Indie Bravo!: ‘Norte’ on two more ‘best’ lists

“Norte, Hangganan ng Kasaysayan”

Lav Diaz’s “Norte, Hangganan ng Kasaysayan” failed in its Oscar 2014 Best Foreign Language Film bid, but he landed on two more yearend lists drafted by US media outfits.

Hollywood trade paper Variety critic Justin Chang picked Diaz’s “Mula sa Kung Ano ang Noon” as one of the year’s best films “that lack distribution in the United States.” Grantland’s Wesley Morris declared “Norte” among 2014’s 10 best, along with Oscar contenders “Whiplash,” “Selma” and “Citizenfour.”

Morris, a Pulitzer Prize winner for criticism, raved about the Philippines’ Oscar bet: “Once it takes off, you can’t believe you’re flying. You don’t want to land.” He described “Norte,” which took the top spot on his list, as a “work of philosophical and spiritual origami [with] a degree of artistry that provokes an involuntary response.”

He recalled the first time he watched the four-hour epic: “I stood up, with tears in my eyes, and clapped. The second time, I just sat…awed and perplexed. On neither occasion did I feel like I had simply gone to a movie. I had answered the call of God.”

Grantland is a sports/pop culture blog “indirectly associated” with ESPN.

“Norte” was not among the nine short-listed films that would be narrowed down to five nominees in the Best Foreign Language Film category of the Academy Awards. Bayani San Diego Jr.