‘Outstanding Entertaining Short Films’ Lives Up To Its Title

No, it’s not just a cunning name. “Outstandingly Entertaining Short Films,” the aptly titled compilation featured at the Museum of Fine Arts, showcases a range of films, each one meriting individual acclaim while at the same time contributing to a cohesive whole. This sometimes provocative, occasionally heartwarming, frequently hysterical collection of short films provides a refreshing deviation from your standard movie fare.

The series kicks off with the light, fun “405,” the shortest of the films at just over three minutes. An afternoon commute on Interstate 405 becomes a frenzied brush with death for one young SUV driver. The film’s dialogue-free, action centered, cartoony feel is almost reminiscent of a Road Runner/ Coyote sketch. The characters (a young dude and a stereotypical representation of a feisty, elderly driver) come across more as caricatures, and their comical facial expressions alone are enough to give the film merit.

“Delusions In Modern Primitivism” follows. It is a pseudo-documentary perhaps best likened to “This Is Spinal Tap” meets “Jackass.” Flanked by warnings “not to try this at home” with the threat of probable death (in addition to the pre-screening verbal warning referencing the film’s graphic scene), you know you’re in for some quality gore, which of course translates to quality entertainment. The film features Jerome, a heavily tattooed white, suburban, young male — mid-identity crisis — driving through the outskirts of Dallas and spouting offensively poor metaphors regarding his “custom wearable art” (which has supplanted piercing, deemed “no longer a viable expression of [his] anger”). The film takes a quasi-dark turn when he reveals his intention to acquire a bullet wound as the next step of scarification. The seemingly disturbing subject matter is skillfully made light of, and its mockumentary format is effective. Assuming you can stomach it, this film is hysterically entertaining.

Dialogue resumes a back seat in “Jigsaw Venus,” shot sans dialogue to communicate the shyness of the two characters. This film portrays the awkward flirtation and eventual copulation of a bumbling, nervous, timid middle-age man and a slightly less timid (but slightly more obese) woman. Intermittently juxtaposed are the images of the nude Venus, depicted on a puzzle the woman eventually completes, with her own less attractive, yet equally nude figure. This is borderline repulsive, but like “Delusions,” if you can stomach it, it’s quality comedy. The film’s strengths lie in its endearing characters and heartwarming storyline, with an honorable mention to cinematography. It has the feel of a mock artsy foreign film, and at times almost feels like a painting in motion.

In contrast to “Jigsaw Venus,” the film that follows, “Gate,” is very dialogue-centered. The action is kept to a minimum; the film, featuring three Australian men, documents the interrogation that ensues following the discovery that someone left a gate open, allowing the sheep to escape. This film is comparably slow and on the verge of dragging at times. However, it usually rescues itself with a witty remark or amusing banter, and the pace is undoubtedly intended to convey the staleness and habit of the men’s daily lives. The problem with the dialogue’s centrality is that the Australian accents are, at times, a challenge to discern; thus, some of the crucial dialogue may become lost. The film’s appeal lies primarily in its likeable characters and their playfully amusing interaction with one another. Although slightly less compelling than its precedents, “Gate” entertains and amuses.

The 2001 Academy Award nominated “By Courier” is based on a short story by O. Henry, and uses the centrality of dialogue as its subject. The film depicts the interaction of a self-consciously proper couple (both straight out of a Jane Austen novel) via a young city boy who looked like he could have just walked off the set of “Newsies.” The comedy lies within the contrast between the deliberately elaborate, eloquent speech spouted by the feuding couple and its translation into an equally indiscernible slang dialect spoken in the crude, New York City accent of the young boy, who acts as the medium through which the couple communicates. Beyond its comic value, the film seeks to address the shortcoming of the senses in comprehending the truth. The characters are endearing, particularly the young boy, and unlike “Gate,” the less you are able to follow the dialogue, the funnier and more effective the film comes across. “By Courier” is both visually and audibly satisfying.

Perhaps the most ambitious and undoubtedly the most intense film in the series is “Bullet In the Brain.” This film looks at life through the perspective of an aging, harshly opinionated English teacher with a passion for words. This eventually ends up getting him into trouble (as is forecasted by the film’s title) when he becomes involved in a bank hold-up. The film is fresh, provocative, cinematically breathtaking, and sensuously evocative. It initially feels like too much to tackle for a 14-minute film, but it is ultimately successful. Because it is preceded by a series of lighter comedies, the film’s impact is heightened in that the mood of the viewer becomes fairly drastically altered. (The function of the bullet here is a far cry from its purpose in “Delusions.”) The more sober, seemingly out of place film nonetheless retains a sense of humor about itself. Incidentally, the film’s director, David Von Ancken, will be appearing at the February 22nd screening at 6 p.m. to discuss his film.

Any fears that the series was beginning to take itself too seriously are abated with the finale piece, “Zen and the Art of Landscaping.” In a word: hysterical. Well deserved winner of the award for Best Comedy at Aspen Shortfest 2001, this film pokes fun at stereotypical suburban life, following the young landscaper, Greg (his friends call him Zen) through a series of rapidly escalating twists and surprises, beginning with a “Graduate”-style love affair, and not taking a breath until the weedwacker wielding Zen flees the home of the belligerent, dysfunctional family. The film combines excellent timing, maniacal characters, and a fast-paced, purely hilarious script — a definite crowd-pleaser.

While appealing to a wide range of sensibilities, one unifying aspect was the films’ appealing and often endearing characters. Shortcomings aside (few and far between as they may be), “Outstandingly Entertaining Short Films” accomplishes what it claims and sets out to do: to entertain, outstandingly at that.