MovieChat Forums > Madeo (2009) Discussion > Oscar nom-worthy performance by lead act...

Oscar nom-worthy performance by lead actress?

posted 14 years ago by Aizyk
16 replies | jump to latest

There's been virtually universal praise for Hye-ja Kim's performance in this movie from top critics (e.g. on Rotten Tomatoes).

Would she have any chance of being nominated for Best Actress at next year's awards?

Does she deserve such a nomination?

Has an Asian ever been nominated for an acting Oscar of any kind? I'd don't know of any and I'd be surprised if there had been. And she's not even American, which would seem to decrease the likelihood even more of such a thing happening for her. What would the chances of this be for her? Or for that matter, for any Asian at all, from America or anywhere?

IMDB gives this film's year as being 2009, but on Rotten Tomatoes its year is 2010, and it hasn't been released in the US until today. How would this matter affect the chances of such a nomination happening?

Someone else claimed that this was Korea's foreign-film entry for the Oscars that just took place earlier this week. Would this make her ineligible for nomination even though the film is only opening in this country today, and in limited release at that?

BTW, I've seen it and thought Kim gave an admirable performance in a film which was, at worst, competent. I'd find it gratifying to see her nominated and receive exposure for the movie and appreciation for her performance in it, particularly as someone with Korean background, but I want to know what others here think.

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[–] kingusaking 14 years ago

She has no chance at all, although I agree her performance was amazing and the best female performance have seen so far this year. If this film would have come out in September, Kim may have had a chance for best oscar nomination. But, unfortunately, because of the early release, she has no chance.

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[–] generouspalmstroke 14 years ago

Has a foreign actor/actress ever been nominated? I didn't think they could be.

[–] kingusaking 14 years ago

I'm pretty sure it has happened before, but I can't recall a time when. Surely, it must have.

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[–] Aizyk 14 years ago

Carey Mulligan was one of the best actress Oscar nominees this year, and she's English.

I don't know if any non-white foreigners have ever been nominated, though.

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[–] alveari2005 13 years ago

Are you serious? If by foreign you mean "non-American", you have tons of actors and actresses that have been nominated over the decades, with many British winners. If you mean "non-English speaking roles" you also have several examples, and Marion Cotillard and Sofia Loren won Best Actress for roles spoken in French and Italian, respectively. So did Roberto Benigni (Italian).

There have been nominations for roles in Polish, Japanese, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Swedish...

[–] kenichiku 14 years ago

<Has an Asian ever been nominated for an acting Oscar of any kind...don't know of any and I'd be surprised if there had been> Don't be too surprised, u just gotta do some homework...

Women:

The 1st, Merle Oberon (1/2 Sri Lankan-Brit) nom best actress 'Dark Angel(35)'
Vivian Leigh (1/4 East Indian-Brit) won best actress twice 'Gone with the Wind' (39) & 'Streetcar Named Desire' (51)
Miyoshi Umeki (jpn), nom best supporting actress 'Sayonara (57)'
Meg Tilly (1/2 Chinese-Am-Canad) won best actress 'Agnes of God (86)'
Jennifer Tilly (sister of Meg) won best supporting 'Bullets over Broadway (95)'
Sohreh Ahgdashloo (Iran-Am) nom best supporting actress 'House of Sand & Fog(03)'
Rinko Kikuchi (jpn), nom best supporting actress 'Babel (06)'

The guys:

Sessue Hayakawa (jpn) nom bet supporting actor 'Bridge over River Kwai (57)'
Mako (Jpn-Amer) won for best supporting actor for 'The Sand Pebbles(66)'
Ben Kingsley (1/2 East Ind-Brit), nom 4 times, won for best actor 'Ghandi (84)'
Pat Morita (jpn-Am) nom best supporting 'Karate Kid (84)' lost to...
Dr Hiang S. Ngor (Viet-Amer), won for best supporting, 'The Killing Fields (84)'
Ken Watanabe (jpn), nom best supporting 'Last Samurai (03)'

[–] Aizyk 14 years ago

Thanks for the research.

Unfortunately, it looks like none of those people indicate much of a chance for the likes of a non-white/anglo foreigner such as Kim being nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress. "Supporting" roles for such people, maybe (based on Kakuchi and Watanabe).

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[–] kenichiku 14 years ago

I've done no real research & could be missing a few. I think it's erroneous to come to this kind of a general racial conclusion just based my reply.

IMO, the public's reception of the overall feature & exposure has more to do with it. Even if the public's seen it; the critics & those in the industry has to take notice to create buzz for an actress to be endorsed. For the Oscars, lots of it has to do with a tiered build-up of exposure i.e. how well the film is seen & recognized across the states in other contests (i.e. Berlin, Golden Globes, Cannes, BAFTA, Sundance, Dtrs Guild, NY Critics, etc.) leading up to the Oscars & how much marketing a studio commits in selling their candidate.

[–] alveari2005 13 years ago

The Tillys did not win.

[–] vicky_lc2001-1 12 years ago

Wow! I didn't know Vivien Leigh was East Indian? She does look Eurasian, but didn't know it was East Indian particularly.

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[–] Nekrophagia 14 years ago

The Oscars are a complete sham.

What does it say about you if you have no will of your own and let a bunch of 90 year old dinosaurs with no taste tell you what to watch?

Hye-ja Kim doesn't need one of their paperweights to validate her fine performance. Great film.

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[–] springwater16 13 years ago

It's not necessarily that the film came out so early, it is the fact that it is a foreign language film.
The only way Kim could get nominated is if the film's distribution or production company is campaigning it to Oscar voters.
Many times they don't because they either don't have the money to campaign it to Oscar voters or simply don't care about Oscar recognition and most of the time it is the former.

[–] nitinmohankapoor 11 years ago

This isnt gonna help answer the OP's question but my question is along the same lines.
Can a foreign movie be nominated for a best picture category or is it limited to tha best foreign picture category?
And whats the criteria on which its based?

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[–] Yellowman88 11 years ago

I always see the Oscars as a commercial ceremony dedicated to Americans. It's like a popularity contest among the upper class to middle class Americans.

Then you have Sundance film festival which is like the North American version of Cannes Film Festival.

the Cannes film festival is a bit biased towards European films but its probably the most receptive towards foreign film. Thus, the Korean film industry tries hard to gain critical reception rather than popular reception. In the end, most Americans do not give a rats ass about Korean movies. I think this is the same mind set as smaller domestic industries.

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] TheArgentinian (6432) 4 years ago

I'm shocked she didn't win any major awards.