In Christopher Nolan’s version of “The Odyssey,” there are several thrilling scenes in which Trojan soldiers face much larger foes, including a towering Cyclops and an army of giant soldiers. Heading into this awards season, “The Odyssey” is shaping up to be that behemoth, considered the leading contender for Oscar glory in several categories.
Enter a potential giant slayer. Hitting theaters Friday after a rhapsodic tour of several major film festivals, “La Bola Negra” could well be the film that finally wins Netflix its coveted Best Picture award. The streaming giant plans to release the Spanish film for 47 days in theaters before launching on the digital platform – representing an unprecedentedly long cinematic journey for the company – in the hope that the film will charm audiences, critics and Oscar voters.
Hollywood analysts think “La Bola Negra” could be the kind of radical yet tender film that could turn this awards season into a battle of David versus Goliath.
“I think they feel like this is as close as you can get to the best picture, maybe ever,” said Kyle Buchanan, the former awards season columnist for The New York Times who is preparing to launch his own podcast this month about Hollywood. “Certainly ‘Roma’ won a lot of Oscars (in 2019), but I think it was a ‘head film,’ and ‘heart films’ are usually what prevail at the Oscars. They know they have a ‘heart film’ with ‘La Bola Negra.’
On paper, “The Odyssey” and “La Bola Negra” couldn’t be more different. One is a mostly sexless, sword-and-sandal epic with a budget of hundreds of millions (and a box office gross of more than $1.7 billion), filled with big Hollywood stars and helmed by an already Oscar-winning director. The other is a subtitled work about queer desire and romance made for less than $17 million by two Spaniards (and a cast) who are all largely unknown outside their home country. (Glenn Close and Penélope Cruz appear in smaller roles, the latter almost stealing the film in an unforgettable turn as the troupe’s entertainer.)
Still, industry observers believe “La Bola Negra” might just have the juice to go all the way. Clayton Davis, senior awards editor at Variety, predicted a nomination for the film, writing that “‘La Bola Negra’ has the chance to rewrite Netflix’s Oscar history.” Similarly, Richard Lawson, former chief critic of Vanity Fair, said the Spanish film was “ahead of the pack.”
Directed by creative partners (and former romantic partners) Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi (called “Los Javis” in their native Spain and known to some Americans for their television series “Veneno”), “La Bola Negra” weaves together three stories of queer identity tied to the Spanish Civil War. In the first, a teenager Carlos (Milo Quifes) in 1932 fails to become a member of a social club, whose members vote against him using a blackball voting system amid rumors of his homosexuality. In 1937, a young fascist conscript named Sebastián (the mononymous musician Guitarricadelafuente in his first acting role) is assigned to guard a wounded Republican prisoner of war (Miguel Bernardeau) to whom he begins to feel attracted. And in 2017, directionless historian and former playwright Alberto (Carlos González) finds his life turned upside down when he leaves a surprise inheritance from a grandfather he didn’t know he had.
With shades of “Angels in America,” the film is an ambitious and sumptuous portrait of identity, repression and what is sacrificed in the long march of history. It’s not necessarily a love story between characters, but a love story with homosexuality itself. “What are we missing when we deny ourselves? says a character about the film’s near-fantastic ending. “Life.”
Described by queer media outlet Them as “one of the best LGBTQ+ films of the century,” the film is inspired by the life and death of gay Spanish poet and playwright Federico García Lorca, who was assassinated by fascist forces in 1936 and left behind an unfinished play titled “La Bola Negra.” The 1937 film’s screenplay also draws inspiration from the 2013 play “La piedra oscura” by Alberto Conejero, with whom Los Javis shares a screenwriting credit.
In May, Los Javis shared the best director award (with Polish filmmaker Paweł Pawlikowski, director of “Fatherland”) at the Cannes Film Festival, where the film premiered to a 20-minute standing ovation and was quickly picked up by Netflix.
Buchanan remembers covering the festival for The New York Times and “levitating” out of a screening of the film: “Most people were coming out flushed with excitement, their faces red with tears and just the feeling of, ‘Oh, finally.’. This This is the film of the festival, the film that people will want to talk about, the film that is sure to be a major player in the cinematic year.
Since then, “La Bola Negra” has only picked up speed as it has played at other festivals, scoring ratings victories in San Sebastian and Toronto. This latest victory bodes particularly well for Netflix’s Oscar hopes. Fourteen of the last 16 winners of the TIFF People’s Choice Award have received the Academy Award for best picture, with four of them – “Nomadland,” “Green Book,” “12 Years a Slave” and “The King’s Speech” – taking home the top prize. As Spain’s official entry in the international category of the Oscars, the film is favored to win this category, but it could well become the first foreign language film since “Parasite” to take home the top prize of the evening in 2020.
With the top 10 films up for grabs, other hot films appear poised to join the final list of nominees, such as “Project Haily Mary,” “The Invite,” “Dune: Part Three” and “Wild Horse Nine,” a film scheduled for release in November that stars John Malkovich as a dying CIA officer sent to Easter Island on the eve of Chile’s 1973 coup. Other generic films might include “Artificial,” Luca Guadagnino’s film about OpenAI, or even Nathan Fielder’s surrealist documentary about Elizabeth Holmes, “You Can See Everything.” (Despite being dubbed “the film of the year” by New York magazine, “You Can See Everything” still faces great difficulties since no documentary has ever been nominated in the top category.)
Malkovich, a two-time Oscar nominee, is considered an early favorite to win the best actor award, although Andrew Scott in “Elsinore,” Robert Pattinson in “Primetime” and Matt Damon in “The Odyssey” are also all seeking their first acting wins.
For best actress, analysts place Julianne Moore as the favorite to win a second Oscar for her role in the comedy “The Debut,” in which she plays a gentle mother who finds herself in the world of community theater. Inde Navarrette, star of the hit “Obsession,” also appears poised to earn her first-ever nomination.
The cast of “La Bola Negra” will all compete in the secondary categories, with Guitarricadelafuente and Cruz considered the film’s best chances. Thanks to a recent change in Academy rules, Cruz could potentially be nominated twice in the same category, if voters also wanted to recognize her famous turn in “The Invite.”
Buchanan said he expects Oscar voters to be charmed by the charisma of the directors and ensemble of “La Bola Negra” when campaigning begins in earnest, but given Nolan’s stature in Hollywood and the enormous box office success of “The Odyssey,” he thinks the Spanish film remains an underdog. “It’s going to be tough to topple ‘The Odyssey,’ but what ‘La Bola Negra’ has a chance to do is rack up a lot of the same nominations and give this movie a run for its money in most categories — and take home some of those wins,” he said.
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