Shakespeare's language loses its footing in Hollywood, which will soon be a veritable tower of Babel. It's fantasy, of course, but the data could point in that direction: three of the eighteen non-English-speaking films nominated for the Oscar for best picture, in the entire history of the Academy Awards, have been nominated in this edition. Although magnificent, none of the three took the top trophy from Oppenheimer, but the French film Anatomy of a Fall was the best script, and The Zone of Interest, a British film about an Auschwitz in which German is spoken – and not accented English Teutonic, as before –, ended the hopes of J.A.'s team. Bayonne. Past Lives, about a first love that emigrates from Korea to America, with the consequent transfer of languages, did not crown any of its two few nominations, but there it remains, in our hurt hearts.
There were other historical moments with a foreign accent, such as the documentary 20 Days in Mariupol, the first Oscar in history for Ukraine, or Godzilla Minus One, which was also the first for the Japanese franchise. But the most important linguistic milestone of the trio of films in the highest category (only two had coincided in 2006: Babel and Letters from Iwo-Jima) is not the result of chance, it is due to a combination of factors. First, to the change in the profile of the academic. Until the calls
In the midst of this process of globalization, the historic feat of the South Korean Parasites took place, the first film to win the Oscar for best film and best international film, precisely in 2016, the year in which said category ceased to exist. be known as the Oscar for the best foreign language film. In his acceptance speech, Bong Joon-ho encouraged the audience to jump over the small barrier of subtitles, which is what separates cinephilia from the rest.
A year ago, in 2015, Javier Bardem had spoken in Spanish (like Bad Bunny in this edition) about breaking down walls to introduce Alfonso Cuarón, a non-English speaking winner for Rome. The Mexican film was the first that Netflix placed among the nominees in the highest category. It is fair to recognize that the platforms have also done a lot for this new Babel, spreading the VO in all homes.
