Steve Pulaski "Everything will be okay" is a good summation of the themes for this year's batch of Oscar-nominated live action short films and it's an appropriate title for Germany/Austria's nominee for the respective category. The title comes from the phrase that people state to others when they're most likely rather unsure of what a situation's outcome will be, and in this particular short, it's often said by a divorced father (Simon Schwarz) to his young daughter (Julia Pointner), whom he plans to dart off with to Manila via a last minute flight. The father already hates the fact that the time with his precious baby girl is so limited that he winds up taking her shopping for a few toys before he goes to get an emergency passport and an airline ticket for a flight that winds up being delayed until the next morning. The two spend the night in a hotel where the little girl makes possibly the most courageous move of her life.Everything Will Be Okay works, for one, because it's predicated upon a simple relationship that most of us will recognize and, if nothing else, softly admire. A father's bond with his daughter is sentimental and tender, and taking that away from any man is bound to cause some sort of friction or added pain to his already reeling heart from a failing marriage. With that, while we may not agree with the plan he has crafted for his daughter, we nonetheless understand his motivations and why he'd want to do something like this.Vollrath creates a short that is built off of two things - a skeptical child's strong will and looming suspense and the feeling that something isn't quite right. We see a father's repeated plea to his daughter that things are simply complicated and are what they are, and she, no matter how many times he says it, isn't buying it. She wants to stay with her mother and doesn't understand why staying with her mother makes it that much harder for her father to regularly see her. It's a complicated issue and both parties are so stubborn that they can't take each others behavior much longer.Furthermore, the way Vollrath positions this story is pretty intriguing to say the least. The camera is frequently fixated in bird's eye view angles, often knocking us down to about the height and stature of the little girl. With that, we never really get a sense of what the father is doing by way of his own words, so the overall effect is like we're in the shoes of the little girl, simply picking up what we can and going from there. While Everything Will Be Okay is a strong drama, it also has beautiful elements of a thriller and works to be the most favorable of the lot of live actions shorts we've been graced with this year, thanks to its inherently simplicity but added narrative and aesthetic complexity.

MartinHafer This German language film is shot mostly from the viewpoint of the young girl, a child of about 7. Her parents are apparently divorced and her father has come to take her for the weekend. She's happy to see him and they seem to have a good relationship. However, through the course of their time together, it slowly becomes apparent that he's not telling her everything...and he appears to be abducting her to keep her mother from having custody of her. It takes a while for the girl to understand this, though eventually the horror of her situation sets in.This was the second depressing short of the show. Considering it's about kidnapping, it couldn't help but be depressing and your heart really starts pounding towards the big finale. I doubt if this one will win but it is well made. The biggest strike against it is that a lot of viewers might be a bit disappointed because so much about the story seems missing and it leaves you wanting to know more. But on the other hand, the little girl in the film was brilliant...absolutely amazing in her ability to act and act convincingly. I'd really love to see what this young lady is doing in films in the future.I'll make sure to update you as to whether or not this film ends up winning the Oscar for Best Live-Action Short.UPDATE: "Stutterer" took the Oscar for Best Live Action Short.

jtncsmistad-82689 From thequickflickcritic.blogspot.com/ The Oscar-shortlisted German Short "Everything Will Be Okay (Alles wird gut)" touched me in a particularly personal fashion. As a father, I found it wrenching to process this chronicle of a scheduled visit between a divorced dad and his young daughter as it rapidly disintegrates into a dark and ominous journey of utter desperation and debilitating sadness.Though I am not divorced, I certainly identify with the overwhelming love that Michael (a searingly heartbreaking portrayal from Simon Schwarz) has for his baby girl, Lea (8-year-old Julia Pointner in a stunningly moving performance beyond her years). Without reservation I can not condone the extremes to which this deeply troubled man goes to secure his child for his very own. Still, I absolutely comprehend the all-consuming emotions invested in doing whatever a parent must to care for and protect those whom you love literally more than you love your own life.At different moments in the film, little Lea is assured by first her father and later her mother that "Everything will be okay". Yet in the wake of the spirit-shattering final scene we have just witnessed, we are sure only of this: While it is a comfort well intentioned, for this conflicted child caught in the crossfire of scathingly contemptuous parental warfare, it is a promise that can never truly be honored.For more of my Movie Reviews categorized by Genre please visit: thequickflickcritic.blogspot.com/

FlashCallahan For a film that is a little over 30 minutes, long, Everytihng Will Be Okay packs more into its running time than your average Hollywood drama, which to be fair, this will probably end up being remade as a gritty Hollywood drama, which will be average, and star someone like Russell Crowe.The film starts with Michael picking up his daughter Lea from his assumed estranged wife. They don't exchange words, but Lea is happy to see her father, so again, one assumes that the break up must be fresh.So we follow Michael and Lea to what seems a perfectly normal Father and Daughter day, he takes her to a toy shop, and for a moment, when he forgets his wallet, I thought she was going to be abducted by an unknown, but no, he proceeds to buy her what she asks for, a perfectly normal thing to do for a parent trying to win favouritism.But then when we are back in the car, Lea cannot find her Cellphone. And then the alarm bells start ringing, and the film goes from a somber piece of drama about a dad trying to win his daughters affections, to a story of total desperation and despair of a man who doesn't believe in the old adage that time is a good healer, and then you realise that the title is highly ironic, because after the actions that Michael does out of sheer desperation, Everything is definitely not going to be okay.The last ten minutes of the film are heartbreaking, the makers really make you sympathise with both Lea and Michael. Lea loves her father dearly, but doesn't know why her father is doing what he is doing, and you sympathise with Michael, because there is a point where he realises what he is doing is wrong, but he is at that point of no return.As short films go, it's one of the most powerful things I've seen in a long time, and it's going to stay with me for a long time, because everything is not going to be okay for the central characters for a very long time.One mans selfish actions, can scar a vulnerable child for life.