Four stars. Rating: G, PG and R, depending on the film
By Derrick Bang • Originally published in The Davis Enterprise, 1.31.14
Much as I always enjoy the annual
Oscar short subjects, I’ve noticed over time that many of the live-action nominees
tend to be ... well ... quite depressing.
So when this year’s entry from
Denmark, Helium, opened on a little boy in a hospital bed, I couldn’t blame
my Constant Companion for shooting me a decidedly reproachful glance.
 |
| At first blush, animation entry Get a Horse! looks and sounds like a late 1920s-era Mickey Mouse cartoon; the historical "impersonation" is remarkably authentic. But things take a wonderfully unexpected turn about a minute in, when Mickey "breaks the fourth wall" quite spectacularly. |
In fairness, director Anders
Walter’s 23-minute fable is equal parts charming and poignant, despite building
to a sad-yet-triumphant conclusion that you’ll anticipate 30 seconds in. And
you’ll be right ... but you won’t be prepared for the gut-punch that comes with
the quick final scene.
It’s an imaginative film, with
Walter drawing expressive performances from young Pelle Falk Krusbaek, as the
dying little boy in question; and Casper Crump, as the eccentric hospital
janitor who concocts a progressively wild tale about the much more interesting,
kid-oriented alternative to heaven that awaits true believers.
Be prepared, though: Walter’s
film packs quite an emotional punch.
That’s also true of Spanish
director Esteban Crespo’s That Wasn’t Me, which is likely to leave an intense
mental scar long after the lights come up. Helium, for all its gentle power,
is a work of fiction; Crespo’s film is ripped from today’s grim headlines
regarding the cruel indoctrination and subsequent exploitation of child
soldiers.
Spanish aid worker Paula
(Alejandra Lorente) has naively followed her boyfriend Juanjo (Gustavo
Salmerón) into an unspecified African country, hoping to Make A Difference.
Based on their larkish demeanor, things have gone well thus far; that changes
abruptly at a checkpoint, when a thuggish rebel army general (Babou Cham)
decides to use these interlopers as human targets, in order to “blood” his
young conscripts.
One of the latter is Kaney (Juan
Tojaka), an adolescent with a fondness for soccer.
What follows is grim, graphic, tautly
edited and heart-stopping; Crespo doesn’t let up for a moment, and — for a time
— we’ve no idea where this 24-minute film is going. The complexity of the
filmmaker’s vision becomes clear once we move toward the climactic third act,
and the realization that Crespo wants us to understand that these young boys,
no matter how bestial, are just as brutalized as the victims they’ve been
brainwashed into fighting. Only as the film ends do we understand and
appreciate its title.
It’s a thoughtful, harrowing
drama: quite possibly the winner in this category.
Not that the competition isn’t
stiff. French director Xavier Legrand also does excellent work with Just
Before Losing Everything, a drama whose mere title makes us fear the worst
(particularly given the reputation of these live-action shorts!). The opening
sequence is deceptively bucolic, with young Julien (Miljan Chatelain) heading
off for an average school day.
Except that he doesn’t.
