These past two days I watched several of the 2010 Oscar Best Animated Short winners and nominees, and each one left quite an impression! I’d especially recommend these two:

1. The Lady and the Reaper, 2009. Production company: Kandor Graphics and Green Moon.

The soul of a dying old woman is about to be led away by the Reaper. She isn’t afraid, because she’ll get to go to heaven and see her late husband again, finally ending her lonely life on the farm. But a meddling doctor revives her, and the Reaper, unwilling to accept this, launches an all-out battle against the doctor.

This raises the question of euthanasia. It’s worth noting that our country still has no law on euthanasia to this day – although NPC delegate Yan Renying once raised the issue of euthanasia at the Seventh National People’s Congress, it was never passed. People insist on forcibly intervening in the deaths of those who wish to die, when death, for someone enduring agony on their deathbed, is precisely the best release. Looked at from another angle, in today’s economic downturn, couldn’t we at least cut back on emergency-rescue costs? Clearly, confusion never goes away.

2. French Roast, 2008. Production company: Pumpkin Factory/Bibo Films.

An arrogant businessman, after finishing his coffee at a restaurant in Paris, suddenly realizes his wallet is missing. To save face he hatches a series of dishonest schemes, all of which fail again and again, nearly landing him in real trouble – and in the end, the one who saves him is the very beggar he had looked down on. In the film, the characters’ true inner selves overturn their outward appearances: the seemingly simple, kindly old woman turns out to be a wanted criminal; the seemingly wealthy businessman turns out to be penniless; the seemingly destitute beggar turns out to be a philanthropist; the seemingly bull-strong policeman turns out to be an indifferent drunk. (Douban)

Drama is real life, a strange, somber, and painful kind of existence, where men and women expose the evil within their hearts beneath the merciless gaze of the crowd: a lovely face conceals a corrupted soul; gentlemen and ladies use virtue as a mask to hide their secrets; the seemingly strong, for all their outward show, gradually reveal themselves as cowardly because of their own weaknesses; the honest man is not honest at all; the seemingly pure and noble turn out to be the harlot and the libertine. (Of Human Bondage, Maugham).

So then, can you really tell the difference between drama and life?

2010 Oscar Best Animated Short Collection Verycd Download Link