Every year my favorite of the "Oscar Shorts" programs is the Live Action Shorts category: by contrast, the short docs program is always the longest (and can be a slog if every one is about death and dying); and I have given up on the animated shorts because the program is a RIP-OFF (35 minutes of actual nominees followed by 40 minutes of padding).
But the Live Action Shorts consistently deliver, and this year is no exception. I will review them from weakest to strongest:
SILENT NIGHTS (Denmark) -- The weakest of this year's nominees (by far), the story of a relationship between a Ghanaian immigrant and a homeless shelter volunteer is far-fetched yet predictable. This short is short on nuance, and long on cliche, thus the emotional payoff it strives for feels unearned. GRADE: C
SING (Hungary)
LA FEMME et le TVG (Switzerland)
The next two are tied for third, both enjoyable, if slight, stories.
"Sing" is about a new girl in a Hungarian elementary school who joins the choir that teaches their cut-throat choir teacher (played by the lovely Zsófia Szamosi -- look for her in the new Hungarian Psycho-Thriller Strangled (A Martfűi Rém)) a lesson in fairness and solidarity. The two young girls who spark the protest are wonderful. GRADE: A-
"La Femme et le TVG" is the more substantial of the two, with a stunning lead performance by the great British actress Jane Birkin. She plays against type, as a lonely, widowed senoir citizen, running a bakery in a small Swiss town. No Birkin bags in sight! She embarks on an unlikely, but true!, relationship with the train conductor who passes directly under her window twice-a-day for 15 years. It packs quite a bit of bittersweet whimsy in its 30-minute running time (And even has time for a climactice race to the Zurich train station). A dark horse for the Oscar. GRADE A-
ENNEMIS INTERIEURS (France) -- "Enemies Within" is the most-topical of the five nominees: an intense, compact story of a French-Algerian whose innocent interview to become a French citizen becomes an interrogation into his (supposed) terrorist ties. It confronts the issues of race, religion and 'homeland security' in a France that is more open to these debates than a lot of countries I can think of. Well acted and directed, I will not be disappointed if it wins the Oscar. GRADE: A+
TIMECODE (Spain) -- I have to give the edge to the shortest of the five shorts (15 minutes), because it uses the format most-economically: a precise story, well-told and filmed, that builds to a satisfying, and hilarious climax. The film it most reminds me of is 2014's excellent (and unfairly robbed of the Oscar that year) "Butter Lamp" (France-Tibet).
The entire film takes place in the confines of a private garage, and is mostly revealed through security-camera footage. To reveal anything more is to spoil the joys of this small gem of a film. GRADE: A+.
I WANT & THINK it will win the Oscar!
