While I haven’t yet seen any of other nominees from the year, I have no idea why this would be nominated for an Oscar, let alone win. A suicidal man reconnects with his family when he’s asked by his sister to watch his precocious nine-year-old niece for a few hours. It’s decently made (acting not bad, visually appropriately gritty, etc.) but the story comes across as a misguided PSA for a suicide helpline.
Oscar Win: Best Short Film, Live Action
With my blog reformatting, I’ve pondered what to do with regards to the short films I watch. Thus far, I’ve decided to at least include the Oscar nominated ones. I recently caught these two on YouTube and figured I’d pair them together. Ishu Patel’s Paradise didn’t mesmerize me quite as much as my recent viewing of his The Bead Game. Though employing some interesting techniques and beautiful colors, the story of a black bird who temporarily covets a caged, glamorous life is a much more standard animated affair.
Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase on the other hand doesn’t offer much in terms of a narrative, but is an impressive montage of famous works of art shown through clay stop motion animation. It comes off as a blending of Loving Vincent and the face morphing parts of Michael Jackson’s Black or White video.
Oscar Nomination: Best Short Film, Animated (Paradise)
Oscar Win: Best Short Film, Animated (Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase)
Artistically, this is an amazing filmmaking feat, stop-motion animation done entirely with beads. Somehow in its short six minute runtime, it manages to tell the entire story of animal life on earth. It juxtaposes wonderfully the inherent violence in the food chain, where the strongest survive, to the self-destructive nature of more ‘civilized’ human beings. I’m sure I will be seeking out Ishu Patel’s other Oscar nomination soon.
Oscar Nomination: Best Short Film, Animated
The rare Oscar nominated short that isn’t depressing as all get out, this tells of happenstance friendship that develops between an Afghan immigrant and a young German woman. The only real complaint I have is that I really would have enjoyed it as a full-length film, giving the viewer a chance to really get to know the women and have their friendship develop further.
Oscar Nomination: Best Short Film, Live Action
I don’t know how intentional it was, but this movie has the acting and visual quality of a Bollywood film from many decades earlier. It pushes hard on the important topic of modern day slavery, but a short film’s runtime for this particular film offers little to convey an emotional connection to the characters and their plight.
Oscar Nomination: Best Short Film, Live Action
This was a delightful short film which with to start my morning. Jane Birkin is delightful as an older woman who spends her days stuck in unchanging monotony until one little change to her situation inspires changes in herself. The setting is beautiful, both the quaint small village and the nearby countryside.
Oscar Nomination: Best Live Action Short Film
Filing this one as another Oscar film encouraging me to learn more about events I know nothing about, in this instance the Kosovo War. The film centers on the story of two school-aged friends and their experiences with a handful of Serbian soldiers. It’s rather manipulative and heavy-handed, but sadly many nominated short films are.
Oscar Nomination: Best Short Film, Live Action
Loaded up with maybe all of her earthly possessions, a woman boards a train. And that’s about the last of what I understood was going on in this story. That experience seems to be the same for the woman as well. The animation is fascinating and full of small details.
Oscar Nomination: Best Short Film, Animated
I like the animation style, but this felt long for a 15 minute short. I did learn about remittance men and how this particular man (travelling from England to Albert in the early 1900s) could be compared to a comet. I also tend to forget that Canada has its own cowboy culture similar to the US.
Oscar Nomination: Best Short Film, Animated
So often short films want to highlight an important issue but tend to do so in such a heavy handed way that they lose a lot of their emotional impact. That is the case with Debris. It is sad and relevant, but maybe another five minutes spent actually developing the characters of the workers and they would feel like actual people instead of pawns to get the story told.