Michael Haneke‘s Palme d’Or-winning Amour has been officially entered into this year’s Best Foreign Language Film Oscar race, and even for a title as universally admired as this one, that’s no minor feat — this category’s a notoriously confused one, and with a cross-country production like Amour, there was always a small worry that the Academy’s politics would keep it from vying for a prize that it deserves to fight for. [THR]
But Austria, rather than the also-involved France and Germany, has stepped up and submitted the reportedly heart-wrenching drama, which left many, including us, equally impressed and moved upon debuting at Cannes — a surprise, in some ways, given the usual ice-cold austerity of Haneke‘s previous work.
And considering Sony Pictures Classics‘ release-date choice of December 19, it’s safe to assume that the Oscar hopes of Amour may very well end up stretching above and beyond the foreign-language category. (The fine folks over at In Contention, it’s worth noting, are currently predicting the film for a number of major nods, including Best Picture and Best Director.)
The film, too, is set to play at several more festivals this fall — in addition to having just been shown at Telluride, it’s scheduled to hit Toronto as well as the New York Film Festival, an opportunity we’ll certainly be taking advantage of.
Do you have any early thoughts regarding Amour‘s potential Oscar chances?