September 21 2017
Mountain
Beatriz at Dinner
Australia Day
The Belko Experiment

This week it's from one extreme to the other. The sublime doco Mountain is my pick, but there may be something to appeal in the other releases. 

Mountain
Director: Jennifer Peedom
Length: 70 min

© Madman -  Mountain pays homage to the enduring
power mountains have over humans.

This is a unique collaboration between film-maker, writer and the Australian Chamber Orchestra. Together they create a cinematic and musical journey through the most beautiful and extreme mountains in the world, examining the enduring power mountains hold over human beings. Not so long ago, the very idea of climbing a mountain was considered lunacy. Today people are obsessed with scaling Everest, outrunning avalanches on skis, and pitting themselves against mountains in all manner of foolhardy, adrenalin-pumping adventures. It's hard to find enough superlatives to describe this awe-inspiring documentary; it's rather like a symphonic poem with purpose-written music by Richard Tognetti, a selection of classics, and a narrative (voiced by Willem Dafoe) that is more of a contemplative, philosophical poem. The camera (sometimes mounted on drones) soars and sweeps in vertiginous scenes that stretch the boundaries of cinematography, providing the viewer with sublime beauty, heart-stopping action and an exhilarating insight into the dreams of humans, whose significance is ultimately dwarfed by the majesty and longevity of these magnificent rocks. 
5 - unmissable!

Beatriz at Dinner
Director: Miguel Arteta
Length: 82 min
Nova Exclusive

© Madman - strong human drama pits a woman with
a conscience against greedy capitalists 

Mexican-born Beatriz (Selma Hayek) is an environmentally conscious, compassionate soul who works as a masseuse and holistic healer. When visiting a wealthy client, Beatriz's car breaks down, and Kathy suggests Beatriz join them at the dinner that is taking place to celebrate Kathy's husband's latest business venture. Among the dinner guests is Doug Strutt (John Lithgow), a ruthless, unscrupulous billionaire property developer who stands for all the things Beatriz detests. This dinner can only end disastrously for all concerned! This is a disturbingly uncomfortable movie - one feels deeply for Beatriz, stuck in the middle of these uppity, condescending, careless people, yet we cannot help but admire her for having the courage to speak up against what they stand for. What starts calmly and amiably, gradually becomes more and more tense, as the inflammatory conversation and issues raised keep the audience riveted, and questioning their own values. This is top movie making, with a wonderful ensemble cast in which Hayek and Lithgow stand out.  
4 - highly recommended!

Australia Day
Director: Kriv Stenders
Length: 98 min

© Icon - our national day as
seen through a different prism

It's not all beer swilling and burnt snags in this different take on our national day. Three young people from vastly different backgrounds are all running from something. A distressed Chinese girl, Lan, is found on the street by Terry (Bryan Brown), who has his own problems. Sami, an Iranian-Australian teen is being brutalised by a gang of aggro boys who claim he raped their sister, and Aboriginal teen, April, is running from a car crash after a family tragedy. The film tries to emulate Crash, or Magnolia, where inter-connected stories come together, but it never reaches the heights of those films, feeling at times more like a telemovie. It starts off in a rather confusing manner, but by the end I finally felt some level of emotional engagement with the characters. The issues raised are strong and relevant, and it's always a treat to see a strong Bryan Brown performance, but the film never quite has the power it could have. 
2.5 - maybe!

The Belko Experiment
Director: Greg McLean
Length: 82 min

© Rialto - kill or be killed! You don't want to be a
subject in this nasty experiment!

In a nasty social experiment, a group of employees in a high-rise corporation in Columbia are ordered over the loud-speaker to kill two fellow workers in the next half hour, or else 30 will die. Thus ensues a vicious game of kill or be killed, with the various employees espousing a range of moral stances from pacifism through to self-preservation, with a dose of sadism thrown in. Wolf Creek director McLean knows all about creating tension and ugliness, which he achieves quite well here. As in other films of this nature (Hunger Games, Battle Royale) the usual moral issues arise, along with possible references to well-documented real-life experiments where people are ordered to do reprehensible things to save their own skins. It's hard to watch, but fans of genre movies may well enjoy the carnage and mayhem.   
2.5 - maybe!