The Nominees for Short Film (Live Action) Review
By David Kempler
Short, and some are sweet.
And the nominees for Short Film (Live Action) are...
"Om Natten"
"Il Supplente (The Substitute)"
"Le Mozart des Pickpockets"
"Tanghi Argentini"
"The Tonto Woman"
Short Film (Live Action) is a category where few of us ever even get to see the entries. Luckily for me, a theater in Manhattan was showing all five entries in one show. I went, not knowing quite what to expect. What it turned out to be was an outstanding cinematic experience. Five films for the price of one, and not a clunker in the bunch.
"At Night", is an entry from Denmark and it is a product of Lars von Trier's Zentropa Entertainments. It is by far the heaviest of the five. The entire film takes place in a terminal cancer ward between Christmas and New Years Eve. Three teenage girls are struggling to stay alive and to retain their sanity and they lean on each other to form a very unique family unit. Threads of comic relief help but nothing can lift this heavy weight from their shoulders or from the viewer's shoulders.
From Italy comes "The Substitute". It's a mile a minute laughfest that centers on a substitute teacher taking over a hyped up class. He walks into the room and they are acting wild and crazy, just like young teenagers should be acting. He eventually exerts control over them in a manner that is unexpected and fun to watch. The plot takes quite a twist and we learn more about the teacher. An awful lot of fun.
"The Mozart of Pickpockets" is a French farce. It is filled with colorful street characters, including an incredibly endearing street urchin who never speaks. Part comedy, part cuteness exhibition, and part mild thriller, it moves along smartly and brings more warm smiles than out loud laughs. It didn't have the impact that it promised early in the film but it is a sweet endeavor, nonetheless.
"Tanghi Argentini" is a Belgian O. Henry-type short story with the requisite twist at the end. It is exquisitely photographed and has a layered feel that appears to be an examination of a lonely man's quest to find a cure for his loneliness. It turns out to be anything but that and when the truth is revealed you just can't help but break out into a wide-eyed grin.
Finally, we have the lone American entry, "The Tonto Woman", which is based on an Elmore Leonard story. It's an old time mini-Western, although I can't remember this particular topic covered in any John Wayne movie. A young lady is married to a wealthy man but she lives alone in a shack on his property because he is embarrassed that she lived with Indians and was tattooed on her chin. I found it to be the weakest of the bunch but that doesn't mean it wasn't an excellent outing.
My favorite is "The Substitute" but I'm guessing that "At Night" will take the category because Oscar loves serious and usually disdains comedy.
