Horst in Translation ([email protected]) Here we have a half-hour Swiss short film from 8 years ago. The writer and director is Reto Caffi and it is a bit sad to see that he (just like his co-writer) has not made another film or even short film in the almost 10 years since this was made. "Auf der Strecke" was nominated for an Academy Award, but lost funnily enough to another German-language movie. Then again, the language in here is Swiss German for the most part. It's actually an entirely different language than German, so even German native speakers may have a hard time understanding the dialogs. It's almost as difficult as Dutch. However, there are also several parts in here in common German, which everybody will understand. Pretty much the entire second half is in German.The central character is a department store detective and he has a crush on a woman working in the store where he constantly watches her. It's actually a bit of stalking already. He also, intentionally, takes the same train home as she does. One day, he sees her with another man in the subway and the woman and the stranger seem close at first, but then have an argument and the woman leaves. The stranger gets into a heavy argument with a bunch of young men who are looking for trouble. The department store detective is in the same train all the time and watches it, but then decides to leave at the next station. The next day, he hears a devastating message which will have a crucial impact on his blossoming relationship with the woman he desires. All in all, a decent short film. I would probably not say it is among the year's five best short movies, but I certainly recommend it and I hope Caffi will, at some point, have a career again.

anhedonia It is amazing that there are good, bordering on great, filmmakers out there making short films that are infinitely more entertaining than many feature films Hollywood puts out."On the Line" is one such short film.Deliberately paced and well-acted, "On the Line" is one of those rare films that not only trusts the audience to put together the pieces, but also knows you don't need flashy camera work or jump-cuts to keep an audience hooked.The film also never judges its characters. We understand why they do what they do, the repercussions with which they have to live and the things humans are capable of doing when faced with idiotic emotions, such as jealously.I got more joy out of this film's 30 minutes than I have watching many Hollywood films recently.What is surprising is that all the Academy Award-nominated live action films are from foreign countries. Is it that American filmmakers are not making interesting shorts or that there just isn't financing available for them?

MartinHafer Today I went with three friends to a special showing of all the films nominated for the 2009 Oscar for Best Live Action Short. Oddly, the four of us were in pretty much agreement about the films. Our pick for best of the nominees was PIG ("Grisen"), though ON THE LINE ("Auf der Strecke") was a very good film and is nearly as deserving of the award. We predicted that TOYLAND ("Spielzeugland"), however, will win the award because it's the sort of the film the Academy tends to like AND because PIG might ruffle some feathers because it is not "politically correct". I'll update this review after the awards are given.ON THE LINE is a very quiet film--with a very slow and deliberate pace. Many times, the dialog is minimal as the story unfolds. Because of how it was made, the audience is left to put the pieces together to understand the film--and this is a very clever way to handle the story. A security officer at a department store is in love with a female co-worker, though he has trouble approaching her with his feelings. However, before he can muster a chance to tell her, he sees her on the subway with another man. When the other man and the lady have an argument, the security officer just sits and watches. When she leaves, he then watches as a gang of punks begin harassing the guy. When the harassment gets violent, the security guy just gets off the train and leaves the poor guy to the thugs. Is he afraid to intervene? Does he want to see this boyfriend get beaten up by the punks? Later, you find out that not only is the man on the subway killed but that he was actually the lady's brother. When the lady seeks solace with the security guard, the man is shaken. Yes, he wanted the lady but he seems to struggle with his inaction.As I said, so many questions are left unanswered. You never really know what happens next and the motivations of the characters are deliberately left open to your own interpretation. No doubt some will hate this ambiguity, but frankly I liked it, as it made you think.Technically speaking, this is for the most part a very good film as well--with some really nice camera work, a lovely haunting musical score and lovely acting throughout. The writer and director really knew their craft. The only complaint I have is that in some films, the jerkiness of the shots belie that a hand-held camera was sometimes used and while SOME may find this trendy, this is a trend I could do without and which has been fortunately disappearing more and more in recent years.UPDATE: It's official, TOYLAND is the winner. This didn't surprise me at all and it was well deserving of the award, though I was still pulling for PIG to take the honors.

andeharwood I just watched a collection of short films at the Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF). On the Line (Auf der Strecke) was one of them. It was fantastic. I didn't want it to end. I was moved and thoroughly impressed. The lead was fantastic and the girl was great, too. The story was emotional and perfect. The writing was authentic and it made me feel for the main characters. All of the scenes had a clarity to them that I wouldn't expect from students. I hope that I get to see more of their work in the future. I think everyone should jump at any chance to see this short film. It is very deserving of all of its awards. I can't wait to see how it does at SIFF.