Animated Short Films

Beurk !

Of course, I saw the Animated Short Films nominees for the Oscars at the Spectrum Theatre in Albany. I watched them before either of the other shorts, but I was less thrilled by the choices collectively than by the other shorts categories.

Magic Candies (Japan, Daisuke Nishio and Takashi Washio, 21 minutes). Dong-Dong is a kid in his own world. He seems fine just playing marbles by himself. One day, he thinks he bought another bag of new marbles, but they are colorful candies instead. Each time, he pops one of them into his mouth, he has unexpected conversations before the candies melt away. “The people, animals, and objects in Dong-Dong’s life have a lot to say. With each candy, he discovers new voices and perspectives, including his own.  Heartfelt and totally strange, Magic Candies will have you rethinking how you treat the objects, and others, in your life.” I liked it a lot.

In The Shadow of the Cypress (Iran, Shirin Sohani and Hossein Molayemi, 20 minutes) (WINNER) “Living in a house by the sea with his daughter, a former captain who has post-traumatic stress disorder leads a tough and secluded life.” The source of the PTSD is unclear. His treatment of his daughter can be harsh. But her focus turned to a beached whale. She can’t do much to rectify the situation, but maybe he can. Melancholy. 

Kids’ show
Wander to Wonder (Netherlands, Belgium, France, UK, Nina Gantz, 13 minutes) “In the 1980s, Mary, Billybud, and Fumbleton starred in the children’s television program Wander to Wonder. They are left alone in the studio after the show’s originator passed away.” It’s oddly familiar before the characters have to wing it. A comment on IMDb: “The apparent lightness of the children’s program is quickly eaten away by a strange feeling of discomfort… Every scene, with its quirky characters and desolate settings, feels meticulously calculated to create a sense of claustrophobia and decay.” It’s well done, but not intended to be enjoyable. Oh, there’s a warning about full-frontal nudity, a totally not-sexy scene.

Yuck! (France, Loïc Espuche and Juliette Marquet, 13 minutes) “Yuck! Adults kiss each other on the mouth, and children find it disgusting! What’s more, you can see it from afar: when people are about to kiss, their lips become all pink and shiny. Little Léo makes jokes about it, as do the other kids at the summer camp. But he has a secret he won’t tell his friends: his own mouth has actually begun glistening. And, in reality, Léo desperately wants to give kissing a try.” (On IMDb, this is listed as Beurk !) If I were a betting man, I would have picked this one to win the Oscar.

Beautiful Men (Belgium, France, Netherlands, Nicolas Keppens and Brecht Van Elslande, 18 minutes). “Three balding brothers travel to Istanbul to get a hair transplant. Stuck with each other in a hotel far from home, their insecurities grow faster than their hair.” I just didn’t care about these guys very much; unannounced showing of genitalia (in a steam room). 

Author: Roger

I'm a librarian. I hear music, even when it's not being played. I used to work at a comic book store, and it still informs my life. I won once on JEOPARDY! - ditto.

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