August 1
Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy Blache
Camino Skies
The Public
The Lion King
MIFF - Melbourne International Film Festival

With MIFF opening tonight, there is a cornucopia of film in our great city. I review four, with more to come next week. But wait - that's not all: another four most worthy movies are reviewed here for your consideration. 

Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché
Director: Pamela B Green
Length: 103 min

© Backlot Films- a wonderful tribute to 
an incredible film-maker

One of the most incredible and prolific film-makers you've probably never heard of is Alice Guy Blaché.  In the 1890s she began work with photographic company Gaumont in Paris (seen their name on film credits?). From 1896 to 1906 she was possibly the only female film-maker in the world. From there she went on to make more than 1000 films, both in France and in Hollywood, where she headed up Solax film studio. As was the order of the day, being female, she never got the credit for her talent and her legacy - until now, when this revealing doco tells all. Featuring real interviews from the 1960s with an aging Alice, seldom seen clips from her films, and covering her professional career and tumultuous personal life, this film has everything needed for an exposé, a tribute to Alice, almost in the style of a detective story. Green's enthralling documentary style will capture your attention from the word go, while the shocking fact that Alice was overlooked for so many years in the pantheon of founding film-making legends will finally be redressed. Jodie Foster does an excellent job as narrator. This is inspiring, educational and entertaining, all rolled into one. 
4.5 - wholeheartedly recommended!

Camino Skies
Director: Noel Smyth & Fergus Grady
Length: 80 min

© Limelight Distribution - walking to mend your soul - 
that's the promise of the Camino

The Camino de Santiago is a pilgrimage walk that runs for 800 km, starting in France then going predominantly through northern Spain. It has become increasingly popular in recent years, especially with people looking to "find themselves", or seek closure to some traumatic event in their lives. Made by an Aussie/New Zealand team, this low-key but very intimate doco, tracks six strangers making the walk, and attempts to understand what in their lives has led them to do it. The gruelling physical challenges of the walk are just one aspect for some of the walkers; the other is the emotional battle for those participants battling unimaginable loss and grief in their lives. All the walkers speak surprisingly openly about their inner struggles, and there is a lovely feeling of support and friendship that develops between the pilgrims. If you are thinking to make the trek, see the film, and even if you're not, there's plenty of inspiration and lovely scenery to be enjoyed. 
3.5 - well recommended!

The Public
Director: Emilio Estevez
Length: 119 min

© Rialto - homeless folk take to the library
in a low-key but important story

Stuart Goodson (Emilio Estevez) works in the Cincinatti Public Library, a place frequented by homeless folk to avoid the cold. When a particularly bitter winter snap causes deaths among the street sleepers, they decide to occupy the library overnight. What starts off peacefully, develops into a standoff between the police and the homeless, with the media creating a beat-up of "fake news" and two local mayoral candidates cashing in on the situation.The film starts off feeling like a tele-movie - very low key and somewhat self-conscious in its simplistic feel-good attempts. But as it progresses it amps up the drama, loses its bland edge and has something very important to say about homelessness, government apathy, and media trickery. Christian Slater is well-cast as smarmy Davis, aspiring mayor, while Alec Baldwin is his usual solid self as a policeman, whose son just happens to be a homeless drug addict. Estevez nails it as Goodson, who goes from mild-mannered and obliging to activist, but the great casting is in the homeless guys who totally look the part. Despite its flaws, the film has truckloads of heart, plenty of amusing moments, and the subject matter, presented with true passion, couldn't be more relevant, with homelessness at a crisis point.
3 - recommended!

The Lion King
Director: Jon Favreau
Length: 118 min

© Disney - the "cuteness factor" is at the
top of the scale. Not to mention the
digital genius

Do I really have to tell you the plot of this one? The much loved animation, live musical, is now a "live action" employing digital genius to give us a jungle full of animals so realistic we think them real, except that they speak and sing. In a nutshell, after proudly showing off his new son Simba, Mustafa, lion king of all the animals, is later killed by his jealous brother Scar. Scar convinces Simba that he is responsible, ousts him from the pride, and takes over, with an army of killer hyenas. Simba grows up living the vegetarian life with warthog Pumba and meerkat Timone, but returns to find his true calling and take what is rightfully his. As with so many of these remakes, the critics get their knickers in a twist arguing about which is better, the original or the remake. Forget all that! This is a visual extravaganza, exquisitely crafted, and supremely entertaining. At the start I feared the film could fall for the overload of Disney-esque saccharine sentimentality, but it gets tougher and tenser as it progresses, and funnier as the warthog and meerkat join the story. At times the voices, with their varied accents grate a bit (especially baby Simba), and perhaps 10 minutes could have been shaved off the runtime, but it really is, yet again, a story seemingly for kids, but encapsulating all those important life philosophies we love.
3.5 - well recommended!

Melbourne International Film Festival
August 1-18
20 venues around the inner city, Melbourne
For information on timetable, ticketing and venues visit www.miff.com.au

The Mecca of movie madness is back! Whatever I say is probably irrelevant - those committed to MIFF are onto it the minute the program is released. BUT . . . as always I'm fortunate to get a couple of sneak previews and I certainly have some near unmissable films to recommend. 
More reviews to come next week.

Dark Suns: Winner and prize nominee at more than a dozen varied festivals, this extraordinary documentary is an absolute eye-opener. In an epic 2.5 hours, it tells, in six chapters, the stories of people who are looking for missing relatives, in a country overrun by drug cartels, and beset by crime and government corruption. The monumental number of women and girls who are murdered or kidnapped is highlighted, as well as proof that many police and government officials are in the pockets of the drug lords. There are harrowing scenes of women's activist groups searching in fields of mass graves for bones. Journalists tell of living in fear as increasing numbers of their ranks have been murdered. The film moves slowly and relentlessly though a litany of sorrow, and the tragedy is, it's not exaggerated. The LA times reported recently that 5 of the 6 most violent cities in the world are in Mexico. The film is beautifully shot in black and white and reminded me of the marvellous Roma. The lovely cinematography counterpointed with such horror only drives the message home more. It's scary, and seems to have no happy ending in sight.

Adam: Abla (Lubna Azabal) is a widow, living with her little daughter Warda and running a modest bakery in Casablanca, Morocco. Samia (Nisrin Erradi) is an unwed pregnant country girl sleeping on the street and knocking on doors, desperate for work. When the two women's lives intersect, each will transform the other. We don't see many Moroccan films in Australia, so this is a great opportunity to see another culture at work. This is a disapproving culture, in which Samia's baby will be an outcast, and disapproval is the first emotion from others. The two exquisite performances from the lead women make this film a gem to be savored. The story is simple yet extremely moving, never sentimental and absolutely powerful. 

Seahorse: Freddy McConnell was born a girl, and has transitioned to a man. Now, at nearly 30 years old, he decides he wants to become a father. He has had "top surgery" but still has the "female hardware" as he calls it, so decides to use IVF to conceive and carry the baby himself. This insightful and brave doco covers all the convolutions of gender identity vs biology, and is also an intriguing, mind-boggling look at a brave individual with the courage of his convictions. Freddy is inspiringly open in revealing the painful conflict he goes through, between his sense of true self, and needing to compromise that to be able to birth a child. Never have I seen a film on transgender that really shines as much light onto how the individuals concerned feel about their identity. 

Queen of Hearts: Youth social justice lawyer Anne (Trine Dyrholm) lives the comfortable life with doctor husband Peter (Magnus Krepper) and two little daughters. Then Peter's teenage son by a previous marriage, Gustav (Gustav Lindh), comes to live with them and things start to get tricky, as Anne crosses a line she never should. This is a powerful Danish film, that packs an immense emotional wallop. Acting is flawless, and the plot so smart that it gets our sympathies on board with the strong Anne, a moral crusader, while manipulating us into feeling negative about the rebellious resentful teen. Then everything is turned on its head in the most shocking manner and we are left wondering about the nature of lies, cover-ups, loyalty, and the tragic effects of young people feeling they are worthless and don't belong. 
4.5 - all these films I've previewed are wholeheartedly recommended!