Review of the Oscar-Nominated, Live-Action Shorts (2012)

I was listening to Colorado Public Radio a couple of weeks ago when their film critic, Howie Movshovitz, called me out with the following line:  “For the most part, it seems to me that many people say they love short films until they actually have the chance to see them.”  Howie was right.  I like short films but never go to them.  This format deserves respect and attention so that night I walked down to the Mayan Theater to see the Oscar-Nominated, Live-Action Shorts.  I wasn’t disappointed.

Five films were nominated.  The first to screen was a Belgian film, Death of a Shadow.  It’s a fantasy about the soul of a dead soldier from World War I, who has been captured by a mysterious, soul collector.  In order to gain his freedom, the soldier must capture 1000 other souls for the collector at the moment of their deaths.  While ticking of these souls, the soldier is also searching for a lost love, who he met only briefly before he died.

While the story didn’t really speak to me, I was impressed with the look of the film.  Computer generated images were heavily and effectively used to create this surreal world where life and death intersect.  The production value was extremely high and I was amazed that such a large budget would be devoted to a 20-minute movie.

The second short was a poignant film called Henry from Canada.  It’s the story of an old man’s sad and disturbing slide into dementia.  Life’s events continue to unfold around him; the death of his wife, his confinement in a nursing home but Henry’s failing mind is unable to produce the new memories that would give him his bearings.  His dementia leaves him and his daughter to suffer the ravages of this cruel disease.

Henry had the feel of an intensely personal project.  I wouldn’t be surprised if the filmmaker, Yan England, has or had someone close to him afflicted with dementia.

The third film Curfew was the pick of the bunch for me.  It begins with the protagonist having just slit his wrist when the phone rings.  His estranged sister is on the line.  Her abusive relationship with the man in her life has left her in the lurch.  She has no to take care of her pre-teen daughter except her untrustworthy brother.  He agrees to help her out, bandages up his wrist and goes to look after his neice.  The time he spends with this amazing kid begins the process of reconnecting him to her, his sister and to life.

What really makes this succinct film go is the performance of 12-year-old Fátima Ptacek.  She moves through the movie with panache and bravado.  This young actress gives a pitch-perfect performance as the New York City kid from a troubled home who’s had to grow up too fast but still longs for the security of a loving family.

The forth film is Buzkashi Boys.  It’s about best friends growing up in Kabul, Afghanistan.  Rafi is the son of a blacksmith.  Ahmad is an orphan, who ekes out a living on the streets asking motorists for alms in exchange for blessings.  

The film is a reminder that normal life goes on even in a country that has been devastated by more than three decades of war.  Anyone who had a best friend growing up can relate to Rafi and Ahmad’s relationship.

The final film is Asad.  Set on the Coast of Somalia, a young boy must decide whether to be a poor but honest fisherman or to become a pirate like many of the young men in his war-torn village.

The extraordinary thing about this sweet story is that the actors are all Somali refugees.  Despite having their lives and careers turned upside down by the need to escape their struggling country, these thespians still find the time and opportunity to do what they love.

The Oscar-Nominated, Live-Action Shorts are still showing at the Mayan Theater and are well worth seeing.  Short films are not made with the idea that they’re going to earn a lot of money or even great recognition.  They’re made because people love making films and have a story that they feel compelled to share.

Life of Pi Highlights the Possibilities and Limits of CGI

Ang Lee’s Life of Pi, if nothing else, shows us what can and cannot be done well with computer-generated imagery.  The film is an adaptation of Yann Martel’s wildly popular 2001 novel.  It tells the story of a young man, Pi (Suraj Sharma), who becomes lost at sea on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker.

The story is told in flashbacks by Pi as he recounts his harrowing tale to a young writer.  It begins with his childhood in Pondicherry, India where his father was the owner of the city’s zoo.  Young Pi has a happy childhood in which he explores the mysteries of Christianity and Islam as well as his own Hindu faith.  

As Pi approaches adulthood, his father decides to sell the zoo and move the family to Canada.  They set out by ship with their animals.  One night out in the Pacific, the ship encounters a storm and sinks.  Pi manages to reach a lifeboat and is seemingly the only human survivor.  The next morning, he discovers that the lifeboat has other passengers.  In addition to the lame zebra that leapt onto to boat with him, there’s also Richard Parker and a nasty hyena.  The group grows to five when an orangutan is picked up off of floating debris.

The number of passengers quickly dwindles as carnage ensues on the small vessel.  Soon only Pi and Richard Parker remain.  The two develop an uneasy truce as they settle in for their long struggle for survival.  They drift for weeks on the vast Pacific, enduring many hardships but they eventually reach the Mexican cost.  Richard Parker staggers off into the forest while Pi is rescued by local fishermen.

There’s a twist in the tale at the conclusion of the story, which throws much of what happened before into doubt.  In the end, all we know for sure is that Pi survived and instead of being embittered by his agonizing journey, he maintains his hope and optimism.

I don’t recall ever seeing so much computer-generated imagery in a live-action film before.  One could probably make the argument that Life of Pi is actually an animated film with live footage.  Richard Parker is of course animated, as is much of the mighty Pacific Ocean and its inhabitants.  The CG is very well executed.  I found myself constantly straining to figure out where the actual footage ended and the CG began.  Despite coming from a photography background and being loyal to the old ways of creating moving images, I have to admit that this film is visually impressive.

Where the movie falls down is in it’s emotional content.  The sensitive and skilled Lee tried to evoke feeling from the relationship between Pi and Richard Parker but it didn’t come off for me.  I believe this is due to the limitations of an on-screen relationship in which one of the parties is a computer-generated image and a feline one at that.  Perhaps a more talented and experienced actor could have pulled it off.  I’m reminded of the relationship that Tom Hanks’ character formed with a volleyball in Cast Away but ultimately I think it’s too heavy a load for the human character to carry alone.

In conclusion, I’m heartened by Life of Pi.  Not only is it an uplifting story of perseverance in the face of great adversity but it also leaves me confident that there will always be a desire to see real actors photographed in film.