreign Language Film race. The IMDB description begins thusly:
Set during the end of WWII, Black Book is the story of a German Jewish girl who narrowly survives the war in Holland...Every year in this particular race, Oscar's committee views about 50 films and chooses five as nominees. (see last year's entire competition here) Every year about 1/3rd of the 50something films submitted seem to be about World War II. I'm exaggerating but not by much.
Now, I can't really call myself a "fan" of Verhoeven's work but it'd be a shame (and par for the course) if it took him neutering his distinctly satiric NC-17 voice for a World War II drama for him to get any Oscar recognition.
The Film Experience foreign language Oscar pages for 2006 will be put up piecemeal during the next few weeks. If you have info or opinions on what your country should submit please share your thoughts with me. It's a big job for one person and this one person is highly appreciative of reader input. Speaking of... thanks to Ralph for this info.
Tags: foreign films, Netherlands, movies, Paul Verhoeven, Holland, Oscars, Academy Awards, cinema, Film, World War II
