Oscar-nominated live-action shorts
An odd and terrifying momentum to this program.
Crit
- Ave Maria--Wacky Israeli family (man, his mom, and "that woman you shacked up with"), racing through Arab territory to get home for Shabbat, drive into the statue of the Virgin in front of the convent of the silence-bound Sisters of Misericord. Hilarity ensues; it must have been hilarity, because others in the theater were laughing. Struck me as cheap shtick.
- Shok--More obvious sentiment: childhood friends, Serb-oppressed Albanians, a bicycle, betrayal, violence, memory.
- Alles wird gut (Everything will be okay)--But here things get real: a divorced father kidnaps his daughter, set on spiriting her away to the Philippines. What begins looking as if it could be a comedy reaches an excruciating climactic intensity.
- Stutterer--A romantic interlude, but not without its own harrowing pain.
- Day One--And finally . . . well, if the thought of cutting a dead fetus into pieces in order to save the mother pushes your squirm buttons, you might consider stepping out early. But don't.
What should win? With little hesitation, I'll say Alles wird gut, but any of the last 3 could, depending on voter moods. Unfortunately, depending on voter shallowness, so could either of the first 2.
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