'Argentina, 1985' snubs 'RRR' for Golden Globe for Best Non-English Language Film

Don't Crank 'Naatu Naatu' and Celebrate Right Away: 'RRR' didn't triumph as expected at the Golden Globes, with Best Picture in a Non-English Language at Tuesday's ceremony going instead to "Argentina, 1985."

The Amazon Studios film, directed by Santiago Mitre, beat out some of the year's most acclaimed films to win the Globe, including S.S. Rajamouli's Indian hit "RRR," which won Best Song Plus early evening; the romantic thriller "Decision to Leave" by Park Chan-wook; the German war film "All Quiet on the Western Front"; and the Belgian coming-of-age story "Close".

The win would have made director Rajamouli's historical action musical 'RRR' the first India-produced film to win in the Golden Globe category. In 1983, 'Gandhi' won the award (when it was called best foreign film), but that film was a co-production between UK and India, in English and Hindi. (Earlier in the evening, the song “RRR” “Naatu Naatu” won Best Song in a Movie category, so celebrations are always in order.)

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At the premiere of “Argentina, 1985” at the 2022 Venice Film Festival, IndieWire critics praised the biopic, which follows the trial of the 1985 juntas through an unexpected lens and with a humorous bias.

According to the review, "director Miter lifts the curtain at a time in his country's history when there is only a glimmer of hope for a break with the military dictatorship that operated from 1976 to 1983 , torturing, kidnapping and terrorizing anyone deemed a threat. Miter portrays self-determination as dependent on the kind of ordeal the nine generals who led the military government will endure. Their power still casting a long shadow, they push for a military trial where they will be tried by the army they commanded. The fairest option is a federal trial and - who would be his lead prosecutor? - you guessed it, Mr. Julio Strassera."

Though Miter's film has been making the rounds of the awards circuit in recent weeks, garnering nods from the Critics' Choice Awards and various critic groups, as well as a spot on the Top Five list. international films from the National Board of Review, it's not the juggernaut that "RRR" has proven to be throughout the season. And yet, Miter's film was an early winner: it won the FIPRESCI prize in Venice after its premiere. Maybe that momentum is coming back.

Amazon released the film theatrically in September and streaming on Prime Video in October. It was selected as Argentina's entry for Best International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards and Best Ibero-American Film at the 37th Goya Awards.

So will history repeat itself at the Oscars? Not quite, as 'RRR' won't be competing in the International Feature Film category, as India selected 'Last Film Show', a coming-of-age film by director Pan Nalin, to portray the country instead. 'Argentina, 1985' and 'Last Film Show' are on the list of 15 titles in the running for the Oscar prize, alongside Golden Globe nominees 'Close', 'All Quiet on the Western Front' and 'Decision to Pars ."

That said, "RRR" made the shortlist of original songs for "Naatu Naatu" and may attract further nominations when the names are announced later this month.

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