Monday, March 25, 2013

The Shore (2011)

1 Nomination, 0 Wins

Nomination: Best Short Film, Live Action - Oorlagh George and Terry George

"The Shore" is a film that could have been made only by the Irish.  The short film tells the story of two young friends in Northern Ireland who were separated by The Troubles that divided the island, and what happens when one of them attempts to repair their friendship.  In the hands of most filmmakers, this would be a somber tale, perhaps with a cathartic ending.  In the hands of Irish filmmakers, the film instead includes a hilarious chase scene involving a galloping horse and discarded prosthetic limbs.  

It is this humor that makes "The Shore" a success.  The story is relatively straightforward, and through the first half of the film not much has happened and the film begins to feel long, despite its approximately half hour runtime.  But once the film is done with its serious exposition, the levity of the storytelling elevates it into a lovely film.  

I am not terribly familiar with the details of The Troubles beyond the broadest of broad strokes, so I don't feel qualified to comment on the political context of the film or how the filmmakers deal with the film's political and historical theme.  But merely as a tale of two friends coming together after being divided due to reasons both political and personal, "The Shore" is a success.

Remaining: 3160 films, 874 Oscars, 5430 nominations

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