The first few shorts are on video, and by an odd coincidence, they are also tremendously sad. Switching to film for the remaining ones, the mood lightens considerably (not to mention that the picture and sound are far better).
The Periwig-Maker is based on "A Journal of the Plague Year" by Daniel Defoe and is narrated by Kenneth Branagh. It's done in stop-motion animation and is extraordinarily accomplished for that medium. The movements of the figures are lifelike, and it convincingly creates a gloomy gray atmosphere. The story itself is a little murky, though.
One Day Crossing likewise does an astonishing job of creating a mood and emotional tension. It's the story of a Jewish Hungarian family in 1944 as the Arrow Cross, the Hungarian equivalent of the Nazis, comes to power. The mother cares about nothing but ensuring her son's survival, to the point of berating her husband for risking his life to save other children. But soon she is faced with her own opportunity to save a life, possibly at the expense of her son's. It's an intense and moving short film, and were it not subtitled and in black and white, I think it would be a shoo-in to win the award.
Father and Daughter is a beautifully drawn, brief, wordless film about a girl whose father goes out to sea one day. She waits patiently for him to return, bicycling along the dikes every day to stand by the spot where he left, as the days stretch into years. Sweet, sad, and very artistic.
Seraglio is a hilarious American short about a housewife who starts finding love letters while she does her daily chores. Her husband clearly isn't writing them… so she finds out who is. Very funny.
By Courier is based on an O. Henry short story. Directed by actor Peter Riegert (which is why Entertainment Weekly thinks it will win), it's a clever little film where a man tries to win back the woman who's spurned him by using a rough-edged young boy as a courier to relay his affections. Lots of fun.
Uma Historia de Futebol (A Soccer Story) is a Brazilian film telling the true story of a boy's soccer team in the 1950s, narrated by the adult one of the kids grows up to be. One of the other kids, incidentally, grows up to be Pelé. It's lively, cheerful, and fun, a terrific little movie.
Rejected is hilariously bizarre. Cartoonist Don Hertzfeldt starts off showing us ads commissioned by the Family Learning Channel, which were promptly rejected by the channel. Subsequent efforts for subsequent corporations are likewise wildly unsuitable. The cartoons get more and more outlandish as, "without a reason for being," they spiral out of control. This film showed in "Spike and Mike's Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation," and it's pretty obvious why.
The last film nominated in the Live Action Short category, Quiero Ser... (I Want to Be...) was for some reason not shown.
So, what's my pick and my prediction? I think One Day Crossing was the best live-action film, though the other three were all very cheery and enjoyable. But I think By Courier will win -- Seraglio seems too lightweight, and Uma Historia de Futebol and One Day Crossing are subtitled.
I think The Periwig-Maker should and will win the animated category. The artistry is outstanding. Rejected is just too freaky for the Academy voters, and Father and Daughter is too simple.
But hey -- keep in mind that I'm almost never right.
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