We Can't Live Without Cosmos (2014) *** (out of 4) This Russian film was nominated for a Best Animated Short Oscar and it's easy to see why as director Konstantin Bronzit doesn't use a word of dialogue and instead lets his two characters and animation tell the story. The story is quite simple as two best friends grow up in hopes of becoming cosmonauts and will do everything together in order to get their dreams.WE CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT COSMOS is a pretty good short that manages to have quite a bit of imagination going in it. I really loved the fact that this was an old-fashioned animation that used hand drawing. In a world full of CGI sometimes it's good to just go back to the old school stuff. For the most part the film moved extremely well and there's no question that it's well-made and looks terrific.

Konstantin Bronzit's We Can't Live Without Cosmos is a heartbreaking short film, so much so that you might even chuckle when your eyes well with tears when you realize you're tearing up about characters you've known for only fourteen minutes. That's the power of the animation medium; at times, it has the ability to soften the look of reality, but often, mostly in contemporary times, doesn't lessen the blow of reality or the truly real struggles we face in life. We Can't Live Without Cosmos is a short with a core idea about friendship and its unfathomable, and in this case, literal power that transcends time and universes.The short revolves around two unnamed astronauts, who do everything together; their playful relationship involving a great deal of touching and personal interaction even suggests they could be a couple. In fact, they're just tight-knit friends, who were raised in the crib together and went on to be astronauts in the same training facility. Due to their strong physical capabilities, the men, one code-named 1203 and the other 1204, are picked to go into space, with 1203 actually granted with the opportunity to go up into space and 1204 to sit in mission control as his assistant. What entails is a real showcase for the power of their friendship.I'm a huge fan of the animation style Bronzit and his team of animators chose to work with here. It's simplistic, traditional animation, most likely hand-drawn, but is dramatically enhanced in sharpness and color, most likely with the use of computer technology. Consider the overhead shot of the astronauts in training swimming, each in their respective lane, with impeccable symmetry, vibrant ocean-blue colors, and verticality overtaking the screen in a strong way. This kind of animation only emphasizes light and darkness because, thanks to the illuminating color palette, we get a strong sense of the textured environment.We Can't Live Without Cosmos reminds us one thing, at the end, and it's keep your friends close, and maybe in the end, they'll keep you closer, as well.

"Mi ne mozhem zhit bez kosmosa" or "We Can't Live Without Cosmos" is a Russian 15-minute animated short film from last year that managed an Academy Award nomination. It is probably not a front runner right now, but who knows if it may win. Surprises in the category are not a rarity. The writer and director is Konstantin Bronzit and the last film he made was "Lavatory Lovestory", 7 years ago and this one was also an Academy Award nominee. But back to this one here. It seems space is still as interesting as every after film like "Gravity", "Interstellar" and "The Martian" and it also extends to the genre of animation now. The first third of the film is really feel-good and humour as we watch a pair of close friends in a training facility for space travel. And the two are not only the best friends, they are also the most talented applicants. However, it becomes a lot more dramatic afterward and this is also where the film delivers the best. I did not really like the first part, but it gets better quickly. I think this is on par with the Chilean entry and Hertzfeldt's film, so I do not have a clear favorite yet. Still two short films to see, but I really like Hertzfeldt's older works, so maybe I will side with him. As for Bronzit's film here, the Academy Award nomination is a nice present briefly after his 50th birthday and it is also a good little movie. I recommend the watch.

We Can't Live Without Cosmos is a 15-minute long animated film nominated for the Best animated short film Academy Award. It tells the story of 2 guys, who are life long friends, undergoing training preparing for space mission. 10 minutes into the film it's revealed that only one of them is a "real astronaut" while the other is just his backup / reserve astronaut. When the first guy blasts off into the space, his friend watches him leave while holding in his hand their photo.After a sudden plot twist the story turns into a drama. The space ship disintegrates and the astronaut is presumed dead. The second guy can not deal with the trauma of losing his best friend and literally goes insane. Eventually he is confined into medical facility from where he mysteriously disappears. The end of the story looks a little bit cryptic and leaves much to the viewers imagination. Well, I must say that this film is an absolute tear jerker, It is impossible to watch it without breaking into tears. From the technical point of view the animation might seem clumsy of dated but the excellence of the film lies within its plot. The art-house / festival public will be pleased with this short film.