Bad Art Movies

If it's true that "art imitates life," then life is in big trouble. I say this after a grueling two hours squirming through the five Oscar Nominated Live Action Short Films up for an award this year. Always a favorite activity of ours, my husband and I make a point of seeing these each year on a big screen somewhere. The current crop was shown today at the Portland Museum of Art, which houses one of the prettiest and most comfortable movie theaters I have ever had the pleasure to attend. But today it was more like a House of Horrors, and one that I had to finally escape before the final credits rolled. (I was not alone; many others in attendance also made a run for it.)

These particular five art films, chosen from around the world, were oddly similar. Each had a one-word title, and each was incredibly dark, depressing and almost impossible to watch. Four out of five involved little boys. None were what could be called "entertaining" or "enjoyable," which is what I always thought movies were supposed to be. To give you an idea, here's a bit about each:

Madre (Spain)
A young mother in Spain gets a call from her 6-year-old son who has been left alone on a beach in France by his father, for reasons unknown. She tries to keep the boy, who is frightened and crying, talking while soliciting help from the authorities. Her son says a bad man is coming towards him, and his phone battery dies. We only see the mother on her phone, never the boy on the beach. (That's it.)

Fauve (Canada)
Two pre-teen boys are playing in an abandoned quarry. They come upon a vast field of quicksand. One of them gets stuck and gets sucked in and dies, to his friend's horror. And ours. (The end.)

Detainment (Ireland)
Two 10-year-old boys abduct, torture and murder an adorable 2-year-old boy for no reason or for kicks, take your choice. They are caught by the police, and the whole movie consists of the two of them describing what they did to the little boy. Based on a true crime. (Google "Jon Venable.")

Marguerite (Canada)
A very old, dying woman is visited daily by a young caretaker who she learns is a lesbian. The old woman admits that she too once loved a woman, but in those days it was forbidden. She asks how it feels to be with a woman. The caretaker kisses her on the lips and climbs into bed with her, just so she can have a little taste. (Total yuk.)

Skin (US)
A group of white supremacist skinheads beat the shit out of a perfectly nice black man for no reason. The following day a group of black men seeking revenge kidnap him and tattoo his entire body so he is black all over, then return him to his home. His young skinhead son, believing it is some random black guy at the door, shoots him -- killing his own father. (I walked out during the brutal assault on the black man.)

Sounds like fun, huh? I hope you had a better afternoon than I did.