Did you think this was better than Amélie?
It was unfair, "Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulin" lost the oscar in 2002 because of this movie. I still think Amélie is the best foreign movie ever made!!
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MovieChat Forums > No Man's Land (2001) Discussion > Did you think this was better than Améli...
Well they are both hugely different films, and of course Amelie didn't lose, No Man's Land won, and i enjoyed them both very much. Amelie is an incredible film, but i always take offence, not serious offence, but offence non the less, as it is only foreign to elsewhere, not where it was made, so it should be classed as a Film, just as worthy as any USA or anyother country that makes films. Saying that though, 'OldBoy' the Korean Film, is probably my favourite non USA made film, 'Amelie' is a close second, well no, scratch that, 'Yojimbo' 'Seven Samurai' and many other Akira Kurosawa films are there, but Amelie is an excellent film. Anyway, No Man's Land is incredible, in a different way that Amelie is incredible, and still very different from OldBoy or Yojimbo. I suspect that No Man's Land won over Amelie, as it was a world issue, with 3 or 4 different nationalities present, and Amelie was very much an inclusive little French film. SO the 'Academy' might see it as being more 'worthy'.
Do you see what happens, Larry? Do you see what happens when you *beep* a stranger in the ass!
"but i always take offence as it is only foreign to elsewhere, not where it was made, so it should be classed as a Film, just as worthy as any USA or anyother country that makes films."
I think that they catorgorize it as "foreign" because it is not in English and therefore needs subtitles to be viewed by the English speaking Acadamy. It just refers to whether or not the film were in english or not. If an american directed a movie all in arabic it would considered foreign...
Right. The actual category in the Academy Awards is "Best Foreign Language Film". Since the awards are from an American organization, anything not in English is foreign language.
shareIt was slightly better than Amélie. I've come to the conclusion that Dolce vita, La is the best foreign film ever made. No Man's Land is an absolutely magnificent film. deserving of it's award. This scene is hilarious for anyone to read, taken from No Man's Land -
Sgt. Marchand: Vous parlez francais?
Serb private: No.
Sgt. Marchand: Do you speak English?
Serb private: Yes.
Sgt. Marchand: We came for people.
Serb private: Yes.
Sgt. Marchand: People between lines.
Serb private: Yes, yes.
Sgt. Marchand: Where are they?
Serb private: Yes, yes, yes.
Sgt. Marchand: Ok, you don't understand a word of what I'm saying, right?
Serb private: Yes.
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i think laggan from india was a more worthy film for the oscars.
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I'm going to disagree with the majority here and say that Amelie was better. No Man's Land was excellent, but Amelie should've gotten the award. Good gracious, the movie was nominated for 5 Oscars and rates up there with the best Hollywood has to offer. But when the Oscar rubber met the road, Amelie is a light-hearted film with a happy, idealistic ending, while No Man's Land is a dark, depressing film with a hopeless ending about the futility of war. No Man's Land won because of its story, which many people seem think is basis enough for the Foreign Film Oscar, but I do not.
shareYou cant really compare Laggan and No mands land. Laggan is a different type of movie. Alot of people wont like this film simply cause its "boring" and slow. Some people wont like it cause its foreign and there is no action in it (well, not a real action movie). I love these types of movies that show a human being and what he is really like. Who he is. This is one of the best movies about human behavior and what we are really like. I've never seen a better movie made about human behavior under such harsh circumstances. This movie shows the worst in people, not sure if you can find another movie that can do the same in such beautifull way.
And by the way, Amelie isnt that great of a movie.
this movie is better thaN ALL OF THE MOVIES YOU HAVE JUST MENTIONED.
BETTER THAN AMELIE, BETTER THAN LAGAAN.
and i'm a filipino from the philippine islands in asia, hence,i have no bias and i'm not a war movie lover either, although i also have a dvd of amelie and i love the movie amelie because i have a crush on audrey tautou and i like her as sophie nevue
I've seen all three movies in question, Amelie, Lagaan and No Man's Land. Amelie didn't win because of the "happy-ending" syndrome, i.e.unless it's a movie about the triumph of a great person over his/her circumstances(eg: A Beautiful Mind), the Academy favours movies with sad endings because they mconfuse realism with sadness. Besides, I felt Amelie starts off brilliantly, but the script sort of drags on in the middle and end.
Lagaan was my fav. of the lot. It's because of the fact that I'm an Indian and a cricket-lover at that, so I'll love an Indian movie that has a 1-hr cricket match. The Academy didn't chose Lagaan as 1.It's a 3hr 48 min movie. 2. The white man loses in the end. 3. The subtitling sucked! I have the subtitled VCD and believe me, the subtitling was terrible. The scene where Capt. Russell asks Bhuvan if he accepts the bet is fantastic if you understand hindi. Though u know he's going to say yes, the direction ensures that the gravity of the situation leaves your heart thumping as Aamir Khan is about to answer. This effect was completely lost in the sub-titled version. 4. The Academy does not understand Indian sensibilities and must have thought of the songs as a burden rather than an entertaining way to forward the narrative.
No creit taken from No Man's Land. It was the 2nd best film in the fray and a masterpiece. Mistakenly called a "war-movie", it's actually a deep insight into the nature of human relationships and explores the more darker areas of our nature. Deserved to win, but so did Lagaan. Let's hope Rang De basanti does the trick this time.
I hate to say it but the fact that the Oscar voting/ceremony occured a few months after September 11, 2001 most likely had to do with No Mans Land winning over Amelie due to the overall mood of the country following the attacks. A light hearted, enjoyable film like Amelie rang false in that time of intense fear and worry while a blunt, dark film like No Mans Land was easier to relate to. In the end Amelie might have been the better movie but at the time of Oscar voting it was probably really hard to vote for such a light hearted movie in such a dark time in this country, where most of the oscar if not all oscar voters hail from.
shareAmelie didn't impress me much at all for its reputation. This movie deserved its win.
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I know Amelie was 100 times better. And that this movie is in top 250 is beyond me.
"What do you mean I have to wait 5 days to buy a gun?I'm angry now!"-HOMER SIMPSON
"I still think Amélie is the best foreign movie ever made!!"
Holy *beep* you need to see more movies. MANY more movies.
Amelie was a movie for the french and that kind of stuff is irrelevant in todays world. No Mans Land is important because its realistic. Life doesnt always have happy endings like in Amelie. In fact more wars have lousy endings that happy ones.
shareWell he definitely would need to watch many more movies to find foreign movies better than Amelie, because there aren't all that many.
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