Even though Aguel No Era Yo (That
Wasn't Me) is a Spanish film, most of its action takes place in Africa
and much of its dialogue is in English, making it perhaps the most
international of the five nominees. Two doctors/medical aid workers and their
guide are taken prisoner in an unnamed African country by a group of boy
soldiers and their leader, the General. Most of the boys are in the General's
"army" because they have apparently been orphaned in ongoing civil
violence against the government, and they have fallen under the spell of a man
who has taken over the role of stern father figure who pumps them up with
claims of future glory and reward. The sequence of events involving and
following the kidnapping is quite harrowing to watch. Part of the film is set
years after the kidnapping, as one of the boy soldiers, "Corporal"
Kaney, recounts for a school assembly what his experiences were like and how he
had to disassociate himself psychologically to do some of the brutal actions
that he did. This is a very intriguing film about an issue that deserves great
attention, and it could easily be expanded into a full length film.
The longest short—yes, I realize how oxymoronic that
sounds—Is the French film Avant Que de Tout Perdre (Just
Before Losing Everything). It concerns the attempt by Miriam, a department
store clerk, to escape with her two children from an abusive relationship. That
they are on the run is not apparent until about ten minutes into this
thirty-minute gem of a movie. We can sense that something stressful is
happening as Miriam picks up her son Julien, who is skipping school, and her
daughter Josephine, who is distraught over having to leave her boyfriend. After
she arrives at the store and tries to get some of her salary in order to have
money to leave, Miriam and her daughter and son face a series of
tension-building moments. One of the most intriguing aspects of this short is
its ability to delineate sharply the different personalities of Miriam's
co-workers. It's a masterful film, full of strong performances and depth of
characterization.
Helium is a touching film about the
friendship between Enzo, a hospital janitor, and Alfred, a terminally ill
little boy whose room Enzo cleans. After sensing Alfred's fear of death, Enzo
begins telling the boy about a place called Helium, an obvious allegory for
Heaven but one which uses the boy's love of airships and hot air balloons to
comfort him. This Danish film depicts the make-believe world of Helium in
enchanting detail; it reminded me at times of a sunnier, sparklier version of
those islands in the air of Avatar.
Enzo enlists the help of one of Alfred's nurses so that he can tell Alfred the
entire story that he's made up, and the final shot is quite touching.
Pitaako Mun Kaikki Hoitaa? (Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?) clocks in at just about seven minutes long, but it manages to pack in a lot of action in that brief period. This Finnish film shows the frantic preparations a family makes to get to a wedding on time. Almost everything goes wrong from the moment that they fail to wait up when the alarm clock rings. My favorite moment occurs when the two daughters, after their mother has told them to put on the kinds of clothes people wear to parties (because the nice dresses they were going to wear the wedding are still in the washing machine), emerge dressed as a witch and as Pippi Longstocking. It's a cute but rather insubstantial film.
The Voorman Problem is the only one of the films with international star power. Martin Freeman, taking a break from his Hobbit duties, portrays a psychiatrist called to a prison to examine the title character played by Tom Hollander. Voorman claims that he is a god or the God, and Freeman's Dr. Williams must determine whether or not to have the prisoner declared insane before he causes a riot among the inmates who have started to accept Voorman's claims. A lot of this short is just Freeman and Hollander (usually confined by a straitjacket) talking across a table, but there are a couple of moments that flesh out Dr. Williams' life outside the prison walls, and there are several contemporary references that date the events being depicted. It's a clever enough film, I suppose, but it coasts primarily on the charm of its two lead actors, and the twist at the end is not as surprising as the filmmakers might have expected it to be.
Oscar Winner: Helium. This is a heartfelt film that displays a great deal of tenderness toward the boy and his fears of dying. Handling such delicate subject matter requires a difficult balancing act, and this short film is always honest in its depictions of what the boy and the janitor are experiencing.
My Choice: Either Aguel No Era Yo and Avant Que de Tout Perdre. Both are fully developed, fully realized stories that are gripping and intense. I'd have a tough time choosing between them, given that they are both quite polished work and deal with important subject matter (maybe that should be Important Subject Matter) in such an emotional yet sincere way. I'd probably give a slight edge to the French film because the characters are so well written and realistic in their actions.
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