March 28th
Dumbo
Where Hands Touch
Us
South African Film Festival

This week sees yet another film festival launched - and an inaugural one at that. Add to that one horror film, another take on the Holocaust and a Disney crowd-pleaser and you have plenty to choose from.

Dumbo
Director: Tim Burton
Length: 112 min

© Disney - simply delightful - get in touch with

your inner child in this excellent remake

Surprised that my pick of the week is a kids' film about a flying baby elephant? This remake of the beloved Disney tale, features real humans, a re-imagined plot and top-shelf digital effects. In 1919, Max Medici (Danny de Vito) runs a ragtag travelling circus. Horse rider Holt Farrier (Colin Farrell) returns from the war to find himself the now-widowed father of two youngsters Milly and Joe. Having lost an arm, Holt is given care of the new baby elephant which Max hopes will be a drawcard for the circus. But the baby, endowed with overly large ears, is seen as a total freak, and only when his secret talents are discovered do things take a turn for the better. But other secrets lurk within the circus, especially when greedy rival Vandevere (Michael Keaton) takes over the whole show. With a director like Burton at the helm it's no surprise this is a winner, but I really surprised myself at how many tears I shed; despite there being a level of predictability and a goodly dollop of sentimentality, the film is unexpectedly moving, and carries an excellent message about those who are seen as different eventually finding the place in which they can shine. Rediscover your inner child and sense of wonder, as Dumbo is for kids of all ages.
3.5 - well recommended! (simple enjoyment: 4.5)

Us
Director: Jordan Peele
Length: 116 min

© Universal - horror, social commentary - whatever 

you want it to be really!

As a child on holiday in 1986, Adelaide Wilson (Lupita N'yongo) wandered off from her parents into a fun-parlor horror house of mirrors where she was confronted by a malicious replica of herself. Now in the present day, with husband Gabe and children Zora and Jason, she revisits her childhood holiday home, constantly haunted by the idea that something bad will happen to her family, and never quite sure what happened in that childhood incident. Sure enough, soon the family see another family of four standing in their driveway; funny thing is the interlopers are them - so-called doppelgangers, and they are intent upon mayhem. Here's a film to really mess with your mind. I recognise that it is really well-made (as was Peele's last film Get Out). But do I understand it and all its references and implications? I'm just not sure. On one level it works as simply a well-made horror film, while on another it seems to be making clever commentary on so many broader issues - race, America today, marginalised people, fear of "the other", fear of one's hidden dark side, masks we wear  . . . and possibly so many other issues viewers can read into it for themselves (not to mention zombies, underground dwellers, biblical references and more)  It's superbly acted, not without humour in the script, subverting so many preconceptions about "black" and "white" families. Perhaps its main flaw is that it's a bit too clever for its own good, but it sure will keep you pinned to your seat never knowing what will happen next and stunning you with the implications of its twisty ending.

3.5 - well recommended!

Where Hands Touch
Director: Amma Asante
Length: 122 min

© Rialto - fascinating World War 2 theme, that
is presented in an overly "film by numbers" manner

Yet another take on Holocaust history is depicted in this interesting but patchy film. The children of African troops serving with the French in WW1 were known by the Nazis as "Rhineland Bastards" or mulattos, and were persecuted and often sterilized, being seen as threats to the white purity of Germany. Many ended up in the camps. This story focuses on Leyna (Amandla Sternberg), the mixed-race daughter of an Aryan mother (Abbie Cornish) and black father. In Berlin of 1944, against all common sense and hope, Leyna falls in love with Lutz (George MacKay), the son of an SS officer. This is a fascinating and little known piece of German WW2 history, testament once more to the horrific racial policies of the Nazi regime. Although the performance of Sternberg is excellent (remember her from The Hate U Give?), there is something a bit wooden about the film as a whole. For such an important and powerful story it deserved a less conventional treatment. At times it veers into melodramatic soap opera territory, at other times it becomes almost unbelievable. Nevertheless there are plenty of moving and gut-wrenching moments and the story certainly deserves to be told. 

2.5 - maybe!

South African Film Festival
March 28 - April 3
Classic Cinema Elsternwick
For details visit: www.classiccinemas.com.au

The inaugural South African Film Festival features 8 premiere films showcasing distinctive stories and talents of film-makers from the region. I've been fortunate to preview a couple.

© SAFF -  Pluck illuminates the
troubled history of
South Africa through Nando's
advertising campaigns

Pluck: This fabulous doco is on one level about the world famous South African chicken brand, Nando's. The doco is a clever way of viewing the highly complicated history of Sth Africa as seen through the lens of the incredibly creative advertising campaigns used by the company over the years. In interviews with company heads and creative hotshots, we see how the ad campaigns traced the history, and commented upon the country and its leaders both pre-and post-apartheid. A truly informative, creative and at times very funny doco.  

© SAFF - women on a 

journey of self-

discovery

Sisters of the Wilderness: Five young Zulu women head off on a trek with two guides through the Mfolozi nature reserve. Their goal is to experience the county's wildlife and nature for the first time, as well as to pursue self-discovery, healing of their problems and bonding with each other. It's a gentle meditative journey, featuring a delightful group of women and some spectacularly good-looking African animals. There is also commentary upon the precarious existence of rhinos (thanks to poaching), along with threats to the park and its inhabitants from mining. 
The festival will close with a screening of the highly successful, popular and side-splitting movie The Gods Must Be Crazy.