by James Rosario and Edwin Arnaudin
Edwin Arnaudin: In my 10 or so years of covering the Oscar Nominated Shorts programs, I don’t think I’ve seen a bleaker set of nominees than this year’s Live-Action batch. Usually, there’s at least one light/comedic finalist or one that restores one’s hope in humanity, and the closest we get here is Denmark’s “On My Mind,” about a man desperate to record himself singing some Willie Nelson karaoke for his wife. But I wouldn’t exactly call it the Feel-good Movie of the Year, either.
James Rosario: Oh boy. I couldn’t agree more. I’m not one who needs to “feel good” about my movies, but these nominees range from dystopian to downright cruel. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing on its surface, but to me it rings as a disingenuous attempt by Hollywood to tell us how we should feel. Like they’ve superficially taken our temperature and diagnosed our ills for us. Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but there’s something hollow about many of these nominees.
Edwin: This category has grown increasingly “issue”-based with voters favoring films that tackle difficult subjects over ones that simply tell a good story and showcase talents on both sides of the camera. It’s been a place where honorees like Martin McDonagh and Andrea Arnold have shown that they had the goods “way back when,” and, not that this year’s crop lacks talent, but none of them exactly have me excited to see what these filmmakers will do next.
James: I have no problem with “issue”-based films (in fact, I wholeheartedly commend filmmakers who can effectively raise political or social concerns through their art), but simply giving voice to an issue isn’t enough. A film also carries the burden of being an engaging cinematic experience. Unfortunately, with just one exception (Riz Ahmed and Aneil Karia’s fantastic and chilling “The Long Goodbye”), I saw nothing in this year’s nominees that that could boast such an engagement — let alone innovation or style.
Edwin: “The Long Goodbye” feels like the obligatory “nominee with a movie star” — historically more of a hook to attract viewers than a means to Oscar gold. I wasn’t much impressed with the filmmaking and Blindspotting already did that ending a lot better four years ago.
On a craftsmanship level, I was most taken by “Please Hold,” about a nightmarish near future where innocent civilians can be arrested and tossed into a brutal techno-justice system. Its combination of hyper-relevancy and simple but compelling special effects left me shaken and more vigilant about deteriorating human rights — whereas bride abduction drama “Ala Kachuu – Take and Run” simply left me feeling like I’d been shaken for 40 hopeless minutes.
James: We’ll have to agree to disagree on “The Long Goodbye,” but “Please Hold” is an easy runner-up for me. While I generally enjoy a bit of humor injected into my Orwellian and Kafka-esque tragedies, I fear the messaging at the heart of “Please Hold” may be overshadowed by it. That’s not to say that funny can’t equate to effectiveness, but I’m not sure the math quite works out in this case. Still, a pretty darn good little film though.
All I can say about “Ala Kachuu – Take and Run” is that I’m glad the ending has at least a modicum of optimism to balance out the nonstop browbeating its poor protagonist continuously endures. “Take and Run” might shed light on a subject that is well-deserved of address, but does so in such a melodramatic way that its urgency is diminished. It’s a shame, really, because the backbone of this story is rife with possibilities.
Edwin: Absolutely. Swiss director Maria Brendle knows what she’s doing and doesn’t shy away from painful honesty, but I felt more punished than enlightened by the end. The near opposite occurs in Poland’s “The Dress,” about a chain-smoking little person and her long-delayed chance at love. Not to spoil anything, but the direction Tadeusz Lysiak’s film eventually takes feels like a cruel bait-and-switch and had me wanting to throw something at my TV screen.
James: “The Dress” is downright mean-spirited, and definitely winds up in a much darker place than where it began. While I didn’t necessarily expect a happy ending, I was initially intrigued by its inclusive attitude and honest depictions of working people. Perhaps what bothers me most is about it is that I’m not sure what it’s ultimately trying to say. The nasty turn it takes is one thing, but I’m confused (albeit admittedly intrigued) by the meaning of its final shot. I don’t need my films to be wrapped up up into neat definable packages, but for a film that seems to have such an enormous amount of anger on its mind, I was anticipating a much clearer resolution. Still, hats off the cast for going to such an extremely uncomfortable place.
Edwin: I’m baffled by that final shot and the film’s overall intention, too. You bring up a great point about inclusivity, and the sudden shift feels manipulative of viewers and the minority group it claims to champion up to that point. I was reminded of local theater companies’ commitment to telling stories of Black joy instead of pain and abuse — depiction is one thing, but reinforcing negative stereotypes exacerbates the problem.
Did you fare any better with “On My Mind”?
James: Yes and no. “On My Mind” is nearly as manipulative as “The Dress,” but in a completely different, more palatable way. It leans heavily on weakly depicted sentimentality and pseudo-supernatural elements that I found nearly laughable, but at least its heart is in the right place. It’s a harmless film, but unfortunately far from Oscar-worthy in my opinion. The best I can give these five as a whole is a C.
Edwin: I’m going with a C-. I think the Short Films branch royally screwed up this year with these selections and hope they’ll get back on track in 2023.
Originally published by ASHEVILLE MOVIES.
James is a writer, record collector, wrestling nerd, and tabletop gamer living with his family in Asheville, North Carolina. He is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association, the North Carolina Film Critics Association, and contributes to The Daily Orca, Razorcake Magazine, Mountain Xpress, and Asheville Movies.