You may not know this, but every year, Singapore submits a movie for the Oscars’ Best Foreign Language Film category. Previous nominations include Ilo Ilo and Pop Aye, although none have actually been nominated yet.
Enter Buffalo Boys.
A creation of Singaporean production house Infinite Studios, Buffalo Boys is a martial arts-western film set in colonial Java. Variety describes it as a tale of exiled brothers returning to avenge their father’s murder by evil colonialists.
The trailer suggests that the film will be filled with fast-paced action sequences, bad-ass slow motion shots, and gratuitous violence.
It even reminds us of Westworld a bit. Only difference? It’s almost entirely in Bahasa Indonesia.
Why did we pick an Indonesian language film as our choice for the Oscars?
Because we’re applying for the “Best Foreign Language Film” and English isn’t really a foreign language to the Americans. The rules are pretty tightly enforced as well. In 2005, Eric Khoo’s Be With Me was rejected because it contained more English than Chinese or Hokkien.
So that’s why Singapore usually submits films that are in Malay, Chinese or Tamil. The Thai-language Pop Aye and Buffalo Boys are exceptions.
Early reviews of the movie have been lukewarm, with critics panning the lack of creativity. Both Variety and ScreenDaily commented that the movie feels more “assembled” than directed.
However, reviewers did give the film credit for being fun to watch. So if you like action movies and don’t expect anything intellectual in your movies, you might enjoy this one.
Buffalo Boys opens in Singapore cinemas on Thursday (September 6). Here’s wishing the cast and crew of the film success ahead of its theatrical run and Oscar campaign.
Are you going to watch it? Do you think Buffalo Boys has what it takes to bag an Oscar? Tell us in the comments below.
Featured image from The Film Society of Lincoln Center.
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