At Night (2007)

This film was not just about teenagers dying of cancer... it was a portrait of friendship and a need for the presence of those we love when we struggle. My heart broke as these three young women discovered strength in themselves while they cared for each other. This film portrays well the awkwardness of dying which almost creates an embarrassment that we might be an imposition on the living. We would do well to search our souls in preparation for comforting the terminally ill or comforting our loved ones when we become terminal. This film helps one do just that. I recommend it with an assignment: look for the deep need for presence.

It seems that 90% of films, and 99% of shorts are deemed artistic simply because they are depressing. Here is an example.Being in subtitles doesn't help, as no one cares enough to watch the words for the whole bit. It is low energy, and evokes no emotion.The hospital scenes will put you to sleep. We know what will happen, and we don't care. It is no news that terminal illness is terminal. Why don't we just make a bunch of depressing films and depress half the population of the world into suicide so they don't have to worry about terminal illness? That is all the writer wants to do. Period.This could have been viewable if the writer made one bit of effort to make it interesting, but no effort was made. Pathetic work. I can't imagine any audience for this, except for the "blues" crowd, those who don't have enough pain in their life, so they want Art to be painful, too. Trouble with these brats is that they want to cram this garbage down our throats.

I just picked up a DVD at my local library containing all the AA-nominated shorts from 2007 (both live action and animated). This one was the best of the lot. It is a very sad, emotionally moving story and an excellent look at people facing their cancer along with the associated fear and loneliness. The acting is great, the dialog is very poignant. My favorite part is where a father tells his daughter, who is about to undergo surgery for a tumor in her spine, that admitting she is afraid has actually been a very courageous act. The story involves three women, all cancer patients in a hospital, who bond together amidst facing their fears surrounding their conditions. When one of the women must have surgery on New Years Eve, the three of them decide to celebrate the holiday the night before, not knowing if they will live to spend another such time together. One of them admits to the others that she feels alienated from and hated by her parents due to her own past actions, and, as a result, her parents are not even aware of her illness. This is definitely a very moving short film.

I saw this movie at a special showing by a local film society of all the Oscar nominated Live Action Shorts about a week or so before the Oscars were announced. Because of the timing, I don't know if OM NATTEN won the award or not, but I assume that it will. Part of this is because the film is so wonderfully made and part of this is because this seems like the type of film the committee normally loves--since it's so depressing and "deep".The story is about three young women who have cancer. They are lonely and scared and turn to each other for support. Within the group is one young lady whose life if filled with regrets. In the past, she ran from her own mother's illness and hates herself for her weakness. Later, this theme becomes important to the women and plays itself out once again.I saw this film with my teenage daughter and we both strongly disagreed on what we thought of it. She thought it was clichéd (reminding her of other films) and just not the type movie she'd like to see since it's about death and dying.As for me, I was captivated by the exceptional writing and acting. As for the acting, I was impressed that the actors and actresses were able to cry and call upon such extreme emotions--it made it seem very real. And as for the writing, while it could have been clichéd, the interweaving of the two themes really made the film memorable. A wonderful but exceptionally difficult movie to watch.By the way, how we both perceived the film might also have something to do with our life experiences. I had cancer years ago and so perhaps this is why the film had such impact on me.UPDATE--Apparently I am lousy at guessing Oscars, as MOZART OF PICKPOCKETS just won the award for 2008.