I promised last time that I'd get to this year's Live-Action Short Oscar package next week. Guess what? Next week is now today. Without further ado, here are the remaining nominees.
Ivalu - Anders Walter, a previous winner in this category for Helium, directed this adaptation of a Danish graphic novel. In it, Pipaluk (Mila Heilmann Kreutzmann), a Greenlandic Inuit girl, wakes up to find her sister, Ivalu (Nivi Larsen), missing. Pipaluk sets out on her own to find Ivalu since their father (Angunnguaq Larsen) isn't interested. Over the hills, and the fjords she goes. And then she realizes what happened ...
What can I say about it. Cinematographer Rasmus Heise captures Greenland in all of its icy glory, while Rasmus Walter Hansen accentuates it with his majestic score. What we see of Ivalu and Pipaluk's relationship is endearing, which makes the mystery plot all the more compelling. Whatever sympathy you may have for their father evaporates once the reveal hits. It's a brutal twist for sure. It all leads to an abrupt ending. Kreutzmann's performance is great, but if you want a happier short, look elsewhere.
Afterwards, the package played Night Ride and Le Pupille (Which I already looked at). As for the other shorts ...
The Red Suitcase - This Luxembourgian short follows Ariane (Nawelle Ewad), an Iranian girl on her way to an arranged marriage with a much-older man (Sarkaw Gorany). She has everything packed in a single red suitcase. But she cannot bring herself to get past customs. She knows what kind of life awaits her with the man. So, she removes her hijab and makes her way for the nearest bus out of the airport. She'll have to make a sacrifice to get to freedom.
This is, by far, the tensest of this year's batch. The film uses little dialogue, but it spells out what awaits Ariane past customs enough. Her life is established with text messages from her father and his phone calls to the man. Her fear is palpable when she glimpses the man. We understand how desperate she is to avoid this marriage. We're on edge as she avoids getting caught by the man. It only intensifies when he gets on the bus at the climax. Her evading her unwanted fiancé is nothing short of admirable. The final shot is seemingly odd until it pans up further. Director Cyrus Neshvad keeps us involved in her plight over the course of 18 minutes. This short and the next one are both worthy of getting feature length remakes.
An Irish Goodbye. - Tom Berkeley and Ross White won the BAFTA last Sunday for this dramedy and are likely to repeat their luck at the Oscars. In it, brothers Turlough (Seamus O'Hara) and Lorcan (James Martin) reunite for their mother's funeral. Turlough wants to sell the family farm and have Lorcan, who has Downs Syndrome, move in with their aunt. Lorcan presents him their mother's bucket list and asks that they complete it. Turlough agrees.
23 minutes isn't enough to fill up the bucket list. But it is enough to show us how Turlough and Lorcan mend their relationship. They bicker audaciously, but when Lorcan seemingly goes missing, Turlough is worried sick. The bucket list items range from sensible (learn tai chi) to silly (go on a hot air balloon, which they accomplish by strapping her urn to balloons). There's one final disagreement that's solved with the help of their pastor, Father O'Shea (Paddy Jenkins), and it leads to a moving ending. It's formulaic, but its two leads' relationship gets us interested in where it's going. Stream it as soon as possible if you can't make it to the package film now.
That's it for this year's crop. I'll do my next rounds of shorts once next year's short list is announced. That's right, before the actual nominees are announced. If I'm lucky, I'll get to the nominees before I know what they are.
If only.
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