Review: Oscar Live Action shorts demonstrate the range of possibilities (Includes first-hand account)
The five films nominated by the Academy Awards in the Live Action Short category have very little in common beyond their quality. They vary in length, subject, language and origin, but tell equally captivating stories that capture some aspect or moment of humanity in a unique or touching situation.
In Aya, a woman waits for someone at an Israeli airport when a driver asks her to hold his sign while he moves his car. When the driver’s passenger arrives before her own, she arbitrarily pretends to be his driver. They have lunch and share an intimate car ride imbued with awkward and revealing conversation. There is a strange, romantic element to their encounter as dusk turns to night and their uncomfortable dialogue turns to hesitant flirting. The young woman proves more mysterious as she compares their peculiar circumstances to a childhood game and conceals her real purpose for being at the airport — a reveal that’s shaded in more suspicion than expected.
French-Chinese co-production, Butter Lamp (La Lampe au Beurre de Yak), is reminiscent of the documentary Manakamana, which unobtrusively chronicled people’s pilgrimages to a temple as they sat practically oblivious opposite the camera. In this short film that resembles a mockumentary, a Chinese photographer positions Tibetan families from a remote village in front of various artificial backdrops and takes what is often their first ever picture. He has countless props and “modern” costumes so they can blend in with the backgrounds — an effort to transport them from their daily lives that is contrary to the usual approach in these areas. In the end the irony of his labours is so shrewdly and distinctly acknowledged, it boosts the value of the rest of the film.
The Phone Call is a brilliant story featuring Sally Hawkins and Jim Broadbent. She portrays a volunteer at a crisis centre who receives a call from an older man in the middle of his suicide. She attempts to follow protocol while trying to comfort the caller and convince him to seek assistance; never panicking or becoming frustrated by his obstinacy. It’s one of the most powerful 20-minute conversations as they make a connection in what could be the final moments of his life, however brief and superficial it may be in the end. And even though it sounds rather depressing, the movie wants viewers to see there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
