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| Helium |
The first offering in the programme, Helium (Dir. Anders Walter; Denmark, 23 min.), is a touching story about teaching a child about death and the afterlife. Alfred (Pelle Falk Krusbæk) is a young boy with terminal illness. He asks the janitor, Enzo (Casper Crump), a clumsy man tasked with cleaning Alfred’s room on his first day of work, the story of “helium.” Enzo, sensing the child’s uncertainty in the next step of his life, regales him with fanciful stories about the faraway land of Helium. It sounds like a nice place for escape. Enzo is right and Helium is a great escape for how subtly and lovingly it uses the power of the imagination to harness closure and catharsis. The small touch of fantasy that pops-up at the end of this otherwise soberly realistic drama reminds viewers of the power of storytelling—both as a visual art and as a medium to convey ideas too difficult to put into words. The closing shot of Helium is a delicate, touching, and bittersweet nod to the imaginative flights that connect us all.
The refined fantastical finale of Helium offers a fine segue to the loony The Voorman Problem (Dir.
Martin Gill; UK, 13 min.). I caught The
Voorman Problem back at the CFC Worldwide Short Film Festival in 2012
whilst reviewing the “Celebrity Shorts” programme and it barely earned a passing mention aside from a
Clarice Starling joke. (It screened with strong goodies like Pitch Black Heist and Friend Request Pending starring Michael
Fassbender and Judi Dench, respectively.) The
Voorman Problem improves upon subsequent viewings, though, for Gill brings a
strange twist of droll humour to this farfetched farce starring Martin Freeman
and Tom Hollander. Talky and far less visually engaging than the other four
nominees in the programme, though, The
Voorman Problem relies heavily on the underplayed comedic chops of its two
stars to keep the one-note joke going for thirteen minutes. The benefit of a
one-note joke in a short film, however, is that it plays itself out
tremendously well before it loses steam.
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| Just Before Losing Everything |
The Oscar Live Action shorts programme then changes gears
dramatically for the riveting domestic drama Just Before Losing Everything /
Avant que de tout perdre (Dir. Xavier Legrand; France, 29 min.). An exceptionally
executed film starring Léa Drucker as Miriam, a woman on the run with her two
children, Just Before Losing Everything
is just about perfect. Writer/director Xavier Legrand deftly unfolds the story
by revealing and telling as little as possible. It’s a film in which silence
and pauses—both awkward and anxious—twist the viewer in a mesmerising story of
domestic violence and the need to escape. The laudably understated screenplay
delivers a story that is completely believable both for the way characters
discuss domestic violence with an elusive awkwardness style and for the way such
subtlety is necessary when children are caught in the centre of said violence. From
the flawless performances of the ensemble including Drucker, Denis Ménochet (In the House) and Mijan Chatelaine, to
the tense lingering cinematography by Nathalie Durand and the suspenseful editing by Yorgos Lamprinos, Legrand’s film is
a taut feat of cinema. Just Before Losing
Everything is nothing short of a masterpiece.
Not quite in the league of a masterpiece, however, is the
fourth film in the programme, That Wasn’t Me / Aquel no era yo (Dir.
Esteban Crespo; Spain, 24 min.). That
Wasn’t Me, which won the Goya (Spain’s equivalent of the Oscar), has its
heart in the right place, but it never quite shakes off the whiff of moralising
that oozes out of its story about a Spanish doctor held at the mercy of child
soldiers. Strong production and an impressive opening half make That Wasn’t Me two-thirds of a worthy nominee.
The film tells a tale of redemption as it crosscuts between past and present,
and the back-and-forth energy builds an increasingly ludicrous drama in the past
narrative while the feel-good speech in the present thread nearly culminates in
a pat on the back for the crusading foreigner who lets the film fly off the
rails with her unconvincing actions. It’s a well-done film nevertheless, both
in the execution its tense story and its sensitive subject matter, yet it
ultimately feels self-congratulatory for a film that starts so boldly.
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| Do I Have to Take Care of Everything? |
The Live Action Shorts programme then lets the audience come
up for air after the tense interval of Just Before Losing Everything and That
Wasn’t Me. Do I Have to Take Care of Everything? / Pitääkö mun kaikki hoitaa?
(Dir. Selma Vilhunen; Finland, 7 min.) is a hilarious farce of Murphy’s Law
that sees a beleaguered wife and mother (Joanna Harrtti) ready her family for a
wedding one chaotic morning. Vilhunen explodes the situational humour and
delivers one amusing slice-of-life gag after another. The control of the film
couldn’t be better, as this brisk comedy, which plays like a blow-for-blow
between Harrtti and Santtu Karvonen as her husband, is refreshing, relatable
humour. The comedic timing Vilhunen displays in the editing brings the film to
life with a zany energy. (She cut the film herself.) This fun romp brings the
Oscar shorts to a strong finale.
Best short: If I
could cast an Oscar ballot, my vote would go to Just Before Losing Everything.
The Oscar Live Action
Shorts are available on iTunes.
They screen in Ottawa
at The ByTowne March 21-24.
