The Flying Sailor

So let's start out with the inspiration here, which is not a spoiler since it's all over the previews and PR for this little vignette: the real-life Halifax explosion of 1917, which was the largest artificial explosion in the history of the world until the atomic bomb was developed and tested. It was a cataclysm that has defined Halifax in some ways ever since, both for the stories of shared hardship and survival and the many little stories -- perhaps apocryphal -- that have spun out of it.

In this particular case, the inspiration was the story of a sailor (the first officer of a cargo ship, in real life, a regular swabbie in this film) who was blown by the explosion quite far, landing with his clothes entirely off. In real life, a number of people were blown far and survived, thanks to the curvature of the hills around Halifax providing landing zones at just the right part of the arc of their flight, although perhaps not so far as the tag on the film suggests.

Exactly true or not, doesn't really matter. In fact, the question as to whether he's alive or dead is central to how to read the film. It's an imagistic montage of life, death, and the universe, not a story per se, a kind of cross between "Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" and the final sequence from "2001: A Space Odyssey" with a touch of that old staple of math class, "Powers of Ten" thrown in.

The animation is lovely and engaging, and the sense of jeopardy is heightened by the literal exposure of the sailor having his clothes blown off (tastefully but anatomically correct in its depiction, nota bene for the squeamish).

The film is in parts that mirror the flight of something blown by an explosion; in the middle is a sort of hanging moment, where the viewer is in mid-air, and whether there will be a second half or a "happy" resolution is very much uncertain. Very nice filmmaking.

This was our second favorite, but among the members of our party who saw it, we differed on the best of the five Oscar nominees, and if we'd used ranked choice voting, this would have come out the winner.

In any event, kudos to the filmmakers for this little gem.

In Halifax harbour, a colision between two ships. One of victims of explosion - a sailor jump, for two kilometers, pushed by blast. The skin of film - the life flashbacks, from childhood to the life in Marine, conflict against a mate, a game . And , again. Techical, more than interesting. But the end is so brutal than a sort of dessapointment becomes fair.

First , because it has an obscure purpose . To remind the explosion ? Maybe is it enough. To suggest an experience, eccentric , special, strange and a miraculous survive ? It just well works in this sense. Or, maybe, to offer one of stories so loved by inner child inside us . For this, just applauses.

In short, an Oscar nominated.

The only problem for me - the impecable survive, in his mouth, of...cigarette.

Road to the Oscars 2023. This short is nominated for 1 Oscar and it´s animated short of course. I don´t see this as anything that special. It´s a very artistic short so maybe it spoke to you more than me. I understand and see the appeal, but after watching it I felt like noting in particular was said and happened and I felt no reason to watch this again.

A sailor caught in an explosion see his life flash before his eyes.

The score is really good here. It´s moving and uses the piano well, although I feel like every single short film dose that. Not to make the score sound worse but I think the soft piano has been done so many times it feels like it´s own trope now.

I liked the clashing art styles and especially the beginning. I found some part of it to be art styles not for me like the way the sailor is drawn but that´s a taste thing.

It´s a short that hits the balance between fun and cartoony and contrasts it with seriousness. The opening and the start of the explosion really sets the tone and uses the medium of animation to its advantage to really subvert expectations.

It´s a short about what happens before we die. Allegedly you see your life flash before you and that´s what we see here. It´s not clear cut or anything, the sailor is seeing small glimpses of his life and nothing that coherent. It works wonders but creates this weird feeling movie without much form. But I guess that's the point. How do you make a life flash before someone without making it weird? It´s a really artistic interpretation first and a movie with any substance second. Personally, this didn't speak to me, but maybe it´ll speak to you. I see the artistic craftmanship here as well done, but it doesn't resonate with me in any way.

Overall, I see the short as entertaining enough, but without saying much. It´s capturing a moment in a beautiful way and uses both music and animation to its advantage, but other than that, it´s nothing too special too me.

Oscar predictions: I haven't seen the other animated shorts yet, but if this is winning it must have been a dull year for animated shorts. It wouldn't make me mad, but just make me shrug.

An Oscar-nominated 8-minute animated short film. I said wow. If an 8-minute animated short is nominated for an Oscar, I must watch it. Luckily it's uploaded on Youtube. I watched. I did not like at all. First of all, although the shooting style is different, it is very obvious that they use this style to win "awards". They did it this way to be "cool". The story is very simple. I didn't know anything about Halifax Explosion. My positive opinion about the movie was about this event. I'm going to investigate about this accident. It piqued my interest. But this movie was not good for me. The Oscar nomination was an exaggeration.

Great short on just one storyline of the many available on this horrific event.

If you want to know more about the explosion then search it, there's plenty out there. Don't assume this short is anything but that, a short of one person's story. Don't rate it poor because you want it to be what it's not.

These take a LONG time to make, appreciate that.

I liked the music, the flashbacks, the colouring, the rawness, right down to some gestures the sailor makes. I won't give it away, it's a short after all.

You can watch it on NFB website and youtube. NFB stands for National Film Board of Canada.