On Oscar night the winner of the award for Best Foreign Language film probably won't get much publicity¹ - it seldom does.

一般来讲，在奥斯卡之夜，最佳外语片的赢家可能不会得到太多关注。

Yet compared to only a few years ago the category is no longer a byword among Oscar voters for baffling obscurity.

不过，和几年前相比，这个奖项已经不会再因为不出彩而成为奥斯卡评审的笑料。

And this year one of the films shortlisted is already lined up for a Hollywood remake.

而好莱坞已经准备将一部今年的提名电影翻拍。

LAND OF MINE

《地雷区》

Country: Denmark

国家：丹麦

Language: German with some Danish and English

语言：德语、丹麦语及英语

Denmark's track record in this category: 11 nominations² including 3 wins

丹麦获奖记录：11提3胜

Director: Martin Zandvleet

导演：马丁•赞里维特

Story: Immediately after World War Two on Denmark's west coast, a group of teenage German soldiers are to clear some of the two million landmines⁴ which Germany deployed⁵ on beaches and along the shoreline to deter⁶ an Allied⁷ invasion. They are supervised by the Danish Sergeant⁸ Rasmussen who at first seems filled with violence.

剧情：为了阻止同盟军的进攻，德军曾在沙滩和海岸线地带部署了的200多万颗地雷。第二次世界大战结束不久后，一群年轻的德国士兵要在丹麦西海岸清除一部分地雷。监管他们的是最初看起来非常暴力的丹麦中士拉斯姆森。

Will it win? Voted Best Danish Film at last year's Danish film awards. It's well acted both by Roland Moller as the sergeant and by the young actors who play the Germans. When early on Rasmussen delivers a savage⁹ beating for no clear reason, we guess that the story will see him humanised by his contact with the soldiers he appears to despise. A couple of incidents late in the film seem there only for dramatic convenience and don't convince. The scenes of defusing mines are impressively tense and hard to watch.

预测：该片在去年的丹麦电影节上被评为最佳国产片。罗兰德•莫尔饰演的中士和年轻演员们饰演的德国人表现都非常精彩。当拉斯姆森毫无缘由地暴揍德国士兵时，我们就猜到在接下来的剧情中，拉斯姆森通过与这些令他鄙视的士兵接触变得有人情味。之后发生的几件事似乎只是为了剧情发展而无法令人信服。拆除地雷的场景异常紧张且非常揪心。

A MAN CALLED OVE

《一个叫欧维的男人决定去死》

Country: Sweden

国家：瑞典

Language: Swedish

语言：瑞典语

Sweden's Track Record: 14 nominations including three wins (all forIngmar Bergman)

瑞典获奖记录：14提3胜（由英格玛·伯格曼包揽）

Director: Hannes Holm

导演：汉内斯•赫尔姆

Story: Ove is a cranky old widower¹⁰ living alone. He expends¹¹ a lot of energy trying to police the behaviour of his neighbours, who treat him warily¹². Ove's not pleased when the house opposite is taken by a new family: he finds it hard to accept the warm-hearted Parvaneh (who's Iranian) and her Swedish husband. Yet a relationship builds and in flashback we encounter the younger Ove, a man more open to life's possibilities who marries the beautiful Sonja.

剧情：欧维是一个脾气暴躁的独居老鳏夫。他耗费大量的精力去监督邻居的行为举止，而邻居们都对他小心翼翼的。当对面的房子搬来新家庭时，欧维非常不满：他发现自己很难接受热心肠的帕维娜（伊朗人）和她的瑞典丈夫。不过，他们还是建立了友谊，我们在回忆片段中看到年轻的欧维。他娶了美丽的索尼娅，是一个对生活的可能性更加包容的男人。

Will it win? The film is attractively shot and Rolf Lassgard makes Ove sympathetic as an old man without totally sentimentalising him. Some of the humour is a bit clunky and the process of discovering Ove's latent nice guy within runs along predictable lines. But in the extensive flashbacks Filip Berg and Ida Engvoll make an attractive and likeable young couple which gives the film an unexpected sweetness.

预测：电影的镜头很精美，罗夫•拉斯加德将欧维刻画成一个令人同情的老头，而没有完全在煽情。影片中的一些幽默略显拙劣，发现欧维有一颗善良的内心的剧情也是预料之中的。但菲利普•伯格和埃达•英格薇在大段回忆剧情中的表现非常精彩，这对可爱的年轻夫妇给电影增添了一份意外的甜蜜。

THE SALESMAN

《推销员》

Country: Iran

国家：伊朗

Language: Persian

语言：波斯语

Iran's track record: 2 nominations including a win for the same director in 2011

伊朗获奖记录：2提1胜（获得两次提名的是同一导演，并在2011年获奖）

Director: Asghar Farhadi

导演：阿斯哈•法哈蒂

Story: Emad and Rana are middle-class inhabitants of Tehran: he teaches but their joint passion is acting¹³. After a tip-off from a fellow actor they find a new apartment. It seems a good move until they discover more about the previous occupant who left one room locked. As they work on a production of Arthur Miller's playDeath of a Salesman, the couple's relationship becomes more tense. There is a violent incident and Emad becomes obsessed¹⁴ with revenge.

剧情：伊马德和拉娜是居住在德黑兰的中产阶级：伊马德是一名教师，但是他们共同热爱的是表演。他们因为一名演员同行的举报而搬到了新公寓。这次搬家还算不错，直到他们了解了更多关于前房东的事情。前房东总是将一间屋子锁着。当他们出演作家米勒的《推销员之死》时，这对夫妻的关系更加紧张。影片中发生了一起暴力事件，而伊马德变成了一心复仇的人。

Will it win? It may be that no film can overtake the Iranian nominee¹⁵ this year. But Farhadi has written a superbly tense and unsettling screenplay whose mastery of dread¹⁶ Alfred Hitchcock would have relished¹⁷. The couple are superbly played by Taraneh Alidoosti and Shahab Hosseini. Previous winner Farhadi has indicated he will refuse to attend the Oscar ceremony in protest at President Trump¹⁸ trying to restrict Iranians entering the USA: could this create a sympathy vote for him?

预测：今年这部伊朗提名电影可能是无与伦比的。但是法哈蒂创作的剧本令人异常紧张不安，这个剧本可能会受到恐怖大师阿尔弗雷德•希区柯克的青睐。沙哈布•侯赛尼和塔兰涅•阿里多斯蒂扮演的夫妇十分出色。此前曾斩获奥斯卡的法哈蒂已经表示他将拒绝出席奥斯卡颁奖礼，以抗议特朗普试图限制伊朗人进入美国的行为：他会因此获得同情票吗？

TANNA

《禁忌之恋》

Country: Australia

国家：澳大利亚

Language: Nivhaal (The film was shot on location in Vanuatu.)

语言：Nivhaal（这部电影是在瓦努阿图拍摄的）

Australia's Track Record: First nomination³ in this category

澳大利亚获奖记录：首次获得该奖项提名

Directors: Martin Butler and Bentley Dean

导演：马丁•巴特勒和宾利•迪恩

Story: On a Pacific island, Dain and Wawa live in a primitive¹⁹ village where life is virtually untouched by the modern world. The spirited young Selin watches as her sister Wawa is betrothed²⁰ to a man outside the village - but Wawa wants to be with Dain. The lovers run away. Selin follows as the villagers set off to find her sister - and tragedy looms²¹.

剧情：戴恩和瓦瓦生活在太平洋岛屿的一个原始村落里，那里的生活几乎没有受到现代文明的影响。年轻勇猛的赛林眼看着自己的妹妹许配给了另外一个村落的男人——但是瓦瓦想要和戴恩在一起。这对恋人私奔了。赛林和村民们一起去寻找他的妹妹——而一场悲剧正在酝酿之中。

Will it win? The least mainstream²² of this year's nominees²³ is exactly the kind of film the Academy hoped would benefit from reforming the voting system. The story, with its echo of Romeo and Juliet, is engrossing²⁴ and in its early stages charming. Locations are attractive without resembling an ad for upmarket beach holidays. It won't take the Oscar but it's worth catching²⁵.

预测：《禁忌之恋》是今年提名的影片中最非主流的一部，该片体现了美国电影艺术与科学学院投票体制改革所带来的好处。该片罗密欧与朱丽叶式的剧情引人入胜，有着原始的魅力。电影拍摄地点风景怡人，不会像是高档海滨度假广告。《禁忌之恋》拿不到奥斯卡，但是仍值得一看。

TONI ERDMANN

《托尼•埃德曼》

Country: Germany

国家：德国

Language: German, English and Romanian

语言：德语，英语及罗马尼亚语

Germany's track Record: 18 nominations and a total of 3 wins

德国获奖记录：18提3胜

Director: Maren Ade

导演：玛伦•阿德

Story: Winfried (who adopts the name Toni) has a distant relationship with his daughter Ines, a business consultant²⁶ working in Bucharest. He decides to leave Germany to pay her a visit, not wholly to her pleasure. Ines is climbing in her career and finds some of her eccentric father's activities a pain. But she tries to tolerate him and passes him off to colleagues as her life coach. A late scene suggests they have re-established some kind of family intimacy²⁷, but the question is left open.

剧情：温弗里德（化名托尼）和女儿伊内斯的关系疏远，伊内斯在布加勒斯特工作，是一名商业顾问。温弗里德决定离开德国探望女儿，这让伊内斯并不那么高兴。女儿正在为自己的事业奋斗，她发现父亲的一些古怪行为让人十分痛苦。但是她试图忍受父亲，并对同事称父亲是他的人生导师。电影结尾的场景暗示他们重新建立了某种亲密的家庭关系，但结局是开放式的。

Will it win? The film got a lot of attention at last year's Cannes Festival - often along the lines of 'Amazing - a German comedy!'. The fact that large sections are in English won't harm its chances. A Hollywood remake has been announced, to star Jack²⁸ Nicholson and Kristen Wiig. Could that incline Academy voters to back the original?

预测：《托尼•埃德曼》在去年的戛纳电影节上收获了很多关注——通常出现的评价是“太赞了——一部德国式的喜剧”。电影中大段大段地使用英语，但这并不妨碍其获奖。好莱坞已经宣布翻拍该片，由杰克•尼科尔森和克里斯汀•维格担任主角。那么这会不会让美国电影艺术与科学学院的评委支持这部原作呢？