Pedro Almodovar’s has broken out of the foreign-language movie ghetto, garnering Academy Award nominations this year in the Best Director and Best Original Screenplay categories. Its well-earned plaudits might herald a growing appetite for foreign film in U.S. cinemas, observers argue.
IT’S NOT EVERY YEAR that a film by a politically outspoken Spanish auteur receives the attention of the normally conservative and U.S.-centric Hollywood movie establishment. It takes a great deal to persuade Hollywood to sit through a movie with subtitles, let alone name its creator one of the world’s greatest living filmmakers.
But the success of Almodovar’s quirky romance, which won the Golden Globe for best foreign film earlier this year, is indicative of a growing inclination towards foreign-made movies in America, experts say. From movie distribution networks to DVD sales, industry experts see a brighter future for the niche genre in the United States.
“Talk to Her” has none of the campy frolics seen in Almodovar’s earlier movies like and It is closer in style to a film for which Almodovar won the best foreign film Oscar in 2000.
Curiously, “Talk to Her” wasn’t Spain’s entry in this year’s Best Foreign Film category. Instead, the country chose to offer Fernando Leon de Aranoa’s which tells the story of Spanish shipbuilders adjusting to unemployment.
“Talk to Her” tells the story of Benigno (Javier Camarra), a male nurse, and Marco (Dario Grandinetti), an Argentine journalist in his early forties. The two men meet by chance in a hospital when Marco’s girlfriend Lydia (Rosario Flores), a female matador, is left in a coma after a bull gores her. At the hospital Benigno is the personal assistant of Alicia (Leonor Watling), a ballerina who has been in a coma for four years.
The film was one of the most successful foreign-language films released in the United States in 2002. It has taken in almost $7.1 million at the box office since its U.S. theatrical release last November, according to Sony Pictures Classics, the film’s distributor.
“Ever since Almodovar won an Oscar for ‘All About My Mother,’ the response has been terrific,” said Michael Barker, co-President of Sony Pictures Classics, a division of Sony Picture Entertainment that distributes independent films. “His U.S. profile has grown and when this is all over, ‘Talk to Her’ will be the highest-grossing Almodovar film ever.”
Despite its outstanding success in the U.S. market, “Talk to Her” is unlikely to outdo the accomplishment of Ang Lee’s the Mandarin-language martial arts movie that netted $128.1 million during its initial U.S. theatrical release and is the most financially-successful foreign movie to date in the United States.
The second most successful movie, Italian comedian Roberto Benigni’s raked in 57.6 million during its run at the U.S. box office. Still, even Crouching Tiger’s $128.1 doesn’t come close to the $404 million made by a Hollywood comic-book adaptation like
“‘Crouching Tiger’ was a big hit, and the industry has been trying to duplicate its success ever since,” remarked David Poland, a columnist for Moviecitynews.com. “This is a niche business; every once in a while you’ll get a home run, but you never know when these films making over $10 million will appear.”
With box-office success comes greater distribution, according to Barker at Sony Pictures Classics. “Now theaters are more likely to listen to a sales pitch and play a subtitled movie,” he said.
Foreign films have been nominated for Oscars outside the Best Foreign Film category in the past, Barker added, but it’s unusual.
“It’s quite a triumph to pull this off, because it means a majority of the voters have seen this movie, and that’s pretty amazing,” said Barker. “Usually, when a subtitled film is nominated in these categories, it’s a win that’s its nominated and it all stops there. But this year I think Almodovar has a good chance of winning.”
For distributors without the backing of a large studio like Sony, it’s harder to get an offbeat movie noticed, according to Jeff Lipsky, co-founder of Lot 47 Films, a distributor of American independent films and foreign films.
“If an independent movie distributor doesn’t spend at least $250,000 on a campaign to get a movie noticed, it doesn’t get a look-in at the Oscars,” Lipsky said. To woo Academy members, Hollywood studios typically buy large advertisements in trade publications and pepper voters with DVDs. They are also invited to lavish private screenings.
Still, despite the challenges, Lipsky sees a brighter future for foreign film in the United States.
“What excites me is the fact that in 2002, we saw twice the amount of foreign-language movies grossing over $1 million versus one year before,” Lipsky said. “I think this will increase, as we’re seeing more screens show independently-produced features, and more of the bigger chains are showing these movies.”
Some distributors are increasing the amount of films they release each year, Lipsky adds, as they are hoping to collect profits from DVD rights. Independent film distributors kept 3.5 percent of the $30 billion made from DVD and other home theater sales in 2002, Lipsky said. DVD revenue is projected to rise by 100 percent in 2003, while box office revenue is expected to be flat, or rise 5 percent, he added.
Clever marketing is vital, Lipsky notes. In 2002, Lot 47 Films distributed an Inuit language movie that made $3.8 million during its U.S. theatrical release. To market the movie, Lipsky sent the cast on a tour of the country, served a caribou barbecue at the movie’s premiere and filled movie theaters with Inuit sculptures and invited the media to cover the events.
“The average gross for a foreign film is quite low,” said Lipsky. “But we’re learning how to exploit them more effectively.”