Heavy on tragedy again - 2025 live action shorts

Like last year, the live action shorts were mostly dominated by a sense of tragedy, both past and present, with one bit of comedy (albeit dark) and a sliver of light that eventually shone through the pain. One of the best themes that stretched across almost all of the nominees was that of uncertainty; leaving their endings largely ambiguous and allowing the viewers to fill in the blanks, whether obvious or not.

The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent- This is a Croatian film about the Štrpci Massacre, where a Serbian paramilitary unit abducted multiple Bosnian Muslims and one Croatian from a train in what is now Bosnia-Herzegovina, beat them, and eventually executed them in 1993, during the height of the Yugoslav disintegration conflicts. At the center of the story is Tomo Buzov (Dragan Mićanović), a retired army officer who was the only passenger who tried to confront the attackers and was taken away with the rest of their targets and killed as a consequence. I enjoyed this one and the careful cinematography that kept the confusion of the passengers highlighted and the uncertainty about both what was happening and the subsequent events that everyone assumed would be happening. I did think it was too short, but still effective in the delivery of its story.

Anuja- This was an American-Indian production about two young sisters who work in a garment factory in Delhi. The younger one, Anuja (Sajda Pathan), has a talent for math that the local educator is aware of and he tries to convince her to take the national test which will get her placed in school and off the street but, of course, leave her sister behind. There's a significant amount of emotional weight behind this one, as the audience (and the characters) know the best choice for Anuja but also understand her circumstances and those of her sister, Palak (Ananya Shabhag) and how it might feel to "betray" the most important person in your life. There ends up being a fairly positive message here, despite its rather dire setting, but this is also one of those that left the ending vague so that the central element of the plot- choosing how and whether to better oneself, even while those closest won't benefit -is still there for the audience to consider.

I'm Not a Robot- This is a Dutch entry and Dutch language film, despite the presence of a heavy dose of English technical language. Lara (Ellen Parren) is a music producer who gets locked out of her system and has to take several CAPTCHA tests to reenter. Said tests lead her to a conclusion about her humanity in very Blade Runner-esque fashion, which her boyfriend, Daniel (Henry van Loon), grudgingly confesses to. The rest of the story is about Lara trying to convince everyone, including herself, that she's not what they (and she) all think she is. It's a black comedy, but it is a comedy and was hugely entertaining, not only for its modern relevance to Internet security foibles, but because it pointedly asks similar questions to Blade Runner: What makes us human? Like most of the rest, the ending is also somewhat ambiguous, when Lara takes the final (ahem) step toward proving her point and perhaps discovers that she wasn't as right as she thought she was. I really enjoyed this one, not least for its SF elements and comparison to the best SF film ever made. Probably my favorite.

A Lien- This is an American film and probably the most poignantly-timed of the nominees, given the American fascists that have taken control of the government and their draconian concept about immigration and who actually qualifies as a citizen. Oscar (William Martinez), his wife, Sophia (Victoria Ratermanis), and daughter, Nina (Koralyn Rivera) are attempting to get Oscar's green card processing completed. Of course, showing up at the immigration office to complete said paperwork also makes one an easy target to be apprehended by ICE just for trying to comply with the law. As with so many people in Oscar's circumstances, his situation is complicated by having been brought here as a child but, having a established a career, a family, and a life here, the possibility of being sent "back" to a nation that he has no memory of and has no foundation in is exactly as traumatic as it sounds for everyone involved. Except ICE and the fascists, of course. This one is played quite well by the whole cast and I expect that its timeliness will gain it enough votes to be considered the winner, which is, like so many things involving immigration, no genuine crime. Due credit for the nice wordplay of the title, too.

The Last Ranger- The main topic of this one- protecting animals from poaching -is close to my heart, so that won me over almost instantly. But it's also a great depiction of the dangers and struggles involved with being an anti-poaching ranger in sub-Saharan Africa, not least because it's based on a true story about a young girl who accompanied a couple rangers into the field and was present when poachers attacked a white rhino and those rangers. It centers largely around Litha (Liyabana Mroqoza), a young Xhosa girl, who is fascinated by the rhinos and holds the passion for protecting animals that most young humans do and takes it one step further by wanting to understand the ranger mindset of her friend, Khuselwa (Avumile Qongqo.) This one was perhaps loaded with more anguish and tragedy than any of the rest of them on the face of it, but also ended with the most upbeat message of all of them, so wins the prize for meeting both extremes. It's also very possible that this one could walk away with the trophy.

All in all, a good batch. There were none that any of us walked away thinking of as a waste of time or that somehow didn't measure up to the rest in at least some fashion. Next up, animation.

Tragedy, before and after, with a dose of whimsy: 2024 Oscar-nominated Live Action shorts

The next category, which we actually saw first, was Live Action. As noted earlier, in general, this was the better overall collection of films which, IIRC, is similar to last year.

The After- The film tells the story of a businessman who sees both his wife and child murdered in front of him and how he lives in the aftermath (hence, the title.) First off, it's a great performance by David Oyelowo, whom I'm most familiar with from Star Wars: Rebels of all things, as the voice of Agent Kallus. He's been in small parts in a number of films I've seen, but now that I've seen this performance, I think I'm going to seek out some of his starring work. But his performance was the strongest part of the film, as the scenario to enact the plot was bordering on the hard-to-believe (the UK, having sane gun laws, doesn't have nearly the ease with which a double murder could occur in the US, as we are just days away from that most American of events: a mass shooting at a Super Bowl parade.) After that, the story simply shows Dayo (Oyelowo) living life as a rideshare driver and listening to his clients get on with the various travails of their lives that don't even approach the anguish that he's experienced and don't provide him any progress toward dealing with his grief until his last job, which then initiates a breakthrough... which they then completely spoil by switching the subtle score to a pop song that's somehow supposed to embody this man's grief. It utterly ruined the moment for me and took away all the energy that Oyelowo's work had generated. This was my least favorite of the set, but still worth the time to see.

Red, White and Blue- In immediate contrast, this was easily the best of the night for me. Written and directed by Nazrin Choudhury, it's a very timely episode about a single mother in Arkansas searching for an abortion provider and having to find money and time to travel to Missouri to find one. Like The Barber of Little Rock (also in Arkansas, appropriately enough), it's a great rendition of the economic realities that many people in this country face and whom have their lives affected by the callous decisions of others working in the name of ardent ideology and social control which have far-reaching effects that they either don't know, don't care about or are, of course, the point. Brittany Snow is excellent as Rachel and the film demonstrates not just the emotional anguish and economic desperation that she endures, but also the often demeaning circumstances by which she's surviving the "American Dream." It's an evident political statement, as well, not least when Rachel makes it to a clinic without an appointment and says that she's traveled all the way from Arkansas and the nurse at the front desk waves a hand at the crowded waiting room and says: "You and all the rest of them from THAT state." There are, as always, a multiplicity of two Americas; one set defined by money, another by race, and yet another by political boundaries between the 21st century states and those still dominated by 19th-century thought (and misogyny, which is even worse than the 21st century version.) This was the most effective dramatic punch of the night and one that will probably last the longest with many viewers.

Knight of Fortune- Continuing the theme of tragedy, this film is about a recent widower, Karl (a brilliant Leif Andrée) having to confront the viewing of his wife in the local morgue. While there, Karl encounters Torben (the also excellent Jens Jørn Spottag), another widower who asks Karl for help with his own efforts of viewing and through his grief who ends up leading him on a much more involved experience than Karl expected. Along the way, they're frequently in the company of the mortuary porter (Jesper Lohmann) whom, although he says he's seen it all, probably hasn't seen much like this. Despite the overall theme of tragedy, there are enough lighthearted moments throughout the story that it's almost impossible to come away from the film without feeling like you've experienced something genuinely uplifting. There's wonderful attention to detail, as well, in things like the fact that Andrée is a Swedish actor and so speaks Swedish, while Spottag is Danish and, thus, speaks that language and they have to take a moment to assure each other that they're saying the same appropriate things in these trying circumstances. It's obviously much more relevant if you know those languages and live in those countries, but this is a Danish film. Andrée's face when they have a close encounter with another family in a viewing room is something I'm going to remember for a long time. Wonderfully acted and a great short story, this was my second favorite of the evening.

Invincible- Based on a true story, Invincible presents the circumstances of Marc-Antoine Bernier (Léokim Beaumier-Lépine), a teenager with some prominent mental health issues in a youth detention center in Canada. Allowed weekend furloughs with his somewhat distant parents, the intense young man finds even the rather loose constraints of the center (can wear their own clothing, are taken to outside recreation like swimming pools, etc.) so confining that he continually acts out and brings the hand of the administration down upon himself.. This yearning for a greater freedom than even outside life can provide becomes most evident when an instructor reads aloud the poem that he's written in class. I've felt that urge for something different that's indefinable and just beyond one's grasp and the frustration that it brings with it, so this character resonated with me quite a bit. The fact that his parents mirrored mine in their almost complete indifference to the unique identity that is their son until he does something wrong also struck me as quite familiar. The film continues with the overall theme of the night and is a solid entry for the trophy, even if overshadowed by some of the others. I'd be interested to see more of Beaumier-Lépine's work.

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar- The final entry is the one that had both the blockbuster writer and director (Wes Anderson) and the equally prominent cast (Benedict Cumberbatch, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes, Dev Patel, among others.) As I mentioned a few months back, this immediately struck me as another collection of actors "dying to be in a Wes Anderson", so here was their opportunity. It's also the second time that Anderson has adapted a Roald Dahl work (Fantastic Mr. Fox), although this story was even more suited to Anderson's usual approach than the previous. As I'm an Anderson fan, you'd think this would have been my favorite, but like I mentioned those few months ago, I'm to the point where what I'm seeing from him no longer seems original and this was no different. I think it ran too long for what it was trying to do and, although it was funny in his usual whimsical style, also felt rather repetitive by the end. I really appreciated Patel's narration of much of the story and his constant breaking of the fourth wall to demonstrate that narration ("What other ways? [looks at audience], I said.") The production values were the highest of the set, by far, because it had the most money and star power behind it, so it seems like it's a heavyweight in a lightweight competition and, as much as I enjoyed it, it still didn't have the impact that RWB and Knight had for me.

My assumption is that the trophy goes to Henry Sugar because of that star power and production value, but I still think Red, White and Blue was the best of a very good lot. We'll finish off tomorrow with Animation.