June 19th 2025
CHIFF: Children's International Film Festival
HSBC Spanish Film Festival
The Unholy Trinity
Sinners
Ellis Park
You'll have to do a bit of googling to track down where to find this week's films, but for sure they are all worth the hunt. Music features large in two of them, while festivals are in full swing. And fans of Westerns have something new and fresh to get their teeth into.
CHIFF: Children's International Film Festival
Weekend screenings Until 20 July
Classic Elsternwick, Lido Hawthorn, Cameo Belgrave & Randwick Sydney
An appreciation of film is one of the greatest gifts you can give your children. And this festival will make your job so much easier, especially since it brings some of the best children's films from around the world, not merely the usual American studio fare that is in mainstream cinemas. And as I always stress, the best kids' films have universal appeal for all age groups. I haven't been able to preview many this year, but the program looks excellent with something for all ages from tiny to teens. The one film I've seen is wonderful and so relevant, especially in the light of the current world situation.
Bartali's Bicycle
Length: 80 mins
Director: Enrico Paolantonio
Gino Bartali was a real-life Italian bicycle champion who won the Giro d'Italia twice and the Tour de France once before World War II. During the war he used his bike to smuggle documents to help Jews escape from Italy. His story serves as the backdrop to an alternating tale set in modern-day Israel. David is a 13-year-old Jewish boy training with his local bicycle team. Out on the track one day he meets Ibrahim, who is training with the local Arab team. The pair, initially hostile, decide to train together. Their subsequent friendship will create ructions in their families but will hopefully help to overcome the divisions in their society. This film moved me more than I can say, maybe because it represents a glimmer of hope in this divided world and because it represents old-fashioned values that seem to have become lost along the way - respect, civilised dialogue and friendship. The characters are all delightfully portrayed, the two interwoven stories work really well together, and the fact that it is dubbed into English makes it easier for youngsters to follow. A lovely painterly style reminiscent of Studio Ghibli work makes it lovely to look at. This is absolutely worth seeing for peope of all ages, and a great way to help kids understand the dangers of prejudice and the meaning of courage.
HSBC Spanish Film Festival
Melbourne until 2 July
Palace cinemas
The festival is in full swing with the latest and best cinema offerings from Spain and Latin America. The festival closes with a 25th anniversary screening of the terrific Argentinian crime thriller Nine Queens. As always I've caught a few, including the centrepiece film El 47. Two of the three reviewed here feature fabulous performances by Eduardo Fernandez.
El 47: This inspiring true story is set in Barcelona in the late 1970s. Poor folks who have ventured north from southern Spain are living in shanty huts, in Torre Baro on the outskirts of Barcelona. They are disliked by the locals and municipal officials refuse to improve their suburb with basic amenities like electricity, and a bus service. Local driver Manolo Vital (a wonderful Eduard Fernandez) decides to take matters into his own hands, and in the form of peaceful dissent hijacks his own vehicle to prove that a bus can go up the narrow streets of Torre Baro. He is credited with having helped form what is now modern Barcelona. This is a lovely slice-of-life realistic drama, that has won 25 prestigious awards and a host of nominations, including a Best Film at the 2025 Goyas.
Babies Don't Come With Instructions: Leo lives a carefree life, working as a bartender and womanising. Until one day Julia arrives and drops off a baby - the result of a fling with Leo over a year ago. At first aghast at how to raise a child, he quickly learns to love Alba, but when the girl turns eight Julia unexpectedly returns, demanding custody of her daughter. The film is full of joy and laughter, but becomes progressively more serious with a dramatic turn towards the end. Overall a very enjoyable watch.
Marco, The Invented Truth: Winning Best Actor at the Goyas for Eduard Fernandez, this is yet another film inspired by a true story, that of Enric Marco, a man who claims to have been deported from Spain to a concentration camp during World War II. Marco manages to deceive everyone around him, becoming a publicly admired figure. Until one day a journalist catches up to him and the truth comes out. The fabulous lead performance manages to elicit both contempt and pity for the deluded man. There is also quite a swag of lesser-known Spanish history about their Civil War and about Spanish victims of the Holocaust. An intriguing psychological study.
Dir: Richard Gray
Length: 95 mins
Now on digital platforms, at select cinemas, and at Hoyts from June 26
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© Rialto - a western with a difference -
strong characters, great plot |
Montana late 1800s. Henry Broadway (Brandon Lessard) witnesses his estranged father's execution by hanging. Just before mounting the gallows, his father instructs Henry to go murder the sheriff who framed him. So Henry travels to the town of Trinity, where he learns the old Sheriff is dead and meets the new Sheriff, Gabriel Dove (Pearce Brosnan). Not quite what he seems, a black man calling himself St Christopher (Samuel L Jackson) rides into town maintaining there is a stash of stolen gold buried somewhere in the town. Meanwhile local rough-necks cause problems at the brothel, shootings happen and Henry finds himself caught up in a web of violence that seems to be part of the town's fabric. I normally shy away from Westerns, but this one is a beauty. The strength lies in the strong script-writing (by fellow reviewer Lee Zachariah), the magnificent Montana setting, and the strong acting by not only the three leads, but the entire cast. The story feels authentic, and Brosnan shines as a lawman with decency and honesty. Jackson is a most suitable "baddie, Lessard brings an unusual naievety to his character, and the supports, especially the women, are excellent.4 - highly recommended
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© Warner Bros - wow - a totally engaging film to
energise, frighten and provoke |
Twins smoke and Stack (Michael B Jordan in both roles) have just returned to their hometown in Mississippi after making much money in the criminal world of Chicago. They buy an old sawmill from a racist Klansman and decide to turn it into a juke joint for the local black community. They hire caterers, a bouncer, a drunken piano player and their cousin Sammie (Miles Caton), the son of a preacher and an inspired blues guitar player. What starts as a joyous night of dancing and celebration goes pear-shaped when a trio of folk-singing white folk turn up, bringing a great evil to the community. The less said plot-wise the better here. Yes, it is billed as a horror film, but this film is so much more with its rich plot in which all the diverse elements blend seamlessly. Director Coogler sees it as a very personal project with themes of black identity, racism, the overlap between past and present, living and dead, and of course as a homage to blues music. Overtones of religion, voodoo, redemption, vampirism and more add up to something outrageously entertaining and frightening. The centrepiece party scene is so primal, lusty, energised and overwhelming, it sweeps me away, while the music throughout is something for blues fans to relish. Every role from small to large is perfectly executed, and if it weren't for my knowing that horror is not something for all viewers, I'd give it an unmisssable!4.5 - wholeheartedly recommended
Ellis Park
Dir: Justin Kurzel
Length: 104 mins
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vff-oIg6oIE&t=5s
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© Madman - music, animal rescue and a
contemplative man |
Musician Warren Ellis takes centre stage in this doco by noted Aussie director Justin Kurzel (Snowtown, Nitram). And so do the animals of an Indonesian sanctuary, Ellis Park, that he co-founded with Dutch animal activist and rescuer Femke dem Haas. Notable for composing film scores for years, Ellis has also played with band The Dirty Three and with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. This doco is not so much about his musical career, as about what seems to drive him - a deep intensity that informs his soulful and at times frenetic violin playing, and his passion for saving animals from cruelty. We accompany him as he visits his aging parents, hear some little anecdotes about his youth, but overall the film feels like a glimpse into the introspective depths of the man. The devotion of the Indonesian animal carers is deeply touching, and the animals themselves are wonderful to see, but hearing of their treatment and the cruel trade in wildlife smuggling and dancing monkeys is challenging. Despite being a trifle long, this is a fascinating glimpse into the heart of a very talented man, whose career seems to be going from strength to strength.3.5 - well recommended
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