by Nathaniel R
We'll be reviewing each of Oscar's categories before the ceremony. We've already explored the nominees in Best Animated Feature, Doc Shorts, Live Action Shorts, and Visual Effects.
For Best Animated Short it's a pity we can't honor Kapaemahu a beautifully evocative Hawaiian story of transgender spirits, with a spot near the top of this preference ranking but awards season can be cruel like that. Nevertheless you should stream it on Vimeo to see the one that got away. Otherwise, though, the voters chose fairly well. Here are thoughts on each nominee and where you can stream them...
Opera (US/South Korea) 9 minutes
If we were voters we'd be very tempted to honor Opera, as we can't recall ever seeing anything like it. Opera is an intricate cycling visual feast that pans down and then back up -- only two camera movements -- with no dialogue but a sturm und drang score. But within the image is the whole world. Or a whole empire's history? Or a cycle of creation and destruction? There are weddings, funerals, births, war, religion, governments (?), the grind of work, and other mysteries encapsulated therein. It's quite impossible to decide where to look! We've watched it twice and still feel the need for a third visit. It's best viewed sitting very close to a large laptop or desktop screen or (wishful miracle thinking) on an IMAX screen; anybody watching it on a phone will be lost as it will be like looking down at people walking in the streets from a skyscraper, just little ants milling about with no context or distinctions between them. This the fifth short for California-based Erick Oh and his first Oscar nomination. He's worked with Pixar on several features as a animator but his personal work is much different aesthetically. While it's difficult to imagine this experimental work winning over non-animators within the Academy in order to rally enough votes to win, it's by far the most artistically fascinating of the nominated quintet. [Here's an interview with the director - not available to stream that we're aware of]
Yes-People (Iceland) 8 minutes
Here's the other short we'd be delighted to see win. Its charms are more traditional but come with a spiky adult edge. We watch several people, of varying ages, from one apartment block in Iceland go about their business on a snowy day; the day is surely exactly like all of their others. What they lack in verbosity -- nobody speaks but just hilariously mumbles -- the characters make up for with personality, quirk, and terrific visual design and their lives are filled with relatably amusing mundanities: shoveling snow, lazy spouses, boring jobs, etcetera. The cherry on top is that, despite portraying monotonous life, it somehow builds beautifully to a climax and then a very satisfying final beat. Icelandic director Gísli Darri Halldórsson has worked on animated features and other animated shorts including the Oscar-nominated Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty but this is his directorial debut and first Oscar nomination. [Stream on Vimeo $2.99].
The rest of the shorts have their pleasures but we Kapamehau absolutely should have subbed in for one of them; this is the danger of watching all of the finalists in a category, the feeling that something great has been lost. It's the same in Documentary and Live Action short, in that it's hard to enjoy the final quintet, fully, in the absence of Speed Cubers and The Human Voice. (Most audience members won't know what they're missing of course.)
Genius Loci (France) 16 minutes
The longest of the nominated shorts this season and the most beautiful. We follow a woman named Reine who lives with her sister and nephew (we think... characters are always shifting in appearance and sometimes dissolving into animals or objects). She's overwhelmed with the sounds and sights of the city around her. The film only stops shape-shifting once or twice for concrete images, like Reine talking to her musician friend Rosie (an ex-lover we think though this is unspoken) until Rosie becomes a rapidly growing tree. There are beautiful abstract touches like multiple points of view of the same object, and memorable images like three men merging into the shape of a bull, or paper blowing in the wind and shifting seamlessly into dogs like living origami. The sensation of watching a watercolor moving is strong. It's easy to see the appeal for the Academy's animation branch but, like Opera, we imagine it will be a harder sell for general members voting since it is more visually provocative than emotionally or thematically clear.
Given this short's visual strength, it's no surprise that it comes from a French animator, Adrien Merigeau (France has a robust presence in the animation world) or that he has worked frequently with the great Cartoon Saloon in Ireland whose films have the kind of (accessible) mystery and beauty that's easy to imagine as a draw for filmmakers with more expressionistic aesthetics than the American animation industry would embrace. This is Merigeau's second short. This short was also a nominee at the European Film Awards and won a prize at Berlinale. [Trailer on Vimeo - not available to stream that we're aware of]
If Anything Happens I Love You (US) 12 minutes
This emotionally expressive short details the aftermath of a school shooting as two parents grieve their lost daughter, who watches over them as a ghost. While it's difficult to imagine this moving short not winning, there's something about it that made us uncomfortable. It's not exploitative per se but perhaps it is, paradoxically, the comforting qualities that put us off? In the face of a tragedy that's still ongoing and makes us burn with fiery rage, it's hard to accept comfort or healing until we all wake up as a country and remove this evil plague from our lives as well as all government officials who are complicit in the continued slaughter. Otherwise it's just going to keep happening, destroying more loving families like this one. The insane gun culture of the US must be put to an end. The co-directors Michael Govier and Will McCormack are both actor/writers. McCormack was on the 10 person writing team of Toy Story 4 but this is the first animated short for both of them and first Oscar nomination. [Available to stream on Netflix]
Burrow (US) 6 minutes
The cutest and easiest to digest of these nominated shorts, if not the funniest (that's Yes-People). This short is about a wee bunny trying to dig to her dream home. Everywhere she goes, she's too close to more elaborate homes of fellow burrowing critters. It's funny and sweet and just the right length for its story but it arguably lacks the kind of emotional or thematic punch that helps elevate other shorts of its ilk (like fellow Sparkshorts* finalist Out, which was not nominated) and why is this little bunny so antisocial? Director Madeline Sharafian has worked on Pixar's Coco as well as various animated shorts including the Oscar nominated Weekends (2017). This is her third animated short as a director and first Oscar nomination. [Available to stream on Disney+]
* Sparkshorts is a Pixar program where they grant various staff animators six months and a budget to produce their own short. It's a brilliant idea because (in theory at least, we don't work at Pixar) as it gives their artists personalized creative satisfaction outside of the demands of servicing a big corporate project and gives Disney+ fun content and the chance to see what their employees could bring to the table on larger future assignments. Burrow is the eighth Sparkshorts project and the second to be nominated after last year's Kitbull (which is also our vote for the best of the series thus far) and more are currently in development so Disney/Pixar must be pleased with how this program is working out so far.
P.S. The finalist that didn't make it, also in preferential order: Kapamaehu, Out (Pixar's first gay film with a Freaky Friday type situation with a gay man and his dog), Traces (mesmerizing sand painting if a bit long for its violent story), The Snail and the Whale (a very sweet if slow children's program - Sally Hawkins voices the snail), and To Gerard (cute and satisfying if extremely traditional)
What did you think of these if you've seen them? Here's the chart were you can vote daily on what should win.