A Single Life

'A SINGLE LIFE': Three Stars (Out of Five)

A 3 minute Dutch animated short; which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film (at the upcoming 87th Academy Awards). It was directed by Marieke Blaauw (who also wrote the film), Joris Oprins and Job Roggeveen and features Pien Feith as a voice actor. The short tells the story of a girl, named Pia, who travels back and forth through her life, by listening to a vinyl record. It's odd and funny but there's not a lot to it. It's probably not worthy of an Oscar nomination, but it is clever and somewhat amusing (in a weird way).

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A Single Live, the Netherlands' contribution to the Oscars this year, is the shortest Oscar nominated short film, clocking in at two minutes and length, and unfortunately, that's just a little bit too small to get this short film off the ground. Animated with a pleasant mix of what looks to be stop motion animation and computer animation, the short concerns a woman who finds her record player has the ability to transport her to different moments in her life, all the way from her infancy to her older years. By the time one figures out how this mystery works, the short is already over, and while it features a unique premise, its concision makes for an experience that's slightly forgettable.

Directed by: Joris Oprins.

Why did they make the character look like a mutated thumb? It's very unpleasant to look at and clashes with the cutesy happy vibe of the film.

It might be ridiculous but I found her little jigglies to be very unsightly and distracting. This really takes away from being able to enjoy the short, because the story isn't a bad one.

I guess I can see why she's single because wow - really a yucky little creature!Off-putting Character Design

A young woman finds a record and plays it on her phonograph. It skips -- and her life skips to that point in time.

There's little to this Oscar-nominated short but those details -- other than a "Back to the Future" reference if you look very closely. Nonetheless and because of its short length -- it's three minutes if you include the credits -- its subtext warning the audience not to be too impatient, to be willing to enjoy the moment rather than skipping to the next, stands out. As does its wry humor.

I doubt this will win the best animated short Oscar -- those usually go to something a bit more pompous. However, if you haven't seen this already, it's worth your time to look at.

The title of the song is the title of this little film. A girl, possibly a teenager, gets a package containing a phonograph record. Depending where the tone arm is placed, it becomes a part of her life. She goes from herself, to her older self, to being a little girl. The idea is quite clever and works very well.