Excellence defines this year's Oscar-nominated documentary shorts
'Instruments of a Beating Heart'
The New York Times Op-Docs presents this Japanese-language documentary about first-graders readying for a performance of Beethoven's 'Ode to Joy.' Though they are only performing for their graduation ceremony, the musicians are put through their paces as if they were playing Carnegie Hall. Their conductor/music teacher is strict but fair; he expects every member of his orchestra to practice every day.
In the shortest of the five nominees, director Ema Ryan Yamazaki follows Ayame, a student who auditions for the drum part but ends up playing the cymbal. Her struggles to master her part are moving and sweet. This is definitely the crowd-pleaser in the bunch, but I think it will be overshadowed by another music-based entry. In Japanese with subtitles (★★★)
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A still from "I Am Ready, Warden."
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'I Am Ready, Warden'
Smriti Mundhra's documentary was an entry in the
During his three stays of execution, Ramirez was on death row 14 years, and in solitary for 23 hours a day. The film opens after every other legal option has been exhausted, leading us to the day of Ramirez's execution. The title references the last words spoken by Ramirez before he was executed by the state.
We hear from Ramirez through interviews and the footage taken of his last days. We also see Texas district attorney Mark Gonzalez attempting to retract his office's original death-penalty sentence on moral grounds. Ramirez's teenage son, Izzy, is also featured in a scene where he takes his father's last phone call.
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Where 'I Am Ready, Warden' shines is in the moments it spends with Aaron Castro. It's hard for him — and by extension, the viewer — to take Ramirez's repentance with anything other than a huge grain of salt. After all, Ramirez fled to Mexico, started a new life, and was almost never captured. Castro is confused by his swiftly changing emotions, and his reaction to Ramirez's execution is the most powerful scene in the film. It's a haunting acknowledgment that closure was never fully achievable. (★★★½)
A still from "Death by Numbers."
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'Death by Numbers'
'I smile in the face of hate,' says Samantha Fuentes, the subject of the second death-penalty-based short. 'That is my revenge.'
Fuentes is a survivor of the Parkland school shooting. Director Kim A. Snyder follows her as she readies to attend the sentencing trial of Nikolas Cruz. Using an AR-15, Cruz
'Death by Numbers' alternates between Fuentes talking onscreen and reading her diary entries on the soundtrack. These recitations are especially profound, as they give us insight into how she is coping with the situation. As if she is scratching him out of her diary, Cruz's face is covered with an X whenever he appears onscreen. The X is removed at a crucial moment near the end.
Though there is some uplift here, the film still makes you angry that so little has been done regarding gun control. (★★★½)
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A still from "Incident."
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'Incident'
This horrifying and infuriating documentary by Bill Morrison ('Dawson City: Frozen Time') was the hardest nominee to watch. For me, it was also the most important. In the first two minutes of the film, we silently witness the shooting death of Harith Augustus by Chicago police officers. Augustus, a beloved South Side barber, was carrying a licensed gun at the time. Within seconds, he was gunned down.
When this incident occurred on July 14, 2018, tensions between police and civilians were high due to the upcoming trial involving the officer who shot Laquan McDonald. (
Morrison lets you decide whether Augustus's death was 'justified.' Using surveillance footage from a nearby camera and police bodycam footage, 'Incident' splits the screen into multiple segments as we watch these perspectives unfold. Editor Morrison does a superb job synchronizing all the footage obtained by producer Jamie Kalven through a
Throughout the entire film, the brutalized body of Augustus appears onscreen, forcing you to observe it as chaos and confusion mount in each quadrant of footage.
If the Academy is willing to go for the toughest sit, this will win. But I believe their votes will skew toward a feel-good story. (★★★★)
'The Only Girl in the Orchestra'
With Netflix behind it, and Errol Morris producing, this is my pick for the Oscar. It's a very entertaining look at Orin O'Brien, the first woman to earn a permanent seat in the New York Philharmonic. Conductor Leonard Bernstein hired her to play the double bass in 1966; she remained there for 55 years.
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Her
niece, Molly O'Brien, is the film's director, and the filmmaker's famous auntie grumbles every time she tries to make her out to be 'more important than I am.' As a double-bass musician, O'Brien says she loved the joy of being a supporting player, not the main attraction. Playing with the rest of the orchestra is what she loved most.
'The Only Girl in the Orchestra' has fun looking at some of the sexist things written about O'Brien when she started. One
I loved hearing O'Brien talk about her instrument and seeing her with her current students. This short is quite enjoyable and informative, which is why I think the Academy will go for it. (★★★½)
Odie Henderson is the Boston Globe's film critic.
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