A Year in Shorts Day 32: "A Greek Tragedy"

Something you have to accept when you embark on a quest to watch every film ever nominated for an Academy Award is that the Oscar so rarely goes to the right film. It sucks, but it’s something you have to accept. Braveheart did not deserve Best Picture over Sense and Sensibility. Rex Harrison did not deserve Best Actor over Peter Sellers, Richard Burton AND Peter O’Toole. Suicide Squad does not deserve to have won more Oscars than Singin’ in the Rain. This is just part of the game, and you just have to try and explain it away as best you can. But as far as I can tell, there is simply no reasonable explanation for why today’s film, A Greek Tragedy, deserved to win Best Animated Short over Luxo Jr.


(via IMDb)

Directed by Belgian animator Nicole Van Goethem, A Greek Tragedy follows the... well, calling it a story seems generous. Regardless, A Greek Tragedy is about three statues (carved to depict scantily clad women) trying (and failing) to hold up a crumbling roof. It is, ostensibly, a comedy, and yet it isn't particularly funny. It struggles to even earn the right to be called mildly amusing.



I don't know, I suppose this short must appeal to someone, but darned if I can see why. It's just not very entertaining, and the animation is downright unpleasant to look at. It's certainly not the worst short we've looked at, but it's one of the most inexplicable. What about this made enough people vote for it to win the Oscar? What about it was even enough to get it nominated?

Ultimately, A Greek Tragedy belongs to that unfortunate category of shorts that just aren't interesting to talk about. At least La Salla had being aggressively annoying going for it. The only interesting thing about A Greek Tragedy has nothing to do with the short itself, and has everything to do with the fact that it somehow beat out a much worthier contender.

And if that's not tragic, I don't know what is.


Keep up with the Oscar Baiting here on Letterboxd!


The Great Oscar Baiter is a not-for-profit work of criticism. All images herein are property of their respective owners and are protected under Fair Use.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Song of the Week #15: "Take My Breath Away"

Image
I’ll put myself on a consistent schedule for these things one day, I promise. In my defense, there are a lot of movies to catch up on, and isn’t that what Oscar Baiting is all about? For instance- until recently, I’d never seen the original Top Gun! But with Top Gun: Maverick holding its spot as the biggest hit of the year (probably only to be dethroned by Black Panther or Avatar ) and even potentially soaring into the obligatory crowd pleaser Best Picture slot, I figured it was time to see where things began. Because while the Oscars Top Gun: Maverick may win have yet to be decided, the first Top Gun only went home with one- for the love theme, “Take My Breath Away.” (via Wikipedia) Love themes for films have gone a bit out of style these days, although for a long time it seemed to be a surefire way to nab a Best Song nomination. Seriously, look through the Wikipedia article and count how many times you see "Title Seemingly Chosen at Random (Love Theme from Movie You Didn...
Read more

Song of the Week #6: "The Ballad of High Noon"

Image
I was finally able to catch Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast this weekend, and I have to say it certainly lived up to the hype. There’s a lot to love about this movie, from the gorgeous black-and-white cinematography, the exquisite performances from both the seasoned veterans and newcomers in the cast, to a script that’s brimming with heart and humor. But one aspect of the film I don’t see a lot of people mention is the way it incorporates footage from other films- most notably Fred Zinnemann’s High Noon, using not only a scene from the movie itself but scoring two pivotal scenes with the film’s theme song, the aptly-named (and Oscar-winning) “The Ballad of High Noon.” It was a bold choice to be sure, but who could blame Branagh? It’s a great movie, and a great song- and the subject for today’s installment in Song of the Week. (via Wikipedia) For those of you haven't seen High Noon... well, you really should get on that, it's a classic! Aside from being a taut, tightly edited thril...
Read more

Song of the Week #14- "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang"

Image
I was watching Belfast with my friend last week, and- like all great films- it raised a lot of questions. Questions like, “Hey, remember the last time I watched Belfast and was inspired to write a blog post because of it ?” and “Hey, why haven’t I written anything Oscar Bait related in a while?” Well, luckily for all of us “The Ballad of High Noon” wasn’t the only Oscar-nominated song featured in Belfast. Unluckily for us, that other song just happens to be “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.” (via Wikipedia) Readers of this blog will hopefully remember that I love a good movie musical. Sadly, those were few and far between in the 1960s. Oh sure, movie musicals certainly had a brief resurgence in those days. Many of them were big hits, both critically and commercially. Hell, Best Picture went to a musical on four separate occasions in that decade! But how many of them were actually any good? Not a lot. Oh sure, The Music Man is great fun and Mary Poppins is a classic. But far too many mu...
Read more