Departures

81st Academy Awards: Best Foreign Film Winner
Departures (おくりびと)
2008
Japan
Color
Directed by Yojiro Takita

Plot: Daigo Kobayashi is a devoted cellist in an orchestra that has just been dissolved and now finds himself without a job. Daigo decides to move back to his old hometown with his wife to look for work and start over. He answers a classified ad entitled "Departures" thinking it is an advertisement for a travel agency only to discover that the job is actually for a "Nokanshi" or "encoffineer," a funeral professional who prepares deceased bodies for burial and entry into the next life. While his wife and others despise the job, Daigo takes a certain pride in his work and begins to perfect the art of "Nokanshi," acting as a gentle gatekeeper between life and death, between the departed and the family of the departed. The film follows his profound and sometimes comical journey with death as he uncovers the wonder, joy and meaning of life and living. (Written by Regent Releasing)

Theme: Death, Meaning of Life

Links: imdb | Wikipedia | Official Website (English)

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Waltz With Bashir

81st Academy Awards: Best Foreign Film Nominee
Waltz With Bashir (ואלס עם באשיר)
2008
Israel
Color
Directed by Ari Folman

Plot: One night at a bar, an old friend tells director Ari about a recurring nightmare in which he is chased by 26 vicious dogs. Every night, the same number of beasts. The two men conclude that there's a connection to their Israeli Army mission in the first Lebanon War of the early eighties. Ari is surprised that he can't remember a thing anymore about that period of his life. Intrigued by this riddle, he decides to meet and interview old friends and comrades around the world. He needs to discover the truth about that time and about himself. As Ari delves deeper and deeper into the mystery, his memory begins to creep up in surreal images. (Written by intlpress@aol.com)

Theme: War, Animation

Links: imdb | Wikipedia | Official Website

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The Class

81st Academy Awards: Best Foreign Film Nominee
The Class (Entre les murs)
2008
France
Color
Directed by Laurent Cantet

Plot: Teacher François Marin and his colleagues are preparing for another school year teaching at a racially mixed inner city high school in Paris. The teachers talk to each other about their prospective students, both the good and the bad. The teachers collectively want to inspire their students, but each teacher is an individual who will do things in his or her own way to achieve the results they desire. They also have differing viewpoints on the students themselves, and how best to praise and discipline them. The administration of the school tries to be as fair as possible, which includes having student representatives sit on the student evaluation committee. Marin's class this year of fourteen and fifteen year olds is no different than previous years, although the names and faces have changed. Marin tries to get through to his students, sometimes with success and sometimes resulting in utter failure. Even Marin has his breaking point, which may result in him doing things he would probably admit to himself are wrong. But after all is said and done, there is next year and another group of students. (Written by Huggo)

Theme: School

Links: imdb | Wikipedia | Official Website

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The Baader Meinhof Complex

81st Academy Awards: Best Foreign Film Nominee
The Baader Meinhof Complex (Der Baader Meinhof Komplex)
2008
Germany
Color
Directed by Uli Edel

Plot: Germany in the 1970s: Murderous bomb attacks, the threat of terrorism and the fear of the enemy inside are rocking the very foundations of the yet fragile German democracy. The radicalised children of the Nazi generation lead by Andreas Baader, Ulrike Meinhof and Gudrun Ensslin are fighting a violent war against what they perceive as the new face of fascism: American imperialism supported by the German establishment, many of whom have a Nazi past. Their aim is to create a more human society but by employing inhuman means they not only spread terror and bloodshed, they also lose their own humanity. The man who understands them is also their hunter: the head of the German police force Horst Herold. And while he succeeds in his relentless pursuit of the young terrorists, he knows he's only dealing with the tip of the iceberg. (Written by Constantin Film)

Theme: Nazi

Links: imdb | Wikipedia | Official Website (English)

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Revanche

81st Academy Awards: Best Foreign Film Nominee
Revanche
2008
Austria
Color
Directed by Götz Spielmann

Plot: Ex-con Alex dreams about starting a new life with the Ukrainian prostitute Tamara. To do so, he wants to rob a bank erasing debts and making the flight towards the South possible. But Tamara is unintentionally shot on the escape by the coincidentally present policeman, Robert. Alex flees to the farm of his grandfather and learns that Robert lives close by...thoughts of revenge start to arise.

Theme: Robbery

Links: imdb | Wikipedia | Official Website

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