About five years ago, my dear friend and frequent movie companion put his total trust in me, and we went to see the animated (almost silent save for a few lines in Gaelic) French-Scottish film, The Illusionist (L’Illusionniste, 2010). I’ve never lived it down. Today, he indicated that we’d hit a new low.
😉 Okay, so not completely. These are, after all, the animated short films. So the most we had to sit through any was about sixteen minutes. (We lasted through the entire The Illusionist; we both kept thinking, “surely this is going to get better.” (The Illusionist still has a 90% Rotten Tomatoes score; But damned if either of us ever knew why.)) And much like last year (it wasn’t until the first short started that I leaned over to tell him that one friend who attended the animated shorts with me last year hasn’t seen another film with me since), these offer a vast range of styles, material, and animation styles. The pieces are odd, inspiring, bizarre, funny, and heartwarming. And as I said to my companion: “These are perfect for a short attention span.” (It was true; we had the hardest time even recalling what the first one was as we stood in the parking lot afterwards, which is awful considering it was one of my favorites.)
My favorite last year won the golden statue (Feast). This year, I’m having a hard time choosing between my favorite two. We’ll find out in a week which among the five contenders wins the Oscar.
The shorts begin with an offering from Pixar, Sanjay’s Super Team (U.S.). I adored this film, and it is one of my top two choices. It had not only beautiful (well, of course, it’s Pixar) animation, but the story’s depth was lovely, its heart warm, and its father-son relationship inspiring. The film, without dialogue, covers the issues between this devoutly religious Hindu father and superhero-obsessed young son. When dad wants son to respect his religion and practice in their rituals of praying, son, of course, drifts off, daydreaming. But he does so by intertwining his beloved superhero with those Hindu gods. Dad, noting son’s disinterest, gives up. What follows is the most heartwarming moments of all the films. And if a parent can be open enough to allow his child to see his religion in those terms, then that’s a pretty good parent in my book. (The writer, Indian, is shown during the credits with his father. I wonder if American audiences could accept the piece if told with a Christian slant. I’m sure there have been superhero/Christina themed cartoons in the past (?), but I wonder if today’s climate can appreciate this openness. Personally, I think the ideal framing would take Sanjay’s story and tell it side by side with all religion’s structures, showing how they all serve the same purpose, and all, at their heart, share love and kindness. Ah, I know. I sometimes ask for too much.)
The second offering left me particularly puzzled: World of Tomorrow (U.S.) (which I still call Emily Prime). I knew I’d seen it before, but surely it couldn’t have been played as a part of last year’s shorts, even if only commended. Ah, on investigation, I discovered it was part of the Sundance Film Festival Short Film Tour, which I saw back in September. My observation of this piece hasn’t changed: “It made me feel like someone watched a conversation between a fantasy-filled seven-year-old and her three-year-old sister and turned it into a drawing. It attempted to address the future, emotion, memories, time travel, and clones, but it delivered it all in a bleak, hopeless manner.” Don’t get me wrong: Emily the four-year-old (voiced (unscripted) by the animator’s actual four-year-old niece) is adorable. But I felt jolted and bounced in the film itself. This one has much buzz, but it’s lost on me. (Maybe I will change my mind when I finally read The Circle, recommended as my next fiction read, and apparently on par with Super Sad True Love Story, both of these involving issues of our future as it relates to the impact of technology.) (By the way, World of Tomorrow is available on Netflix.)
Chile offered the next film, Bear Story. This was my other favorite. I loved how we learn early on Mr.Bear’s loneliness and loss. We see the impressions of a Mrs. Bear in their shared bed. We feel his despair at his son’s empty room. But he trudges on, carrying his gearbox diorama to earn money. The sad story we see, of Mr. Bear torn from his family, plays out inside of that gearbox. Whether that was his story was never clear to me. What I felt was a metaphor of his current work: the gearbox bear having been captured and forced into performing for others (this was heartbreaking to watch), and here, Mr. Bear, forced to work for coins while utterly lonely and sad, having somehow (again?) been torn from his family, or they from him. The animation was different, but it was the story that most captured me.
We Can’t Live Without the Cosmos (Russia) was a poignant look at best friends with shared dreams and sacrifices. It had humor and fun and sadness.
Prologue (U.K.) was played at the very end, after strong warnings of violence and nudity. The animation was all based on pencil drawings, and it was beautiful work. But the story did little for me: two pair of men, battling it out in a bloody mess. One of each pair was nude; I have no idea why. This one was odd to me. (Yes, the ending added to the work, but it still just did not speak to me, even with the girl’s terror or the older woman’s sad knowing face.)
To bring the showing to a full-feature length for the theater, four other animated works are played (these being “highly commended”). My friend and I agreed that If I Was God appeared to be written and drawn by someone who engages in at least a wee bit of mind altering at times. The Short Story of a Fox and a Mouse made me giggle and gasp and sigh with happiness. But I’m a sucker for happy animals. (It really is a short story of a fox and a mouse—and two owls.) The Loneliest Spotlight no doubt takes the place in our books of The Illusionist. I’m still scratching my head on this one. I mean, really?
Then there was Catch It. I giggled with absolute glee watching this one. It was delightfully expressive and fun and cute and happy and daring and, well, it was a pure pleasure to watch.
I’ve seven days to find an afternoon for the Live Action Shorts. But once again, I (even if not my companions, last year or this) am happy I made time for the work of the animated pieces.