*Some Spoilers*
I think the idea of giving the Oscar-nominated short films a theatrical release is a good idea and a welcome trend. The crop of Live Action short films in 2015 was particularly good and though I found one or two flawed in some minor ways, they were nevertheless poignant and memorable. American and European directors comprised the majority of nominees in this category; the lone exception being a Palestinian. The themes spanned the political and the religious and sometimes both while stories of the more personal variety were also well-represented.
Ave Maria--Director: Basil Khalil
A Jewish man, his girlfriend and his cantankerous mother find themselves at the mercy of nuns in a monastery in the occupied territory in Palestine. Though the order is one committed to vows of silence, they find they must violate their oath to aid their Jewish interlopers, whose crashed car has toppled an icon of the Virgin Mary outside their doors. But the nuns find the Jewish man, Moshe, is bound by a religious oath of his own. The restrictions of Shabbat prohibit any usage of electronics, including telephones, which Moshe needs to call a taxi. A funny situation arises when Moshe asks a nun to make the call for a taxi, unaware that the request only disturbs the order's self-imposed silence further. How the nuns help the three Jews makes for a funny short, which in turn offers commentary about the intricacies of Middle-eastern culture with its multi-faith, politically combustible climate. The region's constrictive regard for gender roles is also addressed as Moshe discovers a young nun is more more resourceful than he when it comes to auto-mechanics.
It is astonishing how much Khalil packs into fifteen minutes.
His visual sense is also impeccable. One shot of what looks like blood trickling from the head of the icon is actually fluid flowing from the crashed car. Another visual gem is the final shot of the deserty expanse.
What statement Khalil is making about the various faiths of the region is food for reflection but I like that his approach is light and amusing. It isn't often that films on politics and faith in the Middle-east are so humorous.
Shok--Director: Jamie Donoughue
An Albanian man driving through Kosovo stops before an abandoned bicycle. The sight of the bike triggers memories of his childhood during the Serbian occupation and a friendship fraught with joy and tragedy. The friendship is tested when one boy dares to sell a contraband item to one Serbian soldier, which earns his friend's reproach. Their Albanian ethnicity is but one target of Serbian hostility, which the soldiers never hesitate to express when the boys are in their presence. The enterprising activity of one friend threatens to fracture their friendship until mutual sacrifice reestablishes their bond, though nothing comes without a high price in the Balkan conflict.
Director Jamie Donoughue, though hardly a witness to the conflict or a native of the Balkans, demonstrates a sensitivity for the politics and the mutual distrust between the various cultures of the region. But the power of the story is in its depiction of a friendship and its inviolability in the face of war and race hatred. The film's artistic success can mostly be ascribed to the performances of the two boys, who match the subject matter's intensity with intensity of their own.
Everything Will Be Okay (Alles Wird Gut)--Patrick Vollrath
Like Shok, which precedes director Patrick Vollrath's film, Everything Will Be Okay focuses on a child in crisis. A father, Michael Baumgartner (Simon Schwarz), arrives at a home to pick up his young daughter Lea (Julia Pointner) from his ex-wife's home. Their seemingly innocent, familial excursion becomes a nightmarish ordeal for Lea when Michael takes desperate steps to flee the country with his daughter for a flight to the Philippines. Knowing he is committing an illegal act, Michael makes haste to the airport but is informed his flight is cancelled. Promised a compensatory morning flight, he accepts an complimentary overnight stay at a local hotel, much to the bewilderment of his daughter, who has little idea what her father has planned. The next morning, the frightened girl uses her father's cellphone to call her mother. Sometime later, her mother arrives, with police in tow, demanding entry. When the police burst into the room, they are unable to pry Lea from her father's embrace.
What makes a seemingly simple story so powerful is Julia Pointner's wonderful performance. Lea's fear and anguish; her desperate, unheard pleas, leave one wondering how such a young actress could navigate the emotionally demanding aspects of the role. No less moving is Simon Schwarz's Michael, whose unyielding hold on his daughter contains so much unspoken fear and anxiety. We wonder what prompted such a extreme act, which makes him both on object of pity and horror.
Stutterer--Director: Benjamin Cleary
A man with an intense stutter but an eloquent internal voice texts a woman with whom romantic possibilities emerge. The man's crippling vocal affliction leaves him unable to complete a phone call or interact with people on the street. But inside his head we hear his thoughts, as he keeps a list of "snap judgements," personality profiles he forms while people-watching. From the texts, we can easily gather that his female texting partner shares his love for words.
After she proposes a meeting, he stalls; aware of the problem his stutter may present. After he finally agrees, he makes his way to her and spots her from across a street. What happens after is something I anticipated early in the short; a development I hoped the filmmaker would avoid. In spite of the story's improbably coincidental conclusion, I found the story to be quite affecting. The actor who plays the stutterer; Matthew Needham, has an unforgettable look. His shaggy hair and striking blue eyes, which project both vulnerability and keen intelligence, are a character unto themselves.
I liked the idea of a character who has so many words in his head and perspicacious thoughts but is unable to express them vocally. The voice in his head expresses multitudes but his condition shackles their potential.
Day One--Director: Henry Hughes
The last short in the overall film is the emotionally-wrenching Day One. An Afghan woman named Feda begins her first day as an interpreter for the U.S. Army. After an awkward moment out in the field when she has to relieve herself, a mine kills a motorcyclist on a road nearby. She is called to be an interpreter in the arrest of the suspect, only to find his wife is pregnant and worse, ready to deliver. Complications arise when the Afghan doctor present is unable to enter the room to assist (a strict moral custom about men being in a room with a woman not his spouse or family), leaving the interpreter in the role of delivering the baby, despite her lack of experience. The doctor and an American soldier are ultimately compelled to be in the room with the expectant mother and the suspect, who is granted temporary freedom to help his wife. After Feda finds one of the baby's arms protruding from the womb, she checks its pulse, only to find it is dead. The doctor, having to advise her from behind a wall, tells her it will be necessary to cut the baby's arm off, as well as the rest of its body for removal, to save the mother's life. This grim, unthinkable prospect horrifies her (and the audience); forcing her to balk at the task but situation being as it is, she sets out to perform the horrific dismemberment anyway. Before Feda can perform the cutting, she discovers the baby is actually alive and shortly thereafter, she helps deliver it. But in the aftermath, the story turns tragic before ending on a hopeful, life-affirming note.
As in Ave Maria, a cultural clash of sorts takes place.
We learn from post-film subtitles that the story was inspired by the director's own experiences as a soldier in Afghanistan. Layla Alizada, who plays the interpreter Feda, has a beautiful face one is unlikely to forget. Her lovely, dark features and expressive eyes compliment her terrific performance. I liked the story's intensity and the sudden turns of tragedy and hope. We see how one day actually changes the character's life irrevocably.
The nominees this year are a powerful lot. I don't envy the committee who has to award a prize; it seems criminal to deny any one of them an Oscar. This is a stronger group of films than last year, I think. As we all know, any one of the filmmakers could become a future household name. The various directors all showed they have solid storytelling skills while a few, like Basil Khalil, betray a knack for arresting, visual imagery.
Now we wait to see who gets the gold.
No comments:
Post a Comment