"Fauve" does not only stand foor a certain color in French (I think we in Germany say "ocker"), but also means basically predator and this refers to Mother Earth in this Canadian French Language short film from 2018 written and directed by Jeremy Comte. This is apparently his 4th short film, 2 of them documentaries, and of course it is his biggestg success so far as this one received a great share of awards recognition and eventually also an Oscar nomination. It is the second of the Oscar-animated shorts I have seen and I would say it is slightly superior to the James Bulger reenactment film. Despite being shorter as this one only runs for under 17 minutes and the crucial action all happens in the first half. We have two boys play in the mountainside. They are playing a game when one gets s point whenever he tricks, fools or humiliates the other in a way. One example would be that one jumps off an empty train and acts as if he has hurt his leg, but when the other moves closer to help him, he reveals that he has just been faking it. This scene was a crucial moment when it comes to the key scene in the quicksand at the end of the film's first half. Well, I will not go too much into detail about said quicksand scene, but let me say that it was really intense. Sadly, there are also one or two weaknesses to it, for example how he sinks in so quickly early on, then doesn't sink one bit for a while when talking to his buddy. I think they are friends, not brothers right? But it's not that important anyway. This is a film that is all about the plot and story, not about the actors really. There's two boys and eventually a woman. I knew none of these I must admit. Not too surprising though as the boys have never acted in a movie before while the female is a bit more prolific. Also back to the game. Lets keep in mind that the deadly quicksand scene happens when one boy is up 5-4 and you could say he has match point. But Mother Nature has something else in mind winning the match for herself it seems. There are some really stunning yet bleak and almost desperate nature shots of the mountain side in this movie here. It was really close to a 4 of 5 for me, but there were some minor moments that convinced me to keep it at 3. One I mentioned already, another would be the fox at the end, a reference back to early on when the game starts and one boy says he saw a fox perhaps trying to trick the other, perhaps there really was one. We will never know. But the fox we see at the end is a bit of a framework because there was one too when the game started. Or was going on already, but started for us somehow the audience. It is as if nature is making fun of them also mocking the boy who talked about being a vegetarian here as he is the victim eventually. A day the other boy will probably never forget. This was a good little movie. I wouldn't say subtitles are essential if you don't speak French, but they help a whole lot. After watching this one I regret even more not having seen all the 5 Oscar-nominated shorts on the big screen this year despite having the opportunity, a fault I will not make again in 2020. By the way I kept wondering where this was set as I don't think landscapes like these exist in France? But yeah, then I say it is Canadian, so maybe there. Not important either. No matter where it plays, you feel as if you are right there with the boys. Go watch this one. Quality execution (no pun intended).
Review of Fauve
