The live-action shorts are one of the Oscars’ most alienating categories—no one promotes them, few even know anyone who has seen them, and even the actors are unrecognizable. But this week, E Street Cinema is making this obscure category a little more accessible to the masses, running them in succession and allowing the audience to decide which should get the award. If you can’t make it down there, here’s a quick guide to what you need to know about this year’s five live-action nominees.
Short by even short film standards, “Pentecost” is a brilliantly paced 11-minute mash-up of a sports-movie played out in the setting of an Irish Catholic mass. 11-year old Damian is the incense burner for his local parish, and also a fanatical soccer fan. Although he was kicked out of his post in church for—accidentally or not—hitting the priest with the incense burner, he is reluctantly asked back when the archbishop plans to give mass and the church finds itself one altar boy short. The film takes on the tone of a sports montage as tensions over the archbishop’s visit run high. The pep talk scene for the altar boys is quick paced, and the sure highlight of the entire group of nominees.
“Raju” poses a stark contrast with the previous film. A story of two Europeans who travel to India to adopt a wide-eyed, smiley four-year-old, the film deals with serious emotional struggles, punctuated with moments of cuteness rather than any true laughs. Though the plot’s concept may seem contrived, “Raju” grounds the story of international adoption with a set of complex characters. Plot twists, well placed for such a short film, add depth to the otherwise happy story. Though the film moves a little slowly and the dialogue (in at least three languages) is at times difficult to understand, the superb acting serves to make up for some of the film’s flaws.
“The Shore” is the most likely contender for the Oscar title, complete with family secrets, heavy drinking, long-lost friendships, and the beautiful Irish greenery. Jim returns to the homeland with his daughter for his first time in 25 years, and there the girl learns of her father’s lost fiancée. The two go seeking both her and her husband, Jim’s adopted brother and formerly his closest friend. 30 minutes isn’t quite enough to show the emotional toil that the four characters face, but director Oorlagh George smooths over those moments with well-placed humor. The mix of drama and gaiety make this film serious Oscar bait, and writer Terry George might finally capture a statue after his 2004 nomination for original writing in Hotel Rwanda.
“Time Freak” stood out as the most American of the group. With the tone of a sitcom, it follows a man who invents a time machine and immediately begins to panic about every single thing he’s done the previous day. From his point of view, months have passed as he corrects awkward silences, bad jokes, and accidental insults. It’s funny and fast-paced, but ultimately seems more like an extended Super Bowl commercial—it wouldn’t have come as a surprise if the Budweiser name had been tacked on at the end.
The final film, “Tuba Atlantic” (a rough translation from Norwegian), was the best of the five nominated shorts, though not as critic-friendly as “The Shore.” The film centers on a very cynical old man—when told, “You don’t have long to live,” he asks, “Could you be more specific?” Given a deadline of six days, he responds, “That’s very specific.” A young girl from Jesus Club then joins him, as she wishes to help him accept that he is dying but does so with just a bit too wide a smile. The film is touching and sweet, yet darkly hilarious. The two main actors play off of each other brilliantly, and viewers can’t help but be impressed with the passionate cursing the dying man casts into the wind.
Together, the five nominated films strongly showcase the range of the shorts genre, cramming 90 minutes of emotion into 25 minutes of screen-time. If you can, get to E Street Cinema, which is showing the animated shorts nominees along with their live counterparts. You’ll finally feel in-the-know come Oscar night.
