Golden Globe Musings: Best Foreign Film

Golden Globe nominations for this year will be announced shortly, so here’s a survey of the contenders and the most likely predictions at this time. Weigh in with your thoughts, and let me know if I’ve left off anything important. A reminder that the Globes are wildly unpredictable and that it is still a bit early to gauge the reception or awards potential of a number of the so-called “contenders” at this point.

Last year’s nominees:
Capernaum (Lebanon)
Girl (Belgium)
Never Look Away (Germany)
Roma (Mexico)
Shoplifters (Japan)

I’ve seen more than ever before this year, and I just have to adjust my expectations slightly from the corresponding Oscar race due to certain films being eligible here and not there, and vice versa. The most significant films present on the list of 92 submissions from 63 countries is The Farewell (USA), making it ineligible in the normal motion picture category, and Portrait of a Lady on Fire (France), while “Honeyland,” from North Macedonia, is ineligible because it’s a documentary. Parasite (South Korea), Pain and Glory (Spain), and Les Miserables (France) seem like the surest bets. The question is whether Corpus Christi (Poland) will make the cut after last year’s “Cold War,” which went on to earn a Best Director bid, was shockingly snubbed. Among the other films vying for a slot are Invisible Life (Brazil), Out Stealing Horses (Norway), Truth and Justice (Estonia), And Then We Danced (Sweden, Georgia, France), Atlantics (Senegal, France, Belgium), Beanpole (Russia), Synonyms (Israel, France, Germany) and Tel Aviv on Fire (Luxembourg, Belgium, Israel, France).

Current predictions:
The Farewell (USA)
Les Miserables (France)
Pain and Glory (Spain)
Parasite (South Korea)
Portrait of a Lady on Fire (France)