Quiet violence of Oscars' best animated shorts accentuates vulnerability
This year's Oscar-nominated animated shorts are united by a desire to make your chest sink. Even the sweetest, most Pixar-y entry, “War is Over!” is set in the trenches of the First World War, and climaxes in a gory battle in which a beloved pigeon is blown from the sky.
Aside from this, viewers hoping for the innocent nostalgia traditionally associated with the genre will be denied it at every turn — and in the most dazzlingly bizarre ways possible.
From the nihilistically adult tonal shift of “I'm Hip” to the harsh forced empathy of “Wild Summon” to the exceedingly dark twists of “Pachyderme” and “Ninety-Five Senses,” every nominee uses unique animation styles to accentuate a brutality that we often find ourselves desensitized to in live action.
The innocence that the sight of animation tends to trigger in us is used in a disarming manner in these shorts, making us more vulnerable to the gravity of their subject matter and exploiting that vulnerability by playing with what can't be seen.
“Our Uniform” gives shape to the repression faced by Iranian schoolgirls with a world constructed entirely of textiles, making the school's draconian policies look somewhat cute. “Letter to a Pig” relies on a minimalist sketch-art style to tell a story about generational trauma in which the characters, just like the violence looming over them, are largely left unseen.
"Pachyderme” is perhaps the most striking example of this, as it uses a kind of children's book animation style to handle a story about incestuous molestation — a twist that is only hinted at by animated exaggerations like ogreish hands and the changing textures of wood and wallpaper.
In the opinion of this reviewer, there are two particular standouts among this year's selection.
The first is “Wild Summon,” which breaks the pattern described above by opting for uncanny realism. The opening nature shots are more or less indistinguishable from live action, and it's not totally clear that the film is animated until we're introduced to its stylistic premise: humanoid salmon.
It's a simple tweak, but therein lies its genius — its effects are so obvious and palpable that you might wonder why you haven't seen it before. Drawing political attention to overfishing, the film forces us to experience the journey of a salmon with human empathy.
It's a baby hatching and hiding amongst pebbles, a person trying to jump through the jaws of a bear, a person being pulled from the water and tagged by researchers, people having their throats slit en masse on a fishing boat. It brings us closer to the brutality of their lives than live action ever could.
The second standout is“Ninety-Five Senses,” a short with a deceptively relaxed voice that's concealing a horrific tragedy. Out of all of the nominees, this film has the strongest (and most delightful) sense of personality.
The narrator sounds like someone you'd see on “King of the Hill;” a lovably old-fashioned uncle who could talk you to sleep in your lawn chair. It's an unexpectedly perfect voice to use to explore the film's framing device — a reflective appreciation of the five senses — as it uses the disjunction between the homeliness of the narrator's voice and the tragedy of the context in which he's speaking to create an unforgettable sense of heartbreaking wistfulness.
For this reviewer, “Ninety-Five Senses” is most deserving of the award. Nonetheless, each of these nominees exhibits an insightfulness and mastery of craft that's delightful to witness. The sense of free play and experimentation in these shorts, no matter how bold, is always grounded by a thundering heart that's impossible to ignore.
Isaac Vaught is an MFA student in the Creative Writing program at Florida State University; his reviews and commentary have previously appeared in the “Stanford Daily.”
If you go
What: Oscar-nominated Short Films presented by the Tallahassee Film Society
When: “Animation Shorts”— 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 16; 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb.17; 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 24; 5:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 25; 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 2. “Live Action Shorts”— 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 17; 5:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 18; 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 23; 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 24; 2 p.m. Sunday, March 3. “Documentary Shorts”— 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 18; 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 25
Where: All Saints Cinema, 918-? Railroad Ave.
Cost: $11 general admission, $9 for TFS members and students
Visit: tallahasseefilms.com for more information
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Quiet violence of Oscars' best animated shorts emphasizes gravity
