March 8
In the Fade
12 Strong
The Space In Between: Marina Abramovic in Brazil 

With Oscar barely done and dusted, it's time to get down to business again. I was pretty pleased with the Oscar outcome, and what a splendid bunch of films they were this year. You can still catch up with many of them in our cinemas. This week a fine film from top German/Turkish director Fatih Akin hits the screens, along with something so unusual it could be good viewing for fans of faith healing and other questionable rituals. And another war film, on post 9/11 military actions in Afghanistan.  

In the Fade (Aus dem Nichts)
Director: Fatih Akin
Length: 106 min

© Madman - compelling and emotional stuff from
Diane Kruger in this powerful, thought-provoking film

Katja (Diane Kruger) suffers the ultimate loss when her husband Nuri and little son Rocco are killed in a bomb blast.  Nuri's friend and lawyer Danilo (Denis Moschitto) assures her the accused will pay, but after a gruelling trial things do not go as Katja hopes. All she wants is justice. Director/writer Akin knows too well the prejudice Turks in Germany have been subject to. Neo-Nazi attacks on immigrants inspired his latest film, for which Akin won the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film and Kruger Best Actress at Cannes. She is front and centre in a mesmerising performance that spans the emotional gamut from unfathomable grief, through to steely determination. The film deals in strong themes of redemption (Nuri was a drug dealer who goes straight), police attitudes, justice and the rising tide of far-right extremism in today's world. Powerful and layered film-making.   
4.5 - wholeheartedly recommended!

12 Strong
Director: Nicolai Fuglsig
Length: 130 min

© Roadshow - another take the early\days of the 
post 9/11 Afghan war

As my theatre seat vibrates and army helicopters sweep across the screen I think to myself, "This feels like a Jerry Bruckheimer film". Well, it is, and that legendary producer brings all the sound and fury for which he is known to this almost unbelievable true story, until now militarily classified. Following immediately upon the 9/11 attacks, America dropped the first forces behind enemy lines. These elite soldiers, Green Berets, were suddenly wrenched from their families and sent to northern Afghanistan. There they teamed up with General Dostum and the so-called Northern Alliance, a motley band of warlords who were fighting among themselves. While the US dropped bombs from above, combined US and Afghan fighters charged in on horseback to wreak devastation on the Taliban. I'm not one for watching the endless horrors of warfare, but this is well directed, so we feel (inasmuch as one can) the horrendous privations of fighting under such conditions, and the heroism of all involved. Chris Hemsworth shines as Cptn Mitch Nelson, with able support from the likes of Michael Shannon and Michael Pena. As expected there is a bit too much of the usual US jingoism, but it's a strong and gripping film.
3 - recommended!


The Space in Between: Marina Abramovic and Brazil
Director: Marco del Fiol
Length: 96 min

© Potential - Abramovic reveals her vulnerability
for her art. 

Marina Abramovic is a Serbian performance artist who is renowned for going to physical extremes in the name of her art. In this unusual doco she heads off to Brazil in search of spiritual healers. She starts with John of God, a faith healer who performs "operations" on conscious patients to remove their disease (I've seen other docos on him - I think he's a fraud!) She meets various locals who deal in all manner of spiritual and religious healing rituals - plant healing, mud healing, egg healing, and ayahuasca, which has a dramatic purgative effect!  Marina talks of faith and the link between ritual and her art as she subjects herself to all manner of indignities, while the practitioners explain their craft. I admire her openness, enthusiasm and willingness to experiment,  but I am not a good judge of this type of film. I am somewhat skeptical and ignorant of the fields of both performance art and spiritual healing, hence the subject matter gets in the way of my objectiveness.
2.5 or 3 - it's a maybe for me, but recommended for anyone with a strong interest in the field