"Tadeusz Lysiak" is a Polish Polish-language live action short film from 2020 and two years later this managed to get nominated for an Oscar. The writer and director was Tadeusz Lysiak and this is definitely a huge success for him. Three is indeed a charm as he has worked on two other short films before this one here. Lead actress Anna Dzieduszycka also deserves a mention. I personally had a difficult time in finding her character as likable as they wanted the audience to perceive her, but I will get a little later to the plot here. I cannot say too much otherwise about the actors really, simply because I do not know them. It was not a black-and-white film by the way like other Polish Oscar-nominated works lately, but still very bleak overall, also in terms of colors. I personally would say this was an okay watch, but I preferred three other nominees from the category this time. The title "The Dress" is a bit misleading for me because it feels too random. I mean surely the protagonist is discriminated against (or at least we should think she is discriminated against) in this scene when there is talk about the completely legitimate question if there is no place for small people to buy their clothes (okay, it was probably meant as provocation in a spiteful way), but I still felt that they could have picked a better title. The first half of the film did very little for me, but in the second half I cared about the protagonist when she was really down and says she is sick of people staring at her because of her size, because of her face etc. Appreciate your health, folks.
One reason why I give this film not only four stars in the end was the biggest supporting actress Dorota Pomykala, the one who plays a colleague and friend and how she manages to cheer up the main character after these words was really nicely written and acted. Well done! The anti-male hate speech was too much though. You can also see that these women trust each other, even if they have conflicts sometimes, with one telling the other she has never had sex. In the end, there is also no happiness. The main character finally lost her virginity, but it wasn't a pleasant experience at all because again she got discriminated against. Sobering stuff. But the film shines also during smaller moments like when the best friend talks about her husband. He is not the one she imagines when thinking of a great guy. He is even a woman beater apparently. So the other female character in this short film also has her own burden for sure, but she is the most loyal friend nonetheless. At pretty much exactly half an hour, this is the second-longest from the nominees this year. I actually think this also could have worked as a full feature at 1.5 hours or so. Who knows, maybe it will happen one day. I would not be surprised Does it have a chance to win the Oscar this year? Sure, why not? They all do sort of. The anti-discrimination aspect could help the film, but I still doubt the Academy is as big on making a statement pro dwarfism as they are in terms of racial issues. And deafness this year too. But you never know with the live action short film category. I would not be too satisfied if it wins, but to be honest I'd happily accept all four other nominees if the one I like the least is not winning. So good luck to Sukienka too and go check it out if you like. You will need subtitles of course, if you don't speak Polish. Very dialogue-driven.
One reason why I give this film not only four stars in the end was the biggest supporting actress Dorota Pomykala, the one who plays a colleague and friend and how she manages to cheer up the main character after these words was really nicely written and acted. Well done! The anti-male hate speech was too much though. You can also see that these women trust each other, even if they have conflicts sometimes, with one telling the other she has never had sex. In the end, there is also no happiness. The main character finally lost her virginity, but it wasn't a pleasant experience at all because again she got discriminated against. Sobering stuff. But the film shines also during smaller moments like when the best friend talks about her husband. He is not the one she imagines when thinking of a great guy. He is even a woman beater apparently. So the other female character in this short film also has her own burden for sure, but she is the most loyal friend nonetheless. At pretty much exactly half an hour, this is the second-longest from the nominees this year. I actually think this also could have worked as a full feature at 1.5 hours or so. Who knows, maybe it will happen one day. I would not be surprised Does it have a chance to win the Oscar this year? Sure, why not? They all do sort of. The anti-discrimination aspect could help the film, but I still doubt the Academy is as big on making a statement pro dwarfism as they are in terms of racial issues. And deafness this year too. But you never know with the live action short film category. I would not be too satisfied if it wins, but to be honest I'd happily accept all four other nominees if the one I like the least is not winning. So good luck to Sukienka too and go check it out if you like. You will need subtitles of course, if you don't speak Polish. Very dialogue-driven.