Those Who Remained Shortlisted for Oscar

It’s the time of year when some things are new — the year, for instance — and some things are familiar, like a Hungarian film being short-listed for a Best Foreign Film Oscar. In recent years we’ve seen Son of Saul, and On Body and Soul, two locally made films, on this list. This year brings about the drama Those Who Remained (Akik maradtak, in Hungarian), which made the 2020 shortlist, along with some stiff competition in the form of Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite, and Paweł Aleksander Pawlikowski’s Cold War. True, the list was released in December, but we are still catching up here.

Directed by Barnabás Tóth, the drama tells the story of a teenage girl who mourns family losses with a doctor in post WWII Hungary. In a rave review, Daily Variety had this to say: “Perceptively directed by Barnabás Tóth, it taps into a deep well of honestly earned emotion as it tells the story of two traumatized survivors whose relationship helps them to heal and provides them with someone to live for. Set in the period between 1948 and ’53, the period drama also takes on the purges of Hungarian politician Mátyás Rákosi’s Communist regime.” Variety also calls the film “achingly tender.”

Tóth’s first film was the well received, but perhaps more commercially minded Camembert Rose. It has been a decade since that film, but worth the wait, as Hollywood Reporter called Tóth, “a talent to watch.” Only time will tell if Those Who Remained can repeat the winning success of Son of Saul, but the Holocaust subject matter is traditionally sympathetic to Academy voters, and the film has already been widely praised. The 92nd Oscars will be held on Sunday, February 9 of this year. That’s 2020, and this is us, wishing you a happy one.

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