OVP: Best Live Action Short Film (2014)
The Nominees Were...
Oded Binnun and Mihal Brezis, Aya
Michael Lennox and Ronan Blaney, Boogaloo and Graham
Hu Wei and Julien Feret, Butter Lamp (La Lampe au Beurre de Yak)
Talkhon Hamzavi and Stefan Eichenberger, Parvaneh
Mat Kirkby and James Lucas, The Phone Call
My Thoughts: Continuing on in our look at the short film nominees of 2014 (see the bottom of this page for more short film contests, including 2014's Doc Short race), we're going to take a look at what is usually the hardest race to crack of the three-the race for Best Live Action Short film.
Like the documentary short films, we're going to begin with the first film presented by the fabulous ShortsHD team who put out these wonderful movies each year and take a look at Parvaneh, a Swiss film about a young Muslim girl who is trying to find a way to transfer money to her family in Afghanistan. The film itself is merely okay, and hardly worth the price of a nomination. I loved the look inside Switzerland (for our international readers, Americans usually get more travel information about France, Germany, and the UK than some of the more inland European countries), particularly their famous banking system. That being said, this is a pretty antiquated "worlds collide" sort of story that was far more popular in foreign films of the 1980's, and uncomfortably recalls The Intouchables (which, you may recall, I HATED). Parvaneh is too short to be that bad, but it's certainly not good.
Our second film, which is Butter Lamp, is easily the strangest Oscar-nominated film I've seen this year. The film itself is nothing more than a collection of quick snapshots at a variety of people. The movie is set up with just a photographer taking random photos of a number of Chinese families and couples behind select backdrops. The film feels more like an art piece than an actual movie, and is probably the least conventional film I've seen nominated for an Oscar since Dogtooth. That doesn't mean it's bad, though, by any means-it's wildly watchable, even if you continually wonder where it's going, and the ending, which juxtaposes the fake landscapes of modernity with the majesty of rural China feels like an "ohhh..." moment without spelling it out too loudly. Still, there's not a lot there except a clever idea and a strong ending, so I wouldn't select it for the trophy.
Not when you have something as special as The Phone Call coming for you. Every few years one of the short films stars someone you've actually heard of, and here we have Oscar nominee Sally Hawkins as a grief counselor named Heather trying to find a way to help a grieving widower in Jim Broadbent's Stan. The entire film plays like a thriller, with Heather trying find a way to save Stan, who is dying from a sleeping pill overdose, and we as the audience cannot quite tell whether or not she'll get there in the end. In reality, while the thriller aspect carries the film, it's the acting and the message that you remember. Hawkins in particular is just wonderful, with her plain Jane appeal and practiced note-taking and speaking. And I loved the message right up until the last few moments, as it really shows the importance of simple interactions that we have every day, and how much they can matter even when we don't know it. I didn't like the final frame, as it felt a little cheap and cloying, but overall this was a wonderful experience.
While Butter Lamp is on the surface the strangest of the films, the movie Aya may have been the oddest for my friend Liz who went to this screening with me, and I can feel why. We have two individuals that are randomly pushed together by one's rash decision: Overby (a pianist in Israel trying to go to a piano contest) and Aya (a woman who randomly decides to be his driver when a twist of fate leads to this confusion). The film is odd principally because Aya's motives are never properly revealed. We do learn that she has a life we didn't expect, but are these two playing a game, and in Aya's case in particular, does she float from reality to reality, never quite finding herself but being whatever others reflect on her (throughout the film I was expecting some sort of bizarre artistic reasoning behind the characters, much like Certified Copy with Juliette Binoche a few years ago)? They don't give enough impression for such credit to the film, though, and I think it may just be a strange woman who finds comfort with an odd soulmate on a highway. The film (along with the next one) is the film that feels like it could easily be expanded into a feature-length movie, for whatever that's worth.
The final film is thankfully a comedy (though none of these films have the depressing after taste of the documentary shorts), and we get a wonderful look at two young boys who get pet chickens named Boogaloo and Graham. The film is cute and a fluffy trifle compared with the next two films, but it's also insanely watchable, as the young boys have a frankness that is wonderfully-timed, and I loved Martin McCann as their father, both a complete softy for their sakes and really an adolescent at heart when it comes to his wife. Occasionally the film hints at the harsher reality of Ireland in the 1970's, but the win here is in the charming depiction of the family.
Like the documentary short films, we're going to begin with the first film presented by the fabulous ShortsHD team who put out these wonderful movies each year and take a look at Parvaneh, a Swiss film about a young Muslim girl who is trying to find a way to transfer money to her family in Afghanistan. The film itself is merely okay, and hardly worth the price of a nomination. I loved the look inside Switzerland (for our international readers, Americans usually get more travel information about France, Germany, and the UK than some of the more inland European countries), particularly their famous banking system. That being said, this is a pretty antiquated "worlds collide" sort of story that was far more popular in foreign films of the 1980's, and uncomfortably recalls The Intouchables (which, you may recall, I HATED). Parvaneh is too short to be that bad, but it's certainly not good.
Our second film, which is Butter Lamp, is easily the strangest Oscar-nominated film I've seen this year. The film itself is nothing more than a collection of quick snapshots at a variety of people. The movie is set up with just a photographer taking random photos of a number of Chinese families and couples behind select backdrops. The film feels more like an art piece than an actual movie, and is probably the least conventional film I've seen nominated for an Oscar since Dogtooth. That doesn't mean it's bad, though, by any means-it's wildly watchable, even if you continually wonder where it's going, and the ending, which juxtaposes the fake landscapes of modernity with the majesty of rural China feels like an "ohhh..." moment without spelling it out too loudly. Still, there's not a lot there except a clever idea and a strong ending, so I wouldn't select it for the trophy.
Not when you have something as special as The Phone Call coming for you. Every few years one of the short films stars someone you've actually heard of, and here we have Oscar nominee Sally Hawkins as a grief counselor named Heather trying to find a way to help a grieving widower in Jim Broadbent's Stan. The entire film plays like a thriller, with Heather trying find a way to save Stan, who is dying from a sleeping pill overdose, and we as the audience cannot quite tell whether or not she'll get there in the end. In reality, while the thriller aspect carries the film, it's the acting and the message that you remember. Hawkins in particular is just wonderful, with her plain Jane appeal and practiced note-taking and speaking. And I loved the message right up until the last few moments, as it really shows the importance of simple interactions that we have every day, and how much they can matter even when we don't know it. I didn't like the final frame, as it felt a little cheap and cloying, but overall this was a wonderful experience.
While Butter Lamp is on the surface the strangest of the films, the movie Aya may have been the oddest for my friend Liz who went to this screening with me, and I can feel why. We have two individuals that are randomly pushed together by one's rash decision: Overby (a pianist in Israel trying to go to a piano contest) and Aya (a woman who randomly decides to be his driver when a twist of fate leads to this confusion). The film is odd principally because Aya's motives are never properly revealed. We do learn that she has a life we didn't expect, but are these two playing a game, and in Aya's case in particular, does she float from reality to reality, never quite finding herself but being whatever others reflect on her (throughout the film I was expecting some sort of bizarre artistic reasoning behind the characters, much like Certified Copy with Juliette Binoche a few years ago)? They don't give enough impression for such credit to the film, though, and I think it may just be a strange woman who finds comfort with an odd soulmate on a highway. The film (along with the next one) is the film that feels like it could easily be expanded into a feature-length movie, for whatever that's worth.
The final film is thankfully a comedy (though none of these films have the depressing after taste of the documentary shorts), and we get a wonderful look at two young boys who get pet chickens named Boogaloo and Graham. The film is cute and a fluffy trifle compared with the next two films, but it's also insanely watchable, as the young boys have a frankness that is wonderfully-timed, and I loved Martin McCann as their father, both a complete softy for their sakes and really an adolescent at heart when it comes to his wife. Occasionally the film hints at the harsher reality of Ireland in the 1970's, but the win here is in the charming depiction of the family.
Other Precursor Contenders: The Academy releases a shortlist of the films eligible for this award so we know that Bahdad Messi, Carry On, My Father's Truck, SLR, and Summer Vacation were all relatively close to being on this list. The BAFTA Awards oddly doubled-up with a nomination here (they usually don't), as Boogaloo and Graham won the trophy over Emotional Fusebox, Slap, The Karman Line, and The Brothers.
Films I Would Have Nominated: Sadly they don't put short films before films with regularity anymore (don't you wish they did?) and so I don't get to see enough nominees to complain.
Oscar’s Choice: After last year I'm loathe to speculate (Just Before Losing Everything is the best short film I've ever seen in all of my years of watching these movies...and that includes docs, animated, and live action), but I suspect that the star power of The Phone Call will separate it from the pack in a similar way to The Shore a few years back.
My Choice: Quite certainly The Phone Call-it might not be perfect, but it comes the closest. I'll follow with the wonderfully cute Boogaloo and Graham, and then Butter Lamp, Aya, and Parvaneh.
Those are my thoughts-what are yours? Did you see these films, and if so, who did you cheer for? Share in the comments!
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