Since the Oscars began in 1927, there have been a total of 420 Oscar nominations in the category of Best Leading Actress. Only 12 have been awarded to actresses in works filmed in languages, other than English. Catalina Sandino Moreno, with her Oscar nomination as best actress in María Llena de Gracia (Maria Full of Grace) was the first Colombian, moreover, the first Spanish-speaking actress, no less, to receive a nomination in this category.
In 1960, for the first time, two actresses received nominations in this category for roles in movies filmed other languages: Greek and Italian. Sophia Loren won the Oscar for her role in Two Women. It was the first and, so far, the only time an actress has taken home such a sought-after award for an interpretation realized in a language other than English. The list of nominees reads like a "Who's Who" of famous actresses and recognized by their talent, whose native language is not English:
Melina Mercouri for Never on Sunday ('60-Greek), Sophia Loren for Marriage to 'Italian ('64), Ida Kaminska for The Shop on Main St. ('65- Czech), Anouk Aimée for Un Homme et Une Femme (So Sophie Loren and Liv Ullman are the only two actresses to be nominated twice).
But there is another interesting category: 19 nominations, in total, for actresses making their film debut. Most of them, like Katherine Hepburn, Julie Andrews and Barbra Striesand, went on to reach "Superstardom"! By carefully reviewing the names in the previous paragraph, you can see that all the above mentioned actresses were already well-known, with long trajectories and many previous films, when the Academy did them the honor of nominating them.
Perhaps most interesting aspect of the nomination of Catalina Sandino Moreno is that, for the first time in Oscar History, the nomination for Best Actress had been given to a newcomer, for a role in a film produced in another language! (It's also the first time that the Academy named someone who performed a role in Spanish!) I hope that every Colombian felt a special pride in savoring such important news.
However, at the time I thought it prudent not to get all that excited about Ms. Sandino's prospects of winning...And, of course, as it turned out...I was right! Speaking in real terms, the Academy, undoubtedly, considers the simple act of getting a nomination for a role done in another language to be such a great honor, in and of itself, that it decided it would be much better to give the Oscar to another nominee...or, at least, the lack of any other Winner in 50 years certainly gives that impression!
I dare, now, offer Ms. Sandino a couple of suggestions! (Hopefully this Review will make it into your hands!) Not too many years ago, you lived your life as 99.99% of people: in total anonymity! Then, I imagine, with the release of Maria Llena Eres de Gracia, there was a dramatic change in your life. In Colombia and with all your ex-patriots, you became an extremely well-known celebrity, with job offers beginning to rain down on you!
And Everything accelerated frantically on the Tuesday the Oscar nominations were announced! You must have felt as though you were living in a fish bowl! Under a microscope in front of everyone, with the number of job offers growing rapidly! My humble suggestion: That you look for roles that are totally different role, and try to seek out films that have absolutely nothing to do with drugs or crime!
My additional advice ... Well, since I do not know your plans regarding the possibility of making films in English or not, nor have I had the opportunity to hear you speak in English, I do not know if you really speak "a perfect English" as you mentioned in an article written about you in TIME On-Line.
What is true in Hollywood is that any actor with a foreign accent which is relatively easy to perceive does not really have many options for any important roles. (With the exception of Arnold Scharzennegger, and to a lesser extent, Jackie Chan and Jean-Claude van Damme)
As an example I give you Salma Hayek. Excellent actress, with more than enough English to conduct any press conference with relative ease. But, who, since she has not yet managed to shake off a residual accent, does not seem to be offered any really good roles other than those of a Latina woman. Unfair? Of course! But it is a sad reality. In effect: If you want to work in Hollywood, hopefully, your English must actually reach a native level, or very-near native level!
In closing, I have left a topic which may be somewhat difficult for many. I was going to start this review with it, but I decided not to put it first so as not to start on a negative note. As a person who truly values and wants to see Colombia treated fairly on screen, obviously, I would have preferred that the central theme of MARIA been focused on something else! Unfortunately, for too many Americans, upon hearing "Colombia", DRUGS is the first thing that pops into their minds!
Certainly, how much better better it would have been, if the nomination had been for a film like "La Estrategia del Caracol"! Well, at least, MARIA seemed intent on showing some of the cruel consequences suffered by some Colombians who get involved in the Drug trade in order to satisfy the seemingly insatiable appetite for illicit drugs demonstrated by people living in the U.S.A.!
8*...ENJOY! / DISFRUTELA!
Any comments, questions or observations, in English or Español, are most welcome!.....
