The New Tenants

"Peter" (Jamie Harrold) and "Frank" (David Rakoff) are having one of those love/hate conversations in their new apartment when an elderly neighbour arrives asking for some flour. They've barely unpacked, but "Peter" finds some in the apartment that belonged to the previous occupant - whom we learn came to a sticky end! Settling down to some of the deceased man's potato chips, another visitor descends on them. He's "Jan" (Vincent D'Onofrio) who reckons that someone has been having it away with his wife! Maybe he's not the most deductively astute man? Anyway, he stays for a fairly surreal chat before the arrival of their third visitor. "Zelko" (Kevin Corrigan) introduces an whole new level of comedy menace to the proceedings and by now, maybe the guys had wished they'd set up home in Folsom Prison! I didn't love the tightly photographed (eyes only) monologue at the start, but as this builds up an head of steam it turns into quite an amusing black comedy that's just a little suitably brutal at the end. It even teaches us how to make cinnamon buns, too!

Of all the films which were awarded and nominated for an 2010 Oscar, none were more deserving than this.

The plot is very very simple: Two guys moves into a new apartment and get to know their neighbors. And that's all that's going on.

Yet clever writing, great acting and beautiful shots turn the movie into a 20 minute journey of pure enjoyment. The rather dark humor wont give you belly laughs, but will draw an evil grin upon your lips. If you are angry Avatar didn't win the award for best film this year, you probably wont understand why The New Tenants won the award for best short. But if you thought No Country for Old Men was right to win last year, you'll certainly appreciate this as well.

I am going to say something rather radical. Over the last several years, I've gone to the showings of both the animated and live-action short films that were Oscar nominated. For the first time ever, I went to a showing and didn't particularly like any of the films--as was the case with the live-action ones for 2010. I didn't think any of them were bad but i also didn't think any were Oscar-worthy--and most of them were amazingly unpleasant--like the Academy deliberately tried to pick the most unpleasant films they could this year. Perhaps 2008-9 was a poor year for live-action films or perhaps this just shows a bias of the people picking them. However, I can't see the public in general enjoying most of the films or wanting to see them.

"The New Tenants" was a frustrating film to watch. In some ways it was quite enjoyable and well made but in other ways it made me frustrated at the viciousness of the movie as well as the poor ending.

The film begins with two new tenants in an apartment "enjoying" a quite moment together. One of the men seems very obnoxious--smoking when his partner begs him not to as well as talking non-stop in a funny but really annoying dialog that is 100% pure cynicism. It's obvious the quiet man hates him and they seem to have nothing in common and no chemistry--though it turns out they are gay lovers (this made no sense). I actually LIKED watching the obnoxious guy. He seemed like a horrible person but was funny in a dark way.

Into this hellish relationship arrives an elderly neighbor. She tells him about the previous tenants who were murdered horribly--right there in the apartment. She also wants to borrow some flour and the nicer tenant gives her a bag of what appears to be flour that was left by the old tenants. Little did they know that this would set off a chain of very, very bloody and murderous events. In fact, once the chaos begins, it's all incredibly awful and anything but fun--which is tough, since this is supposed to be a comedy. Now despite this, it still could have been a better film had it ended on a funny note--such as one of the men saying to the other "Okay...next time I'LL pick the apartment" or having them hit by a car as they danced into the streets. However, the ending, as is, made little sense and seemed flat. Of course, considering it was Oscar-nominated, what does my opinion really matter? Somebody must have really liked it.

By the way, if you do watch this one, pay close attention to the cigarette. In a slight continuity problem, it goes from long to short again and again in one scene---even though it's supposed to be the same cigarette.

UPDATE (3/7/10): Well, what do you know--this film won the Oscar. I guess other people saw something her that I just didn't. At least I got the Best Animated Short pick correct!

First off, this film is for me one of the best live action short films i've ever seen. This is probably because it doesn't really feel like a short film, more like a piece of a feature film. Not only Story wise but also the quality is more than great, thanks to Pawel Edelman (the pianist, Ray) the images are gritty in a beautiful way.

The Story is quite simple, A gay couple moves into a new apartment and gets to know their weird neighbors. But the Plot offers more with some crazy twists, so i don't want to spoil anything here. The casting and acting is superb, and fits the comical characters which seem a little absurd at times (hence the missing star).

Its in my opinion in the ranks with films like Snatch (2000), In Bruges (2008) or Requiem for a Dream (2000) the only problem... its a lot shorter. A must see and totally worth the 20 minutes, if you can find it somewhere.

Joachim Back directed this Oscar winner for Best Live Action Short Film, a 20-minute foray into seething urban chaos, verbally laced with angry diatribes against the ills of modern society. A gay couple (David Rakoff--outfitted to look unhealthy, though this is not explained--and Jamie Harrold) have just moved into their new apartment, only to learn the residence had a horribly violent past--history which soon repeats itself. Working from a rather pretentious script by writer Anders Thomas Jensen (whose work was then 'adapted' by Rakoff), Back isn't able to get around the inherent 'writer's folly' of the set-up (which is, there's no peace anywhere, so you may as well dance to the music). The unhappy gays in question do not convince as a couple--even before the drop-ins begin arriving--which may be one reason why the finale fails to provide the impact, the dreamy-lunatic capper, Back probably intended. There's a boldly romantic song playing over the end-credits ("To Night is the Last" sung by Sam Bisbee, himself one of the film's many producers) which gives the audience far more of a lift than Back or any of his actors can ultimately bring to the fore.