Most movies are too damn long. Inception, for example, which is currently in the running for the Academy Award for Best Picture, was an agonizing 142 minutes — for me, such prolonged anguish, because my mind was not blown for a second of it. I was too busy musing upon all the other productive things I could be doing rather than puzzling through elaborate, idiosyncratic science fiction gibber-gabber buoyed by dazzling special f-x and Leonardo DiCaprio, who is just blah to me.
Yes, movies are a commitment — I resent acquiescing time, money, and attention on movies that simply regurgitate the same Hollywood crap, formulated to maximize box office. Even independent films can be tedious: stretching story arcs, dwelling on details, allowing the pacing to sag as they seek to fill out the requisite 100-120 minutes of running time on a limited budget. For example, The Kids Are Alright — also in the running for a Best Picture Oscar — veers into near-farce in an attempt to pad a good premise (children of inseminated lesbians contact donor dad) with faux dramatic tension (donor dad and lesbian have passionate, desperate, inexplicable love affair).
For these reasons, I like the idea of short films, which run 40 minutes or less, though most barely crest 20 minutes. Sine it’s impractical to shlep to the movie theatre for a 20-minute shot of cinema, it’s nice when they’re packaged together, like the 5 Oscar Nominated Short Live Action Films for 2011, which we saw at the Kendall Square Cinema amid a crowd of film-buff types who looked like they were mentally filling out their Oscar predictions.
The Confession (UK, 26 minutes) centered around a sweet young boy, nervous about his first confession because he has nothing to confess and therefore cannot be absolved. His friend decides to help him by roping him into an innocent prank that quickly turns disastrous. Heavy with religious symbolism and foreboding camera pans, the film packs a lot of tragedy and anguish into 26 minutes. “I thought short films were supposed to be funny,” I whispered to Mr. P as the credits rolled. “No, it gets worse from here,” he laughed.
Wish 143 (UK, 24 minutes) starts with a cautiously humorous premise — a teenaged boy with terminal cancer is granted a wish from a charity and he makes no secret about wanting to lose his virginity. He tells everyone and enlists the help of a priest to help make this wish come true. Though this leads to some funny dialogue, cancer is inherently not funny, and my eyes teared up when the film came to a quick and poignant end.
Na Wewe (Belgium, 19 minutes) takes place in Burundi in 1994, when the genocide in neighboring Rwanda was at a height. A mini-bus full of civilians is stopped by Hutu militia and aggressively interrogated about their nationalities in a search for any people of Tutsi heritage. It is a scary, tense confrontation that occasionally lapses into humor, and ends on a semi-happy note… muted, of course, by the reality most confrontations involving Hutu militia did not end as well.
The Crush (Ireland, 15 minutes) was short and cute. A young schoolboy is in love with his teacher and believes they will marry in the future. He feels betrayed when she becomes engaged and challenges her leather-jacket-clad boyfriend to a duel. After the despondency of the previous three films, I really savored a touch of silliness.
The God of Love (USA, 18 minutes) is the slickest and coolest of the bunch, featuring a lounge singer/hipster who prays to God for the love of his drummer Kelly, who in turn is in love with his best friend. He is given love-inducing darts and tries to use them to woo Kelly, but winds up taking a different path entirely. (Suspension of disbelief is mandatory).
So after taking in all 5, which will win the Oscar? Honestly, The God of Love was my favorite, but I’m not sure it will be Oscar’s favorite because it smacks of “film student.” My second favorite was Na Wewe, which boasts social commentary and a promise of diversity, but the topic is a bit dated (movies about the Rwandan genocide are soooo 5 years ago.) The Crush was too light, Wish 143 was too sad, leaving The Confession, truly a full-length film squashed into 26 minutes — compact, concise, and spell-binding, with a story that sticks to you. The Oscar will go to The Confession… (or The God of Love, or Na Wewe…)
Update: God of Love did win
