Looking outside America this Oscar season, there are plenty of candidates for the Best International Feature award.
Dagmar seems too good to be true and she is.
International festival favorite Dyrholm is the draw here.
Fernanda Torres in ‘I’m Still Here’Sony Pictures Classics
BothIm Still HereandEmilia Perezcould pop out of the international ghetto, notably for their directors.
Its a subject Torres has thought about a lot on her journey with Salles since the premiere in Venice.
Its a very unique film, she muses.
FlowJanus Films/Everett Collection
And its different, you see, because it provokes reactions that films are not provoking anymore.
Theres a kind of honesty.
We dont look like we are acting, but at the same time its not a documentary.
And thats on purpose.
Walter disappears into the movie; he doesnt give a shot to show off.
Its a very unique film.
Every time I watch it, I look at it and say, What an enormous movie.
Salles echoes this sentiment, and credits Torres with the films quiet, unassuming power.
To play this woman was so vital to the film as a whole, he says.
Yet its based on the possibility of expressing the extraordinary inner strength thats driving that woman.
Fernanda is the only actress, I believe, that could have done that.
Her daughter looks back at her mothers surprise flush of success with great fondness.
She was 70 at the time, says Torres.
I remember her telling me, Nanda, Im 70 years old now.
I think its time to close my door.
Its over, I think.
What more can I expect?
But then… Oscar!
And she didnt stop, even after that.
Every year she says, No, next year I have to stop.
I cant work the way Ive been working.
I mean, shes shootingnow!
Its not a sad movie, she insists.
Come on, theres no reason to do a movie about the dictatorship in Brazil.
Why would I go to a movie theater to see a movie another one about the dictatorship in Brazil?
Its a movie about endurance.
Its about endurance, in happiness and in love.
