2016 Oscar Nominated Best Foreign Language Films: This is the best the world has to offer?

Every year usually after the Oscars are over, I do my best to watch all 5 of the film's nominated for Best Foreign Language Film. I'm announcing here that this is the last year I will do this and here is why:

I've loved watching foreign films for a very long time.  I used to go the Seattle International Film Festival year after year and see many of the best and worst that other countries on this Earth have to offer.  So those experiences  should pair well with watching the five Oscar nominated foreign films right? Wrong. Because each country is only allowed to advance one film to represent them and then a panel of seemingly pretty out of touch panel chooses the "best" 5, sometimes they get it correct as is the case of All About My Mother and A Separation.  But mostly they get it wrong.   They often exclude many critically acclaimed nominees  for questionable and uninspiring choices. 

This year's 5 films were no exception for being generally unexceptional.  

The nominees were:

Embrace of the Serpent- Colombia

This is two different parallel stories of two white men trying to find this cure all drug in the jungles of South America. Sometimes it had something interesting to say about wealthy nations exploiting tribal people for their industries,but mostly it just plodded. The film is well shot in black and white, but who's great idea was it to make the subtitles white as well.  Fortunately the plot was not so complicated for the times I couldn't read the subtitles.   Unfortunately, overall it's just mildly interesting.  6 out of 10

Mustang- France

The best and definitely only near great film of the bunch was this one about a group of teenagers growing up in a country who will not allow them be themselves due to tradition.  The film is a sad watch, but I particularly admired the realness of all the teenage characters.  While it was a fictional film, it felt like a documentary of these young women's sometimes tragic lives.  8 out of 10

Son of Saul- Hungary

This film was the eventual Oscar  winner.  It's a harrowing story about a man's experience trying to navigate his way through the Holocaust. The one thing that really works for the film is the way the camera follows the character in order to create the feeling that you are following this man's experience. Otherwise this doesn't add a lot to the many many films that the Oscars have recognized about the Holocaust.  Certainly tragedies like this should have films made to educate filmgoers, but the Holocaust is definitely the Academy's favorite tragedy of choice. 7 out of 10

Theeb- Jordan

This film about a child's experiencing dodging a war torn country was interesting and well done,but I have to admit that it's also the one I forgot first.  I had to go back and remind myself what it was about.  While the film had some powerful moments in the moment I viewed it, its  power for me was short lived. 7 out of 10

A War- Denmark

Of the five films I was most interested in this one's story.  A celebrated military officer is charged with a war crime that he probably unintentionally committed to protect his squadron.  If seeing every minute detail played out intrigues you, then you'll like this.  I was mostly bored by the lack of action in what could have been a very interesting and provocative film.  The military scenes are the best, but they only last not even the first half of the film before it turns over to the officer's somewhat tedious
home life and trial. 

6 out of 10

So I find it hard to believe that these are the best the world has to offer.  The only film that would've been even close to being in my top 10 of the year is Mustang and even it would've fallen short.  

I'm looking forward to some good films this fall.  I'm sure that there will be great ones that the Oscars will ignore.