Gutting It Out

I've already discussed the five nominees for the Academy Awards best short animated film ("World Of Tomorrow" better win).  Now I've seen the nominees for best short live action film:

Ave Maria

Day One

Everything Will Be Okay

Shok

Stutterer

My pick usually doesn't win. Last year, for instance, my favorite by far was the unusual Butter Lamp, but the Academy went with the more conventional The Phone Call.  But this year I think my favorite may just take it.

Short films can be tricky.  If you go for too much--the death of children, for instance--it's often too heavy for the running length. And I think Shok, about kids stuck in the 1990s war in Kosovo, is too much.  As is--to a lesser extent--Day One, about a rough first day on the job for an interpreter in the US Army.

Meanwhile, Stutterer is pleasant, but a bit light, with a predictable (yet nonsensical) ending, while Ave Maria--the film that goes most for comedy--is a trifle.

Which leaves us with Everything Will Be Okay, German title Alles Wird Gut.  It's about a divorced father who kidnaps his daughter and plans to run to another country because he fears he'll lose her.  I've already given away too much, but I thought it was the most powerful film of the bunch.