November 8th 2025
Prime Minister
Signorella: Little Miss
Japanese Film Festival
Russell Hobbs British Film Festival
Two fabulous new festivals are underway. Documentary fans can also rejoice with two winning offerings on the big screen this week.
Prime Minister
Dir: Lindsaty Utz & Michelle Walsh
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© Rialto - inspiring story of a woman
who made history in many ways |
At the tender age of 37, Jacinda Ardern suddenly became New Zealand's Prime Minister. She also was unexpectedly pregnant, and so began five years of a juggle between being a mother, leading a country, and grappling with a series of catastrophes from a terrorist attack, to a volcanic eruption, to a global pandemic. To her fans she could do no wrong, but as the pandemic wore on and ignorant malcontents protested against everything, the stress of the job finally became too much for her and she resigned. The recorded diary she kept for all those years, plus home videos made by her (now) husband, are incorporated into this inspiring documentary, which gives intimate insight into the public and private life of a leader renowned world-wide for her kindness, compassion, steely determination and unwavering commitment to her country. Her husband Clarke captures moments of their lives that one would not expect a dignitary to reveal; these only make her all the more admirable and real. She reflects upon her five years in power with amazing candidness. Winning audience awards at Sundance and Sydney festivals, this is a surprisingly moving and affecting film, revealing a style of leadership that could change today's troubled world, but which is, sadly, in short supply.4.5 - wholeheartedly recommended
Signorinella: Little Miss
Dir: Jason David McFadden, Angelo Pricolo & Shannon Swan
Length: 86 mins
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© Signorinella Films - the brave Italian women
who contributed so much to Aussie society |
Italian migrants changed the face of Australia, from the 1930s on, and especially after World War Two. This glorious doco celebrates the role of Italian women, who demonstrated resilience and perseverance and went from being mere adjuncts to their husbands to being proud figures in the Australian community. Interviews, some with women now as old as 90, form the backbone of the film, alongside archival footage and a terrific narration from Greta Scacchi. Barriers abounded in the form of prejudice from the Anglo community, hard conditions on the land, and during the war, their husbands being interned in camps as perceived enemies. Many women came to Australia as brides to marry men (unhappily) that they had never met. As a slice of history, this is nostalgic and informative, but as a celebration of so many inspiring and wonderful women, the film leaps off the screen with joy, warmth and liveliness. Such notables as Tina Arena, Carla Zampatti and Allegra Spender lift the profiles from private to public, and the film makes a wonderful companion piece to this productions team's prior delight, Lygon Street: Si Parlo Italiano.4.5 - wholeheartedly recommended
Japanese Film Festival
Melbourne: Nov 20th - Dec 4th
Drama, romance, thrillers, special series focussing on Japanese films of the 1930s, plus a spotlight on director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, known for thriller and horror films. Insights into the present, past and future of one of the world's most fascinating countries - Japan! I've previewed a few, with Cells at Work! being my pick.
Cells at Work!: What started as a televised series based on a manga comic book about cells in the human body is now a live action movie. And what a winner it is: educational, entertaining and utterly original. The human body with its 37 trillion cells is brought to life via an action-packed story that takes place on two levels. In the outer world a daughter helps keep her father healthy, but when she becomes ill a fight for survival ensues. Meantime, within the body, the zilllions of cells are hard at work, and they are portrayed as real characters, whose stories we follow: the red blood cells carrying oxygen, the white cells fighting off invaders, and then a host of others that can turn rogue, causing illneses like cancer. The cells slug it out in a typically Japanese style of frenetic ninja-like battles, while the settings for all these action sequences are surreal and imaginative. The film is amazingly educational (though some of the complex medical terminology can be tricky), and at times surprisingly moving, all with a goodly dose of over-the-top comedy thrown in. I loved it!
Bushido: This beautifully-executed period piece, set in the 1600s, manages to feel fresh and relevant. A samurai, Yanagida, has been falsely accused, dishonored and exiled from his clan. He lives a modest life with his daughter but when he discovers the truth of the falsehoods against him seeks retribution. The board game Go is played throught the film, as a symbol for the bushido code of honor, and while the scenes are slow and deliberate, incredible tension is generated. The father-daughter relationship is delicately recreated, as is the compassionate connection with the local brothel keeper. Exquisite cinematography and settings help recreate the Edo period, and the understated nature of the film makes it all the more engaging and realistic.
Clouds: A young man makes his living as a reseller of various goods on the internet. He buys low and sells high. When he moves to a remote area with his girlfriend, angry customers and associates become menacing and his life is under threat. This modern psychological thriller is dark both physically and thematically, exposing the negative side of an isolated life that is too dependent upon technology and social media.
The Serpent's Path: Director Kurosawa has remade his own film from 1998, changing the setting to Paris, where a Japanese psychotherapist works with one of her patients to try to discover who was responsible for his daughter's abduction and death. They kidnap several men, trying to extact the ruth. The film is very stylishly and tensely crafted with some excellent performances, but several scenes border upon near-sadistic nastiness. The convolutions of the plot left me asking what point the film is really trying to make, but for fans of this genre it should work well.
Russell Hobbs British Film Festival
In Palace cinemas Australia wide until December 7
This year's festival features a stunning line-up of British films - features, documentaries, a 25th-anniversary screening of Billy Elliott, and ten films from the master's early days, in a sidebar entitled Hitchcock: the Beginning. There's also a British Brilliance Retrospective featuring some of the most iconic Brit films such as Bridge on the River Kwai, Chariots of Fire and more.
Dragonfly: Widowed Elsie (Brenda Blethyn) lives alone, with regular carers coming in to cook meals for her, shower her and do assorted other tasks. When neighbor Colleen (Andrea Riseborough) asks Elsie if she can shop for her, a tentative friendship begins. Colleen is lonely, so it seems like a win-win, that is until Elsie's suspicious son John turns up. Shot mostly in the dreary, near claustrophobic setting of Elsie and Colleen's council houses, the film is a melancholy yet incisive look at getting old and being dependent upon others, along with a poignant portrait of the life a younger, emotionally disturbed and friendless person (aside from her beloved dog). What starts as a slice of life film, gradually morphs into a darker psychological thriller, as the tension subtly builds, with issues of trust, and overstepping boundaries emerging. Blethyn and Riseborough work perfectly together, and while the narrative tension builds, we are constantly aware of the problems aging, aged care and the need to preserve personal dignity create.
Both film festivals are highly recommended.
