Oscar-nominated Live Action Short Films Review

After three years now it’s safe to say I have made a tradition of seeing the Oscar-nominated short films at IFC Center in New York. And I have the same observation this year that I had last year about the live action shorts. There’s something so refreshing about short films. It’s like being freed from the confines of what’s involved in a two hour plus feature. You know with each one that the resolution will come quickly and that there won’t be any subplots. It’s also fascinating to realize that many short films could very easily be expanded to feature length. Therefore the converse must be true and suddenly you start thinking about all the features that might have been better as restrained short films. This year’s crop of five nominees represent not only five different countries, but also very different subject matter and styles of storytelling.

The Invisible Woman

In the little-known and seldom told tale of Charles Dickens and his much younger lover, director Ralph Fiennes brings a vitality that is often lacking in staid period costume dramas, As an actor, he imbues Dickens with life. It’s easy to imagine him as a hard and severe man what with his novels dealing with orphans, urchins, tough disciplinarians, cruelty, and war. But as played by Fiennes and written by Abi Morgan, he is playful, youthful, and full of vibrancy.