Short films from 2012 and Tangerines and Leviathan from 2014

Nominated Short Films, 2012
The great thing about short films is even if you have a stinker in the bunch, they're less than an hour and it will be over before you suffer too much. Or even better, they're all really good and you wish they were longer, and that's the case with the short films from 2012, I liked them all and thought it would have been hard to pick a winner.

Curfew was the winner and it is a drama with a touch of dark comedy about a man, Richie, who is shown at the beginning of the film trying to commit suicide when his phone rings. It's his estranged sister, Maggie, who makes it clear she is calling Richie as a last resort only to watch her daughter. Maggie has some strict rules that Richie has to follow, OR ELSE. Richie shares with his niece, Sophia, some flip books he drew for Maggie when they were kids; the star of the flip books is a character named "Sophia". He tells Sophia how much he admired Maggie and how they used to be closer until he started using drugs. When Richie brings Sophia back home, he sees that Maggie has been beaten up and that she had been out getting a restraining order against her boyfriend/husband. Richie offers to help watch Sophia again or in some way, but Maggie is angry and upset and just not interested. Richie goes home to finish what he started that night, and even unplugs the phone when it starts to ring. I really liked this film, it was only 19 minutes and yet I felt like a lot happened and I learned about the characters, and thought I would like to know more about them. There was a sadness in Richie that was lightened when he spent time with his niece that he barely knew, and maybe saw a little of his sister when they were younger. It had an element of hope and redemption that I really appreciated.

Dood van een Schaduw (Death of a Shadow) was an entry from Belgium and it was totally surreal and to me had an element of Edgar Allen Poe. I feel like there was a lot there that I missed the first time and might get if I watched it a few more times. The main character, Nathan Rijckx, was killed during World War and he is now a shadow collector. The shadows he collects are of people that are dying (I couldn't really tell if they were going to die anyway and he just put himself in the position to capture their demise). He has to collect 10,000 shadows and then the 'shadow collector' (the being who displays the collection) will let him temporarily leave to go back to a place in time that he remembers. The problem is the time to which he returns does not exactly turn out the way he thought it would, and he is devastated. It's true, you can't go home again. This would be a perfect story for Halloween or around the campfire. This is another film that I would like to be longer so we could learn more about the collector and more about Nathan's past.

Henry is a Canadian short that takes a look at memory loss/dementia in Henry, a World War II veteran who is desperately missing his wife, whom he met in France, and who does not recognize his daughter. Henry goes wandering around town and is occasionally quite aggressively handled by hospital. It seems that there have been more films including short, features and documentaries that focus on memory issues (or am I just more attentive?) and I think that's what made this short hit home.

The next two shorts feature children and I will defy you to not cry, just a little.
Asad is set in Somalia, but was actually filmed in South Africa with Somalian refugees. Asad is a young man who fishes to help support his family, but he would rather go out with the young men who attack foreign ships. Unfortunately, Asad doesn't have a lot of success in his own right as a fisherman, but he is grateful when Erasto, an older fisherman, gives him a large fish for his family. He could easily say he caught and nobody would have known, but it would be bad luck to lie. When a young friend of Asad's is harassed by a group of rebels, Asad gives them the fish. The netxt day, after the rebels injure Erasto, Asad must go out by himself (the boat is huge and it's amazing that he's able to row it). He comes upon a boat that the pirates attacked and there are no survivors except for a white cat; Asad brings the cat back and is asked if he caught it. He can honestly say he did. Asad has an indomitable spirit and I really felt for his difficult situation, one that many young men face: providing for their families and deciding whether to do the right things or fall in with the bad elements. I liked this kid (the actor and the character he played).

Buzkashi Boys is a joint Afghan-US production filmed in Kabul, Afghanistan and it features two young friends, Ahmad, a boy who lives on the streets and Rafi, who lives with his father, a blacksmith. In a lot of ways they are like other boys all over the world, getting into mischief, quarreling with parents/adults, dreaming about what they are going to do when they get older. Ahmad, for everything that he lacks, has a great imagination and hopes for his future; he wants to be a Buzkashi rider. Buzkashi is described as a type of polo played with a headless goat carcass (it seemed brutal and it was hard for me to grasp the allure). Rafi is grounded by the tradition of blacksmiths in his family. What happens next left me just looking at the screen, taking it in, but not believing it. Even though this is a fictional film, the fact that it was filmed in Afghanistan and really shows the stark harshness and devastation in this country made gave it a very realistic feel. The two boys were very natural and captured my heart. I did cry at the end of this movie. I hope you watch all of these films (they are available on Amazon) because they are all wonderful and different and all the things that make films so meaningful.


10/24/15 Leviathan, nominated Best Foreign Film, 2014

10/29/15 Tangerines, nominated Best Foreign Film, 2014 

After watching these two films, I have seen all of the nominated movies excepted Virunga, a documentary soon to be released on video. As far as the foreign films go, the winner Ida irritated me and I did not think it should have won; nominee Wild Tales did less for me. I was very moved by Timbuktu and thought that was really well done and had a story and characters that I cared about. Leviathan was the entry from Russia and won the Golden Globe for 2014. Leviathan is set in very northern Russia, near the Arctic Sea; that sense of cold and desolation permeates the film, and I swear it got colder in my house. The story is really nothing new: corrupt public officials pushing around hard working citizens (something about the despondency of the story just reminded me of Thomas Hardy), even though the hard working citizens may be a little fond of their vodka (I think I got cirrhosis of the liver). Kolya is engaged in an unfair battle against the incredibly corrupt mayor who wants the Kolya's land to build something (we do not know what it is at first, and the hypocrisy of the fact that it turns out to be a church is not lost on anyone). Kolya does not want to let his land go, the house where he lives with his second wife and his son so he brings in an old army friend who is now a lawyer. Dmitri does not necessarily have any legal grounds to challenge the mayor, but he does have some good old fashioned scoop to use as 'pressure', but the mayor is not having any of it. In the meantime, Kolya gets into trouble because of his temper and the vodka, and it becomes obvious that his wife may not be very happy. Lilya finds comfort with Dmitri and seems to consider running away with him to Moscow. The Russian Orthodox Church plays a role, and there is more than a hint that there is corruption in the upper echelons of the church, even as the priests closer to the people may truly believe in God. Kolya is not a believer, especially as his world comes crashing in on him. There is no happy ending to this story. I don't mind depressing movies, and I thought this was well done, I did not think it was the bet movie ever, nor did it provoke any deep philosophical questions. I did find the scenery gorgeous in its starkness. I would say this would be my third favorite foreign film from the nominees.

This brings us to Tangerines which gave me a couple of moments where I talked back to the television and held my breath with disbelief as events unfolded. Tangerines is an Estonian/Georgian film and is set during the war in Abkhazia in Georgia as two friends are practically the last people in their village; it seems everyone else has joined the war or fled to their homeland of Estonia. Margus is trying to harvest his tangerine crop before it becomes too dangerous to stay where he is; Ivo is his neighbor and the film opens with Ivo in his workshop making crates to hold the tangerines. Two Chechen soldiers come by and while they could be trouble makers, they seem to have some respect for the elderly man and just ask for food. Things get a little hairy when the Chechens come across three Georgian soldiers and they exchange fire. Ahmed survives his wounds and Ivo brings him in to take care of him; as Ivo and Margus bury the dead soldiers, they realize that one of the Georgians, Niko, is still alive. There is no hesitation as Ivo brings Niko into his house and gets the local doctor to assist. When Ahmed realizes that one of his 'mortal enemies' is alive and his friend is dead, he vows to kill Niko. Ivo, in a very quiet but strong way, tells him he will not kill anyone in his house. There is a lot of tension as Margus and Ivo work to harvest the tangerines, waiting for help that will not come. Some local soldiers come by and knowing that Niko is at risk, Ivo tells Niko not to say a word, blaming his muteness on the head injury; Ivo also asks Ahmed for his word that he will not betray Niko. There's a lot of trust in this movie, or requests for trust. Ahmed is a big man and despite his wounds, he could wreak serious havoc if he chose. Niko and Ahmed coexist out of grudging respect for Ivo; occasionally asking why he has not fled to Estonia, although he never answers them. All hell breaks loose towards the end of the movie as other Chechen soldiers come to the farm and they do not believe that Ahmed is on their side, and fighting breaks out. I have to admit, the subsequent scenes are where I was talking to the screen, not totally comprehending the action that unfolded. I cried too. I don't want to ruin it because I hope you watch it. It really does show how asinine war is, and that if people are allowed to get to know one another, they may be less inclined to try and kill each other. Maybe that's too pollyanna or naive, but I do believe that. The actor who plays Ivo, Embit Ulsfak, is amazing: quiet and strong, determined and fair. Eventually we do learn why Ivo refuses to leave his farm for Estonia. When I watch a movie, I want to care about the characters or the story (both would be ideal), and I really cared about these people and their stories. My one complaint is that it was really hard to read the subtitles, they were teeny tiny and that can be a problem since I really don't speak Estonian, Georgian or Chechen. But I hope that doesn't dissuade you, because, in my mind, this should have been the winner.