Why can't a non-English language movie win for Best Picture?  Good
question.  However, the way of the Academy is probably not a subject
deserving of much attention.  How do they decide what constitutes a
"supporting" role?  I think it has something to do with the actors
involved and also with the need to fill up nomination slots.  Wait...I
just said I wasn't going to speculate.  In response to the fellow in
Montreal who seems to think there is an Anglo-Saxon conspiracy: the Oscars
existed for twenty years before a British film won for Best Picture
(Olivier's HAMLET).  European directors have been a major influence on
American directors and vice versa.  Many of the top directors of
Hollywood's "Golden Era" were European (Wilder, Wyler, Curtiz, Lubitsch,
Sirk, Zinnemann).
 
Mary Kalfatovic, Washington, D.C.