2012 Live Action Shorts: Asad, Buzkashi Boys, Curfew, Death of a Shadow (Dood van een Schaduw), and Henry

2012 Live Action Shorts: Asad, Buzkashi Boys, Curfew, Death of a Shadow (Dood van een Schaduw), and Henry

Other than Buzkashi Boys, I actually liked the live action shorts this year.  They were far more intriguing than the animated shorts.  Henry was a bit depressing, but Death of a Shadow was interesting and I really liked Asad and Curfew.

Asad

Asad gives a soldier his fish to save a friend.

Asad is about a boy named Asad (surprise surprise), who lives in poverty with his family in Somalia and is trying to become a fisherman and avoid the lure of the life of the Somali pirates.  After being threatened and robbed by some encroaching soldiers, Asad is told by an elderly fisherman that his luck is about to change, and he is sent out to fish on his own for the first time.  He doesn't catch any fish, but comes across a boat that was attacked by the Somali pirates.  The people on board are dead, to his horror, and one of the pirates he was acquainted with is dead as well.  He discovers the fluffiest white cat you have ever seen dressed in a ridiculous sailor costume, and brings it home, to the amazement of his village.  They have never seen such a thing.  He names it Lionfish, and agrees with the fisherman that after this great catch, his luck fishing will turn around.  It's cute and entertaining and disturbing all in the course of 20 minutes, so that's a pretty good short if you ask me.



Erasto: You caught this?
Asad: Yes.
Erasto: I've never seen anything like it.
Asad: Me neither.  It's like a white lion.
Erasto: Your name means lion.  And you've caught a white lion.  The winds never lie.
Asad: I'm naming him Lionfish.
Erasto: Lionfish?  Perfect.
Asad: And now I am a fishing man.  My streak of bad luck has been broken.
Erasto: Yes, with the greatest catch this village has ever seen.
Asad: You might bee right, Erasto. 

Buzkashi Boys




The last short I watched, and my least favorite.  There are long spaces without any dialogue, and the plot was a bit dull for me.  A young boy named Rafi is training to be a blacksmith under his strict father in Afghanistan, but he is not interested in the trade, and goes off with his friend Ahmad to watch the Buzkashi racers (men riding on horses carrying a dead goat...a strange game).  The two boys fantasize about becoming Buzkashi racers, especially Ahmad, who takes a horse to ride and promptly gets killed falling off.  After some introspection, Rafi decides that he will focus on his blacksmith training after all, and returns home.  Just not my thing.

Curfew


Curfew begins with the main character Richie in the bathtub, clearly in the process of committing suicide (his wrists are slit), on the phone with his long estranged sister who is in a bind and needs him to babysit her daughter for a few hours.  He agrees, binds up his wrists, and spends the evening with his niece, Sophia, whom he has not seen since she was a baby.  As they talk and get to know each other, they bond, and Richie reflects on memories of good times he had with his sister when they were young.  When he drops Sophia off at home at the end of the evening, he tells his sister how much he admires her and what an amazing mother she must be to have raised such a great kid, even though she has told him that this is a one time thing and she doesn't want him in Sophia's life.  He then returns home to finish committing suicide.  Again, the phone rings.  At first he unplugs it, but then changes his mind, plugs it back in and answers it.  His sister has had a change of heart, and asks if he would be interested in babysitting Sophia on a more regular basis.  He happily agrees.  It was a sweet movie.

Death of a Shadow (Dood van een Schaduw)
 

Death of a Shadow is a peculiar sci fi short about a man who was killed in WWII and is earning his life back by photographing deaths for a man's gallery...it's more complicated than that -he seems to be choosing their deaths, he travels in time, and their shadows are captured (their souls?) and pinned in frames.  I didn't quite get what was happening.  When he finally earns his life back, he has taken the life of the beloved of the woman he loves (or did he just photograph it, and the death was already ordained...?...not sure), and she has lost her mind a bit with his death.  He changes his mind and exchanges his life for her love's life, and the two are reunited, with our hero once again killed and framed in the bizarre gallery.  I didn't entirely get what was happening, but it was pretty compelling to watch, and a unique idea.


Henry


Henry was rather Amour-esque.  Henry is clearly suffering from Alzheimer's, or something similar, as his memory is getting increasingly worse.  He becomes confused as to his surroundings, believes that his wife is still alive (though she died a year ago), becomes hysterical when he is confronted with the truth of his situation, believes that his wife is danger, and often fails to recognize his daughter, who visits him frequently.  At times he relives memories (like meeting his wife, his daughter being born, performing in a concert with his wife) as clearly as if he were there.  Other times, the memories are gone.  When he is aware of what is happening, and of the fact that he will lose his memories more and more, it is very sad.  Same when he recognizes his daughter, and she is happily able to converse with him, and then his clarity fades and he is lost to her again all too soon.  Well-filmed, but not a cheerful little movie.