Review: Oscar-nominated short films - Live Action

Mindenki 

(24 minutes)

This Hungarian drama, whose titles means “Sing,” is about Zsofi, a new girl at school who’s excited about joining the choir. The teacher, Miss Erika, is beloved and the group is widely lauded – they’re currently gearing up for the national championship, which they usually win. But Zsofi is crushed when Miss Erika instructs her to mime because her singing isn’t good enough. She also instructs Zsofi to keep this a secret, which sets off tensions with her new friend, a popular girl named Liza, and a troubling discovery. Deeply observant, a film that approaches childhood at eye level.

Timecode 

(15 minutes)

A garage security guard named Luna shows up for another dreary day of work, taking over from the night guy. Somebody complains about his taillight getting busted, and she checks the security camera tapes. Turns out the other guard is a dancer who likes to bust a move while making his rounds, and accidentally clipped the car. Luna covers up the incident and leaves him a message and a timestamp of her own, beginning an odd, enchanting little pas de deux. Charming, human and alive. And with a very funny last line of dialogue.

Ennemisis Intérieurs 

(28 minutes)

A tense drama (“Enemies Within”) that raises uncomfortable questions about nationalism and religious fears. A French man of Algerian origin is applying for French citizenship. The interview with a bureaucrat in a lonely office turns increasingly hostile, despite his having lived in French territory his entire life. He’s asked about mosques, meetings, revolutionary talk, etc. It’s obvious the official is trying to find out about terrorist activity, but the man insists he knows nothing. Eventually the pot simmers.

 

La Femme et le TGV

(30 minutes)

In the lovely Swiss town of Monbijou, an old widow named Elise runs a small bakery and lives next to the rail line, where the TGV bullet train zooms by every day at 300 km/hour. She’s a bit stubborn and old-fashioned: “I’ve never sent an internet, and I never will!” she declares. Elise and her son had a habit of flinging open their window and waving a Swiss flag at the train, one she has continued after he grew up and moved away. One day a letter shows up from the driver, Bruno, who has passed by unseen each day, welcoming her presence. They begin exchanging notes and packages, a November romance from afar. Funny, sad, joyous.

 

Silent Nights 

(30 minutes)

This Danish film is about a young woman who starts volunteering for the local Salvation Army, serving mostly African immigrants. She falls for one of them, a stalwart man who lives on the street collecting bottles for money, which he sends home to his family back home to help them survive. Meanwhile, he is plagued by racist comments and abuse at every turn. And she has to deal with an alcoholic mother with hidebound sentiments. Can their fragile love survive a world of hate and xenophobia? Well-acted but contains few surprises.

Review: Oscar-nominated short films -- live action

Ave Maria

Five nuns in the West Bank are enjoying their evening meal in proscribed silence when trouble comes knocking -- literally. A family of Jews has crashed their car into their statue of the Virgin and need help. They're a stereotypical group of fast-talking folks who trade insults freely. The man blames his mother and her incontinence for the crash, which has come on the cusp of Shabbat, when Jews are not allowed to operate modern machinery. His wife hectors him mercilessly, and the elderly woman screams at them both. The nuns must break their vow of silence in order to offer help... reluctantly, at least at first. A funny and wry take on a volatile part of the world.

Shok

Just a stunning and powerful portrait of the Kosovo war from the perspective of two boys. Albanians living largely among Serbs, Oki (Andi Bajgora) and Petrit (Lum Veseli) must negotiate a difficult daily landscape of unclear loyalties. Their mountain landscape is gorgeous but often inhospitable. Petrit, big and bluff, takes to selling drugs to the Serbian soldiers. Oki, who has just bought a treasured bike after saving for a year, is doubtful of their trustworthiness. Things come to a head in a way filled with tragedy, and hopefulness. Writer/director Jamie Donoughue clearly has a future.

Stutterer

Matthew Needham is terrific as Greenwood, a young British man with a crippling stutter. He has long observant soliloquies inside his head -- narrated by Needham in a sonorous baritone -- but can barely communicate with the outside world. "Reclusive typography invisible to the naked eye, communication skills of an infant, excels in the art of self-pity." He's even learning sign language in order to avoid talking. Greenwood's been carrying on a six-month online relationship with a woman, Ellie (Chloe Pirrie), but when she comes to town and wants to speak face-to-face, he jumps down a rabbit hole of self-doubt. The ending's a little pat, but writer/director Benjamin Cleary understands character dynamics in tightly bookended spaces.

Alles Wird Gut (Everything Will Be OK)

In this disturbing drama from Germany, a divorced father picks up his 8-year-old daughter for a visitation trip. He seems normal and kind, but there are little signs of unease. Like the way the man fails to acknowledge the mother and stepfather. His dowdy little car contrasted to their sleek black BMW. The way he tells the girl to not speak around other adults as he goes about some errands – including obtaining an emergency passport for her. We know where this is heading, and are unsettled. This film can be very hard to watch, and deliberately so, but it’s well worth the time and emotional investment. The actors, Simon Schwarz and Julia Pointner, are just so heartbreaking and true.

Day One

An Arab woman, Feda (Layla Alizada), joins U.S. forces in Afghanistan as an interpreter in what will be the most momentous first day on the job imaginable. Her unit goes to arrest a suspected bomb-maker (Alain Washnevsky) but the man’s wife (Alexia Pearl) goes into labor. The baby is stuck in a breech birth, and since a man cannot touch her it is up to Feda to save the child and mother. Harrowing, intense and emotional, it’s a terrific single act of anguish. Director Henry Hughes, who co-wrote the story with Dawn DeVoe, carefully apportions the suspense and empathy.

Review: Oscar-nominated short films: Live Action

La Lampe Au Beurre De Yak (Butter Lamp) -- The entirety of "Butter Lamp" takes place in front of a photographer's backdrop as he and his assistant take portraits of the people of the remotest reaches of Tibet. Occasionally they change the background to taste -- a famous palace, the Great Wall of China, and other schmaltzy scenes. Meanwhile the people in the foreground tell us much about themselves simply through their smiles and a little dialogue. The big news delivered by the mayor is of a missing yak. A sullen young man refuses to wear modern clothes and leaves in a huff. Eventually, business is conducted and something is revealed that is revelatory. A short, smart piece by Hu Wei.

Parvaneh -- A traditional Afghani girl living in Switzerland must travel to Zurich to wire money to her family for a relative's surgery. Despite barely speaking the language and feeling ostracized in a society suspicious of people from the Mideast, Parvaneh (Nissa Kashani) negotiates a foreign culture that seems bizarre and dangerous to her. Since her ID is invalid, she enlists the help of a local teen (Cheryl Graf), who at first seems tempted to take advantage of the situation. But they end up forming an unlikely bond. Talkhon Hamzavi's film is sensitive and observant.



 

The Phone Call -- Sally Hawkins gives a tender performance as Heather, a woman working a British crisis hotline who gets a call from "Stanley" (Jim Broadbent), an older man who has just taken a lot of pills and is overcome with despair. Lamenting the death of his wife, Stan and Heather form a bond in a matter of minutes, connecting over lost love and jazz music. Directed by Mat Kirkby, who also co-wrote the script with James Lucas, this is a film that doesn't offer a lot of surprises but does what it does with great craftsmanship and care.




Boogaloo and Graham -- Director Michael Lennox is a filmmaker born, who instinctively knows the rhythms and reveals of cinematic storytelling. Set in 1978 Belfast, this short concerns two Irish brothers whose dad gives them a pair of chicks, whom they dub Boogaloo and Graham, who soon turn into noisy, scratching chickens -- much to the consternation of their mum. It would seem things will come to a head, and they do, though in unexpected ways. Sun-dappled, bright and witty.

Aya -- An exercise in mood and character, "Aya" is about a chance encounter that somehow becomes deeper. A young Israeli woman (Sarah Adler) is waiting at the airport to pick someone up, when by happenstance she is mistaken for a driver there to transport a stranger. For some reason she agrees to take the fellow, a bookish Danish music researcher (Ulrich Thomsen), to his hotel. They begin a languid conversation that is at times profoundly uncomfortable and comfortably profound. She confesses that she feels closer to strangers than her loved ones, and he tells her never to follow her heart in life, because it will inevitably lead to regret. From directors Oded Binnun and Mihal Brezis, a smart movie that eschews answers for provocative questions.

Review: Oscar-nominated short films: Live Action

"Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?"

A ferociously funny Finnish short written by Kirsikka Saari and Selma Vilhunen, this 7-minute comedy takes its title from the lament that has escaped the lips of every mother, ever. A young family arises to realize they are late for an important wedding, and the matron must drive everyone like a slave master. The daughters end up in Halloween-y costumes and the husband dawdles with his coffee and beard-grooming. Short, sharp and with extra zest because it will be so familiar to most families.

"That Wasn't Me"

This searing Spanish drama set in war-torn Africa is the story of Kaney, a corporal and child-soldier who gets caught between his own adopted "family" of fellow killers and a pair of Spanish doctors who are in-country on a life-saving mission. Kaney is forced to make horrible choices at the point of a gun, and at first he seems like an irredeemable soul. But despite a tragic turn of events, a framing story lets us know that not all children are lost in war. Terrific performances by the cast and spot-on direction and writing by Esteban Crespo.

"Helium"

Alfred (Pelle Falk Krusbæk) is a Danish boy dying of an unnamed disease, and Enzo (Casper Crump) is the introverted, clumsy new janitor who meets him on his hospital rounds. The moment where he says to the man that everyone is telling him he will go to heaven will freeze your blood, and set the tone for this four-hanky weepie. Centering on the boy’s love of airships, Enzo spins an ongoing tale of Helium, an afterlife made up of floating islands where Alfred can play football all day and visit his loved ones – a world represented in lovely CG. Elegiac, beautiful and brimming with soulfulness.

"The Voorman Problem"

"I equipped humans with free will mainly so they could dream up new ways to entertain me."
So says the title character (Tom Hollander), a scruffy lunatic inside a British prison who insists that he is God. Martin Freeman plays the psychiatrist sent to evaluate him, and the two soon engage in a cat-and-mouse game in which the man of science is steadily convinced by the would-be deity of his authenticity. Directed by Mark Gill, who co-wrote the film with Baldwin Li, this clever pitch-black comedy will unnerve you, then make you laugh, then feel bad about your mirth.

"Just Before Losing Everything"

A taut drama from France, this film by writer/director Xavier Legrand explores a regular family in crisis. At first we don't quite know what's going on, as Legrand misdirects the audience and draws out long moments of tension. A young boy appears to be ditching school, and then climbs into a car with a woman, later picking up a teenage girl. Eventually we learn this is a mother and her two children, who drive to her work in a mega-market, where urgent demands are made and troubled looks exchanged between co-workers. I kept waiting for the film to take a turn into the unexpected, but it follows exactly the path we think it will go. Still, it's skillfully made and leaves us hungry for more of this story.

Reviews: Oscar-nominated short films -- Live Action

Pentecost
12 minutes

In 1977 Ireland, football-obsessed Damien (Scott Graham) is an unwilling altar boy at the local church, whose job is to carry the incense burner at Mass. Alas, after a (accidental?) catastrophe, he’s out of a job and forbidden by his strict father to watch the big upcoming match. But when the Archbishop comes to town, he’s the only censer-carrier available. This darkly comic bit is highlighted by a priest giving a hilarious motivational speech to his “team” before the big event, punctuated by the command to “Go out there and have the Mass of your lives!”

3 stars out of four

Raju
24 minutes

This harrowing drama looks at the issue of international adoption with a sobering perspective. Jan and Sarah, a loving young German couple, arrive in Calcutta to adopt Raju, an impossibly winsome 4-year-old Indian boy. Their lives seem destined for happiness, until the boy disappears in the street market on their second day together. During his excruciating search for the boy, Jan discovers a secret that threatens to tip all their lives in unexpected ways. This film is hard to watch at times, but deserves to be seen.

3 stars

The Shore
31 minutes

I adored this heartwarming dramedy about an Irishman named Jim (Ciarán Hinds) returning to the Emerald Isle after 25 years with his daughter (Kerry Condon) in tow. He’s there to see old friends and relatives, but there’s a ghost trailing him. He has unresolved relationships with his former best friend Paddy (Conleth Hill) and fiancée Mary (Maggie Cronin), who have since married each other. Paddy lost an arm in The Troubles, and spends his days digging mussels and crabs out of the kelp that washes up on the seashore, while collecting government unemployment assistance (“the dole”). A brave and joyful little film, with laughs and tears in that distinctly Irish way.

3.5 stars

Time Freak
11 minutes

A wonderfully inventive comedy about a young scientist, Stillman, who creates a time machine with the intention of visiting ancient Rome. Instead, he gets caught in a web of his own making, trying to re-do all his social interactions until he gets them just right. The result is a super-funny take-off on “Groundhog Day” courtesy of writer/director Andrew Bowler. Kind of a one-joke movie, but it’s a good joke.

3.5 stars

Tuba Atlantic
26 minutes

This daffy black comedy from Norway is about Oskar, an elderly fisherman who spends his time battling seagulls – including shooting them out of the sky with a machine gun, and stepping on their eggs. He learns he has six days to live, which are made even more aggravating by the enforced presence of Inger, the teenage “Death Angel” assigned to stay with him so the authorities will allow him to die at home instead of a hospital. Oskar becomes obsessed with the ide of communicating with Jon, the brother he hasn’t spoken to in 30 years. Since he doesn’t know where Jon lives, the answer may lie with the monstrous mechanical tuba they built decades ago, reputedly capable of transmitting sound waves thousands of miles. Kooky, wry and surprisingly touching.

3 stars