Oscar Live Action Short Nominees

Currently the five Academy Award nominees for Live Action Shorts are screening at the Landmark Century Cinema in Chicago. These are brief reviews of each film followed by my “all important” endorsement for which one should take home the Oscar.

Raju (Germany/India), directed by Max Zahle and Stefan Gieren. Part Frantic, part Ransom, but becoming its own thing, a German couple (Wotan Wilke Möhring and Julia Richter) come to Calcutta to adopt a four year old Indian orphan. Alas, the child promptly disappears, literally from right underneath his new dad who takes to the busy, uninviting streets in an effort to find him. Unfortunately relying on one glaring piece of convenience (massive points subtracted), the film still ably plays out its fast-paced twists and turns and suggests that in the face of such unrelenting malevolence, dammit, humane acts can still occur.

Pentecost (Ireland), written and directed by Peter McDonald. 11 year old Damian (Scott Graham) finds his rights as a Catholic Altar Boy revoked in the aftermath of an incense burner fiasco. This causes his father to implement a football (soccer) watching ban just as Damian’s beloved Liverpool squad is set to suit up for the Euro Cup finale. Egads! But the arrival of the archbishop will earn Damian the chance at a reprieve. McDonald’s eleven minute film takes that phrase which makes me want to gag for hours on end – “God doesn’t have time to care about sports” – and turns it on its head, delicately and hilariously showcasing how the rituals of the Catholic Church and the rituals of the Sporting Arena are stunningly similar. Yes, it’s rather overt and in your face with its execution (consider the pre-altar boy pep talk) but then the full-on Catholic Wedding Ceremony I attended at Old St. Pats in Chicago a couple years back and last weekend’s Super Bowl were pretty in your face too.

The Shore (United Kingdom), directed by Terry George. Featuring the most impressive pedigree of the lot, Jim (Ciaran Hinds) returns to Northern Ireland with his daughter (Kerry Condon) for the first time in 30 years and at her urging tracks down his long lost pal (Conleth Hill) who wound up married to the pretty gal (Maggie Cronin) Jim once loved. Serving up a great number of seriously splendid shots of the wind-whipped and immense Irish coastline, George’s film teases you, leading you to suspect something hostile is about to boil up and over after years of being repressed, only to instead undercut you by opting for a simpler and sweeter direction. It’s nice to see a film from Terry George that while still referencing “the troubles” doesn’t necessarily make them the overriding point.

Time Freak (United States), directed by Andrew Bowler. Imagine if George Costanza of Seinfeld invented a Time Machine. What do you reckon might happen? Much consternation over the idiocy of dry cleaners and pitiful attempts at small talk with an attractive woman taking precedence over, say, getting a glimpse of ancient Rome, wouldn’t you suspect? Although its acting is fairly wooden and it is by far the slightest of the quintet, it’s still an entertaining ten minute ride.

Tuba Atlantic (Norway), directed by Hallvar Witzo. Oskar (Edvard Hægstad) is told by his doctor he has a mere six days to live. The next morning an Angel of Death appears on his doorstep. No, not that Angel of Death, but a blonde teenager with braces (Ingrid Viken) who is literally, legitimately employed as an Angel of Death meant to aid in getting those on the verge of expiring through the crucial six-step grieving process. Oskar wants none of it, preferring to fire away at dastardly sea gulls with a machine gun. One thing he does want to do before the six days is up, however, is make peace with his brother, far away in New Jersey and apparently unreachable. The only way Oskar can think to sends his regards one final time is via a homemade contraption involving a tuba. At a length of 26 minutes it can occasionally and frustratingly just be bizarre when it’s attempting to resonate, but it still leaves you with a warmth in your heart that’s not at all gooey.

And so my “All Important” Oscar Endorsement goes to……Pentecost. Look, all these little films deserve recommendations in one way or another and you can take something away from each one, but for who I am and how I feel about things, well, Pentecost really kind of rocked. Go get that Oscar, Peter McDonald. I’m rooting for you.

HAVE YOU SEEN ANY OF THE LIVE ACTION SHORT NOMINEES? DO ANY OF THESE FILMS SOUND APPEALING TO YOU?