Tout ira bien (2015) Online

"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.

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.

Greetings again from the darkness. Dramatic short films are challenged with generating an ultra-quick connection with viewers. German director Patrick Vollrath begins the film by showing a man anxiously pacing and buzzing the gate bell outside a suburban home. Our instincts that tell us he must be in some kind of trouble fade a bit when an 8 year old girl runs into his arms exclaiming "Daddy!"

Lea (newcomer Julia Pointer) clearly loves her father, and we quickly figure out this must be the scheduled every other weekend visit resulting from a recent divorce. Lea's excitement is palpable as they stop off at a toy store where her dad tells her she can pick out any two items she wants. A simple gesture that's probably repeated thousands of times each weekend, re-ignites the instincts we felt in the opening scene. Some "little" hints confirm our suspicion as the two hurriedly rush to an appointment at a government office and then on to the airport.

Simon Schwarz plays Michael Baumgartner, the dad who transitions from anxious to warm/loving to purely desperate. His performance, and that of young Ms. Pointer, are realistic and so spot on that we as viewers are sympathetic to both. It's an exceptionally tense and dramatic half-hour reminding us that in a broken family, it's rarely the case that "everything will be okay", and sometimes things escalate into a literal tug-of-war that is heart-breaking. This is expert work from a filmmaker that understands the magic of short films, and it's little wonder the film has been so well received at AFI, Cannes and numerous other festivals.

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.

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.

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Alles wird gut (2015)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Divorced father Michael (Simon Schwarz) picks up his daughter Lea (Julia Pointner) just like he does every other weekend. It starts off as a fun time as the two visit a toy store but soon the daughter begins to realize that this day isn't like the normal visitations.

ALLES WIRD GUT is the German short that received a Best Short nomination and it's a pretty powerful film even though I thought it ran a tad bit long at 30 minutes. There's no doubt that director Patrick Vollrath did an excellent job at keeping the viewer in the dark for the first ten minutes before revealing the twist of what was really happening. Another major strong point are the two performances with both Schwarz and Pointner doing excellent work. I thought Pointner was extremely believable as the confused daughter who soon realizes what her father's intentions are.

"Alles wird gut" or "Everything Will Be Okay" is a German/Austrian co-production from last year (2015) that resulted in a half-hour live action short film that managed to impress awards bodies all over the planet. The movie is entirely in German language, so you may want to get subtitles. The writer and director is Patrick Vollrath, who has been writing and directing short films since 2009 already, bus this one here is easily his biggest success so far. And the reason is that his effort was nominated for an Academy Award. And even if he lost to "Stutterer", it is still a great achievement. This is the story of a desperate father who tries to fly out of the country with his young daughter because his ex-wife is about to assure he does not get to see her daughter anymore. Is the title true and will everything really be okay eventually? Watch for yourself and do not keep reading this review if you want to avoid spoilers.

The sad thing about this short film is that even if the daughter is safe that there are really only losers eventually here, most of all the father and also the daughter because this day was probably a traumatic event that she will always remember. I think Simon Schwarz does a pretty good job, but that's no surprise looking at his long and successful career. The child actress is Julia Pointness and she gives one of the best child performances of 2015 for sure. Her work should not be discredited because it is "only" a short film. The best thing about the film is probably the emotional moment when Schwarz' character confesses at the end that he has nobody and nothing besides her in life. The weakest moment is perhaps when the daughter tells him that he has to admit that he made something wrong and regret it. This did not feel like an authentic kid's reaction at that point. Overall, however, the good outweighs the bad and I am fine with the film's Academy Award nomination. It's maybe not good enough to win, but then again it's at least as good as the winner I mentioned earlier. Plus, the subject here (fathers' rights) is probably a lot more relevant. Go see it! You will not be disappointed.

This was my favorite film out of the five Oscar shorts (almost tied with "Day One").

I'll start by saying it's comparison with the "Room" is obvious.

It was intense, darling and flawlessly made. No plot holes or questions. Nothing done in bad taste and while the ending was dramatic (and daring) the story wasn't all in all horrible (like Room). No one almost died and no one was rapped (like in the movie Room) however the intensity and story style was matched.

Perhaps the short format is better for a story like this and if Room had been a short, is would have been better but again I mentioned that this film lacked the distasteful subject matter that Room did.