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| Friday, February 22, 2008 06:32 PM |
| On the Viewer - Oscar Nominated Animated Shorts |
 by Fëanor |
For the past week or so, the Ritz at the Bourse in Philadelphia has been running screenings of some of this year's Academy Award nominated shorts, split into two programs - one consisting of the five animated shorts, the other of the five live action shorts. It's a really cool idea, because otherwise it's usually very hard to see the nominated short films. When they come up during the Oscars, I'm usually intrigued but have never heard of any of them. Now poppy and I will have at least a bit of an idea what's going on, because we went and saw the animated shorts last weekend. Check out my brief reviews of all of them below.
Even Pigeons Go to Heaven
This is a French short, apparently done using some sort of computer animation, that opens up with the driver of a car and the driver of a motorcycle receiving a call at about the same time and racing off toward a small house. The car forces the motorcycle off the road, and the driver, dressed as a priest, arrives at the house just in time to save an old man inside from falling while reaching for something on a high shelf. The priest then attempts to sell the old man a machine for getting to heaven, but the story takes a couple more amusing twists - even after the credits have started rolling - before finally finishing up.
This one is darkly funny and clever, and ends up being a rather biting satire of the Christian Church and the priesthood, treating the whole insitution as nothing more than a big scam. It's about life, death, religion, and greed, and it's quite good.
My Love
This is a Russian short by director Aleksandr Petrov, apparently based on a novel, and was animated by painting on glass, if I understand correctly. The story is about a young man who, after reading a novel, falls in love with love, and finds himself torn between his duelling passions for the simple, lovely, happy girl who is his family's maid, and for the mysterious, upper class lady who lives next door. But his idea of love - a noble, special thing made of poetry and perfection - doesn't stand up well against the physical reality.
The film is visually impressive, and consists of colors swirling into recognizable forms and then swirling on into something else, shifting from reality to dream to hallucination with ease and rapidity. But the story itself is a melodramatic, soap operatic thing told from the perspective of, and with the words of, an adolescent boy, so it's not particularly imaginative or very good. Can't say I really enjoyed this movie very much.
Madame Tutli-Putli
Next up was this beautiful, eerie, imaginative short film out of Canada which definitely would have been my favorite if it weren't for the slightly puzzling and unsatisfying ending. And actually, as it is, it still might be my favorite. It's done using an incredibly realistic (although also rather surreal) stop-motion animation technique. A woman boards a train with an enormous amount of baggage. Once she's finally settled in a compartment with all the baggage surrounding her, she proceeds to examine her fellow passengers. In the night, mysterious thieves board the train and steal much more than just luggage. And as the woman stumbles after them, it becomes clear that this is much more than just a train.
There are many stunning visuals in this film, and a great deal of imagination obviously went into it. The woman is so life-like it's almost disturbing, and even the train seems alive, like some cyborg animal. The thieves hanging in the wires above the train; the moose standing oblivious on the tracks as the vehicle flames down those same tracks towards it; the men sitting in their suitcases playing a game of chess whose moves are dictated by the jostling of the train - it's all amazing stuff. But what exactly is the film about? Probably it's about death. The woman's baggage seems to be a metaphor for all her earthly possessions. As day turns into night, she is stripped of these possessions, and of all companionship. A moth that keeps bothering her finally leads her into a glowing white light, and seems to transform her into a winged, angelic creature. After that the film just kind of trails off. Now that I think back on it the metaphor for death seems rather clear, but it's also a bit of a cliche. Still, it is altogether a fine film.
I Met the Walrus
This is a very short film with a very simple premise: the audio is an interview with John Lennon, and the visuals illustrate his words. The interview took place in 1969, and the interviewer was a 14-year-old Beatle fanatic who snuck into Lennon's hotel room in Toronto with a reel-to-reel tape deck and convinced Lennon to talk to him. His questions are mostly surprisingly smart, Lennon's answers are always fascinating, and the visuals that accompany his words are always clever and funny, offering a layer of references and commentary that really add a lot to the film as a whole. It's not a great film, but it is quite cute and very enjoyable.
Peter & the Wolf
This is a wordless, stop-motion animated retelling of Prokofiev's famous story. Despite the fact that it is famous, I was not particularly familiar with it, but after reading a summary, I have to say the film is pretty faithful, although it does update things a bit (the movie is set in modern times), and add a very interesting conclusion that develops a deep connection and sympathy between Peter and the wolf. Peter is locked in by his grandfather to keep him safe from the wolf, and when at the end Peter sees the wolf locked up in the same way, they finally understand each other, and Peter releases the animal. It's a really powerful ending, and the connection between the two characters is made clear from the beginning by having Peter's eyes resemble those of the wolf. The animation is impressive throughout, and all the characters have a lot of personality. The middle section of the film is full of classic physical comedy very similar to that seen in traditional Looney Tunes, but a sudden and shocking act of violence (or at least, shocking to someone not familiar with the story) shifts things onto a new level of seriousness and solemnity. It's really a moving and effective coming-of-age story, and a great film. In fact, I'd say it's probably the best of the nominees. But really they're all quite good, and I'll be interested to see which one wins the Oscar this weekend. |
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