The really multi-cultural 40-minute "Aya" (named after the female protagonist) is a 2012 French/Israeli movie that is mostly in English language and stars Danish actor Ulrich Thomsen, just under the age of 50, as one of the 2 protagonists. His counterpart is the much younger Sarah Adler who was born in Paris. In charge of the script were Oded Binnun and Mihal Brezis and they got nominated for an Oscar (certainly helped by Thomsen's good name), but eventually lost out. This is certainly a dialogue-driven (no pun intended) film as it is really all about the interactions between the two main characters here. I would say that even for such a short film, or maybe especially for a short film, it is vital that you focus because if you check out for a minute or two here, you maybe feel as if something significant is missing to really make it a worthy watch and some point you could interest and maybe you will not really care anymore who the characters are or what they do and get back into the entire thing. Luckily, the two key character (or rather the actors) and especially Adler's make it relatively easy to stay glued to the screen. I can imagine the way the film starts, so the premise of everything that happens before the car ride may not be too everybody's liking and maybe it may sound too absurd for some. I briefly summarize: A man arrives via airplane and assumes wrongly the woman waiting is his driver, although she is waiting for somebody else really. Yet, she decides to act as his driver and randomly drives him through the city in the direction of the hotel where he will be staying. I think the acting was good enough all in all to make it work. Others may see it differently.
The music you hear at the very beginning that is hummed by the female protagonist later on is also really catchy and a great tune indeed. The film could have worked with half the duration too I am sure, but it still did not drag in my opinion and I am glad about that. So no need to rush things. It was nice they took the time for it to work out the way it did, like with a good concert. The man playing the piano with his fingers on the female's fingers was of course one of those (not so) small moments that stayed memorable and if you look at her reaction to it, which was really nice acting by the way, then you will not be surprised that they get back to that later on. Also the way how she tears down his wall bit by bit was on the memorable side. How she would not take it when he just sits quietly next to her and listens to a piece he is about to review. She wants the attention for the decision and maybe even risk she took in going on the ride with him. Perhaps you guessed that it would take until the end of the film for the truth to come out, but nope she tells him before halfway into the film and of course has his full attention this way then too. The ending definitely surprised me a bit then because I had a feeling that she was crushing a bit on him since the first time she saw him, which may of course be true despite her family background, but I was wondering as well exactly what she was responding to the guy: Why shouldn't she come back? Well, maybe he was guessing already that a woman like this would not be single anymore, but who knows. The entire film is all about being in the moment and doing what feels right to you, even if it may feel wrong to many others. This is also why I am hesitant in saying that the film does not have a happy ending. Maybe for the male protagonist it is true, but for her it may still feel right. I am also wondering by the way what happened to the person she was actually waiting for and what the guy would be doing afterwards who was initially waiting for Thomsen's character. We will never know. I mean maybe he thought that the latter did not show up, but he might still be surprised then why Adler's character was gone as well the moment he returned.
Anyway, I recommend subtitles here for the Hebrew parts. It is not absolutely essential to understand those, but it will help. For example, take the moment in which the female protagonist makes a call to even know where she is supposed to be going. One of the comedic highlights of the film. On imdb it says that there are Danish parts as well, but those have to be minimal. Thomsen's character is also Danish as we find out, which is not a given because his name Overby sounds at least as English as Danish and the character also does not have an accent. So yeah, overall I would say that it was a good watch, maybe not my favorite short film of the year and the Oscar would have been slightly too much, but I am still not sure if I consider the other nominees superior. There could have been worse winners than this one here. It is not a Danish co-production despite Thomsen on board, but Denmark has of course been really successful in the live action short film category in the past, so it is not surprising this one here got in, even if it is much longer than the other Danish nominees and winners. Or cut the "other". If it had been five minutes longer, it maybe would not have been eligible. With ten definitely not. So yeah, it's a thumbs-up from me for this film where I would say that you will appreciate it more in your 30s than in your 20s and maybe even more in your 40s, so it is never to late to watch it. It's not a must-see either, but I say that you should go for it. You will be fascinated by the title character who deserves this film carrying her name. And maybe you will also live a bit more in the moment yourself after seeing it.
The music you hear at the very beginning that is hummed by the female protagonist later on is also really catchy and a great tune indeed. The film could have worked with half the duration too I am sure, but it still did not drag in my opinion and I am glad about that. So no need to rush things. It was nice they took the time for it to work out the way it did, like with a good concert. The man playing the piano with his fingers on the female's fingers was of course one of those (not so) small moments that stayed memorable and if you look at her reaction to it, which was really nice acting by the way, then you will not be surprised that they get back to that later on. Also the way how she tears down his wall bit by bit was on the memorable side. How she would not take it when he just sits quietly next to her and listens to a piece he is about to review. She wants the attention for the decision and maybe even risk she took in going on the ride with him. Perhaps you guessed that it would take until the end of the film for the truth to come out, but nope she tells him before halfway into the film and of course has his full attention this way then too. The ending definitely surprised me a bit then because I had a feeling that she was crushing a bit on him since the first time she saw him, which may of course be true despite her family background, but I was wondering as well exactly what she was responding to the guy: Why shouldn't she come back? Well, maybe he was guessing already that a woman like this would not be single anymore, but who knows. The entire film is all about being in the moment and doing what feels right to you, even if it may feel wrong to many others. This is also why I am hesitant in saying that the film does not have a happy ending. Maybe for the male protagonist it is true, but for her it may still feel right. I am also wondering by the way what happened to the person she was actually waiting for and what the guy would be doing afterwards who was initially waiting for Thomsen's character. We will never know. I mean maybe he thought that the latter did not show up, but he might still be surprised then why Adler's character was gone as well the moment he returned.
Anyway, I recommend subtitles here for the Hebrew parts. It is not absolutely essential to understand those, but it will help. For example, take the moment in which the female protagonist makes a call to even know where she is supposed to be going. One of the comedic highlights of the film. On imdb it says that there are Danish parts as well, but those have to be minimal. Thomsen's character is also Danish as we find out, which is not a given because his name Overby sounds at least as English as Danish and the character also does not have an accent. So yeah, overall I would say that it was a good watch, maybe not my favorite short film of the year and the Oscar would have been slightly too much, but I am still not sure if I consider the other nominees superior. There could have been worse winners than this one here. It is not a Danish co-production despite Thomsen on board, but Denmark has of course been really successful in the live action short film category in the past, so it is not surprising this one here got in, even if it is much longer than the other Danish nominees and winners. Or cut the "other". If it had been five minutes longer, it maybe would not have been eligible. With ten definitely not. So yeah, it's a thumbs-up from me for this film where I would say that you will appreciate it more in your 30s than in your 20s and maybe even more in your 40s, so it is never to late to watch it. It's not a must-see either, but I say that you should go for it. You will be fascinated by the title character who deserves this film carrying her name. And maybe you will also live a bit more in the moment yourself after seeing it.