FROM THE LUMIÈRE BROTHERS TO JARMUSCH AND SCORSESE: The Best Short Films by Renowned Directors
«Mirror of Our Nature» — a multimedia installation at the 70th Cannes Film Festival / yellowtrace.com.au
Short films are the very beginning of cinema. From its inception, cinema was composed of short films. The famous Lumière brothers’ «Arrival of a Train» and «Workers Leaving the Factory» each last only 50 seconds and one minute, respectively.
At that time, the Cinématographe camera, invented by the French pioneers of cinema, allowed films of such duration and gave its name to the new art form. Moreover, viewers at the turn of the century were not yet prepared to watch moving pictures for more than a few minutes.
However, the length of films gradually began to increase, culminating in 1915 with the groundbreaking three-hour film «The Birth of a Nation». But the short film format remained. It remains relevant to this day. Today, a short film is typically defined as any film with a runtime of less than 40 minutes.
SHORT FILMS BY GREAT MASTERS
Today, short films are often made by emerging filmmakers honing the fundamental skills of their craft. However, even established masters are not opposed to this format. From time to time, under various pretexts — ranging from advertising projects to artistic anthologies — they create their short films.
Martin Scorsese, despite his status as a patriarch of American cinema and a master of grand storytelling, frequently ventures into short form. In 2015, he presented the world with «The Audition» — a sixteen-minute story about Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio, playing themselves, meeting at a luxurious resort in Manila for auditions in Scorsese’s new film. They fiercely argue and show off but ultimately do not pass the auditions. Surprisingly, Scorsese, who makes a cameo appearance in the movie, prefers Brad Pitt over his former and current alter egos.
Though «The Audition» was conceived as part of an advertising campaign for the «Studio City» casino and hotel chain in Macau, it fits seamlessly into the universe of the creator of «Taxi Driver», «Raging Bull», and «Casino», reflected here as if in a drop of water.
The two directorial avatars, De Niro and DiCaprio seem to be warming up for the making of the three-and-a-half-hour-long «Killers of the Flower Moon» (2023). Scorsese, who has gravitated towards lengthy runtimes in recent decades, feels right at home in the short film format.
It feels as though we’re not watching a celebrated maestro but a student, Scorsese, who, in his final year, made his first short film, «What’s a Nice Girl Like You Doing in a Place Like This?» (1963). Then, in 1966, after earning a degree in film history, he made two more: the ironic gangster portrait «It’s Not Just You, Murray!» and the violence-laden, absurd sketch «The Big Shave» (1967).
No matter what trivial project Scorsese takes on, he inevitably turns it into a short film — whether it’s an invitation to direct a music video for Michael Jackson or a request to profess his love for his native New York. Take a look at his «Bad» (1987) — not just a four-minute music video. Still, a seventeen-minute mini-film, partially shot in black and white, based on the true story of a student named Darryl (played by Michael Jackson), who comes home for Christmas break and is taunted by his old friends for not being as «bad» as he used to be. It’s an absolute masterpiece of minimalism, a variation on the theme of «Goodfellas», which had yet to be made.
And what about «New York Stories» (1989), filmed two years later? In this anthology, Scorsese’s short (Francis Ford Coppola and Woody Allen directed the other two) is a touching novella about a successful artist who constantly mistreats his young assistant-lover, who endures it all because he is a creative genius. While Scorsese clearly pokes fun at the artist, he ultimately treats him with understanding. This artist is a reflection of Scorsese himself.
SHORT FILM MASTERPIECES BY JIM JARMUSCH
Another patriarch of American cinema who is passionate about short films is Jim Jarmusch, the guru of American independent cinema. His film «Night on Earth» (1991) is woven from five short stories about taxi drivers in New York, Los Angeles, Paris, Helsinki, and Rome. His anthology «Coffee and Cigarettes» (2003) consists of eleven short films.
Jarmusch playfully and sensuously shot these over seventeen years. It all started with an improvisation — a humorous dialogue between two comedians, Italian Roberto Benigni (a close friend of Jarmusch and the creator of the Oscar-winning drama «Life is Beautiful») and American Steven Wright — recorded in 1986 for the Saturday Night Live show, naturally, over coffee and cigarettes.
Soon, Jarmusch shot another, then another, and another…
By 2003, these shorts had accumulated into a feature-length film in which Jarmusch, true to himself, continually pushes the boundaries of the conventional with his dedication to minimalism, lack of a traditional plot, and monochromatic imagery.
Celebrating everyday trivialities, Jarmusch juxtaposes very different (sometimes opposed) people opposite each other and waits for a chemical reaction. «Coffee and Cigarettes» is populated with a wide array of celebrities. In the short «Twins», there’s Steve Buscemi; in «Cousins», Cate Blanchett plays two roles (cousins); and in «Delirium», where the topic of coffee-inducing mental disorders is raised, we see Bill Murray.
One of the most striking shorts, filmed in 1993 and awarded a minor Palme d’Or at Cannes, is «Somewhere in California». It is about Iggy Pop comparing vanities with a sullen Tom Waits. A real-life event preceded this film.
The director, along with Iggy Pop, caught Tom Waits at the end of a workday — tired and irritated. He absorbed the experience and tried to recreate everything on the set. Jarmusch skillfully blends the documentary (featuring the real Iggy Pop and Tom Waits on screen) with the fantastical (it’s unclear how these two end up in the same diner somewhere in California and why Waits suddenly appears as an obstetrician?).
One of the director’s best short films is the brilliantly executed novella «Int. Trailer. Night», created for the anthology «Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet». The story about a nameless actress (Chloë Sevigny) spending a ten-minute break in her actor’s trailer is intoxicating with its combination of highly documentary-style tone, natural behavior of all characters (makeup artists, sound engineers, assistants), and monochromatic imagery.
Chloë Sevigny plays a Jarmuschian «stranger in a strange land», even in a strange era: the actress wears a 1930s-style costume, looking like a visitor from the past in the interior of a modern, pragmatically furnished trailer. As she turns on a CD player, from which Bach, performed by Glenn Gould, is heard, the heroine languishes and smokes a lot. As Jarmusch once said, «Cigarettes are a reminder of the fleetingness of existence».
Watching short films has a voyeuristic quality as if peeking at the creators at an inopportune moment through a keyhole. For example, David Lynch’s failure resulted in the short animation «The Alphabet» (1968), which was his student work. Lynch was let down by the camera (the focus went awry).
In the end, the future most avant-garde mainstream directors and the most mainstream of avant-garde directors, David Lynch, edited a four-minute dream from the flawed material — a sticky nightmare of the niece of his then ex-wife, Peggy. Do you think Lynch only came into his own with «Blue Velvet» (1986)?
No, the infernal atmosphere and the director’s dark humor were already present here. This film already reflects a kind of cinema that is equivalent to a headlong plunge into the otherworldly, into one’s subconscious, where dreams are indistinguishable from reality and from which there is no escape.
The short film «Nocturne» (1981) is dedicated to phobias and fears. It was a student project by Lars von Trier, the great director who inherited the heavy Nordic temperament of Dreyer and Bergman, made during his time at the Danish National Film School.
Before debuting with «The Virgin Suicides» (2000), Sofia Coppola explored the theme of adolescent rebellion in her black-and-white short film «Lick the Star» (1998).
WHAT’S NEXT FOR SHORT FILMS?
In the past era, short films were primarily made for anthologies. The most famous include «To Each His Cinema» (2007), «Paris, je t’aime» (2006), and «Room 666» (1982).
The first was literally commissioned for the anniversary of the Cannes Film Festival, produced by its director, Gilles Jacob. It consisted of three dozen short works by prominent directors, ranging from Lars von Trier, Roman Polanski, and Takeshi Kitano to David Lynch, Alejandro González Iñárritu, and David Cronenberg.
They were ideally showcased at the same anniversary festival, shown before feature films in a newsreel format.
In «Paris, je t’aime», other «greats» (Alfonso Cuarón, the Coen brothers, Gus Van Sant, Wes Craven) overflow with ideas about the phenomenon of the French capital, so much so that after watching it, there’s no longer a need to visit Paris.
«Room 666» is also indirectly connected to the Cannes Film Festival, as it was filmed during the event. Concerned by rumors of the sudden death of cinema, German classic Wim Wenders invited various colleagues to his hotel room, asking them on camera one question: «Does cinema have a future?»
The turned-on TV symbolizes the main threat to the dying art form. For 45 minutes, directors say things that are often profound and sometimes incomprehensible. But it’s more interesting not to listen to them as to observe them. Godard has a tennis match on his TV screen.
Fassbinder has a cartoon. Werner Herzog refuses to answer in shoes and then proceeds to take off his socks. The central idea is that eccentrically mad artists drive cinema.
Today, the era of anthologies has passed. At least, in the last ten years, no truly notable anthology has been released. Short films are mainly produced for the internet, for example, for online theaters. It costs much less than a full-length film or series.
The amount of content consumed daily by viewers on various devices is growing exponentially.
A giant like Netflix, under the artistic direction of David Fincher and Tim Miller, produced the short animated series «Love, Death & Robots» (with episodes ranging from 6 to 18 minutes) a couple of years ago, which garnered millions of views. And this, obviously, is just the beginning. More and more short-form content will be produced in the future.
One hundred twenty-eight years have passed since the arrival of the Lumière brothers’ train at the La Ciotat station, and short films are still as vibrant as ever. They awaken in viewers a primal feeling as if the train on the screen is coming straight toward them.
11 SHORT FILMS WORTH WATCHING
1. «A Summer Dress» (Une robe d’été, 1996), directed by François Ozon.
2. «Oedipus Wrecks» (1989), directed by Woody Allen, from the project «New York Stories».
3. «The Waiting Room» (De Wachtkamer, 1996), directed by Jos Stelling.
4. «USA» (2002), directed by Sean Penn, from the project «11’09’01 — September 11».
5. «The Song of Styrene» (Le Chant du styrene, 1958), directed by Alain Resnais.
6. «Occupations» (2007), directed by Lars von Trier, from the project «To Each His Cinema».
7. «They Caught the Ferry» (De nåede færgen, 1948), directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer.
8. «Twelve Miles to Trona» (2002), directed by Wim Wenders, from the project «Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet».
9. «Rendezvous» (C’était un rendez-vous, 1976), directed by Claude Lelouch.
10. «Ten Minutes Older» (1978), directed by Herz Frank.
11. «Emilie Muller» (1993), directed by Yvon Marciano.
