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In a roundup of critics' reviews published in its December 19 issue, the paper listed the likeliest winners among contenders for Oscars this year. It put Hungarian director György Pálfi's Taxidermia among its "long shots" for the top prize in the Foreign Language Film category. Though it noted the film would be a top contender if there was a category for most disgusting film.
"If an Oscar were bestowed for grossest picture, Hungary's Taxidermia would win by a landslide . . . of vomit and other bodily fluids. The movie features a burning penis, sex with a gutted pig's carcass and grotesque gluttony (why bother to remove candy wrappers when you can eat 170 more chocolate bars per hour?). It's a cult hit among gritty film freaks, but academy members -- who love sugary movies of another sort -- are fleeing screenings," the paper wrote.
The Academy accepts a single nomination from each country to compete in the Best Foreign Language Film category every year. Five of the nominations are chosen. The five films to compete for the 2008 awards will be announced on January 22, 2008. The awards ceremony will take place on February 24.
The Hungarian committee that selected Taxidermia included film critic György Báron, representing the Hungarian Filmmakers Association; cinematographer József Rák, from the Hungarian Society of Cinematographers; director András Fésős of the Guild of Hungarian Moving Picture Directors; Miklós Szita of the Association of Independent Hungarian Producers; and László Sipos as a representative of the Hungarian Producers' Association.
In reaction to the film's nomination, Pálfi said he thought Taxidermia went against most of the values that are generally recognised at the Oscars. He said he though it strange that the film had been selected to go to the "city of dreams".
"I did not expect that this film would be chosen and I was very surprised," Pálfi said. He added that his film was based on a system of values that is even "more independent" than most American independent films, say nothing of Hollywood films, which aim only to entertain and generate cash.
Pálfi said the film's fundamental purpose was not to entertain or make money. "Instead, Taxidermia tries to raise some important questions about life and to make people think - and there is an attempt to present this in an aesthetic order," he explained.
The director said he had received some very good feedback from critics and audiences, but reactions to the film have been mixed.
"It has provoked some extreme emotions: some said it was very good, but others stated that this is a film that should not have been made or watched it then advised everyone to stay away from it," Pálfi said.
Pálfi gained international fame with his first feature film Hukkle. Taxidermia, the director's second film, took the main award at the 37th Hungarian Film Week. It also won the awards for Best Male Supporting Role (Csaba Czene) and Best Female Supporting Role (Adél Stanczel) as well as the Gene Moskowitz Foreign Critics Award and the Student Jury Award.
Foreign distribution rights for Taxidermia have been purchased by Fortissimo Films, one of the world's best known distributors of art films.
The film's foreign premiere was at Cannes, where it competed in the Un certain regard category. It has since been screened at many festivals, taking the Best Director Award at the Eurasia Film Festival in Antalya, winning a Silver Hugo award for "brilliant directing" in Chicago and taking a Directors Award in Cluj-Napoca. The film won the main award at the Brussels International Film Festival, a Don Quixote award in Cottbus and the Critics Award in Tallinn.
Source: PORT.hu / Hungarian News Agency (MTI) / latimes.com
