We all know Hollywood loves a happy ending, but the Oscar-nominated short films this year have managed to instill a sense of hope into their tales of struggle without artificially inducing conventional closure of the cheesy variety. In more ways than one, these brief snapshots offer a more valuable insight into the human condition than many of their feature-length counterparts.
“Asad” and “Buzkashi Boys” are both set in war-torn countries, their protagonists young boys attempting to overcome their circumstances in unusual ways. Set in a Somali fishing village, “Asad” treads the line between wry humor and ethical introspection, as its young hero faces a moral dilemma between piracy and fishing. Yet here, as with the other short films, there is no climax-induced change, only the pondering of a short snippet of human life. “Buzkashi Boys” considers the fate of continuing a family’s long line of blacksmiths in Kabul, Afghanistan, as a group of rebellious boys creates tension.
“Curfew” looks and feels geometric, as if Wes Anderson were doing the cinematography. However, dealing with a deferred suicide, it held an ultra-realist appeal. Practically the polar opposite, the fantastical “Death of A Shadow” tells the tale of a dead soldier given the opportunity to work for a mysterious figure that collects the shadows of the dying. The soldier desires to get back to the woman he loves, but he makes a detrimental choice out of jealousy. “Death” emphasizes the harshness of fate, though the soldier is able to accept his lover’s decision. Though outcomes are different in each of these films, they both explore the complex tension between longing for and avoiding death.
“Henry” is immersed in the mental state of an elderly musician dominated by his misconceptions of reality and the relapse of his memories. By far the most depressing of the shorts, it captures a man’s love for his wife through the lens of dementia, without directly acknowledging it as such. Its excellent sense of paranoia and misunderstanding put it near the top of the rankings.
The plotlines of each film are nuanced just enough, as if to avoid becoming roaming and unfocused. They constitute a humble genre for the big screen, yet their understated pathos ensures that they won’t be overlooked.
