November 7th
Pain and Glory
Doctor Sleep
Emu Runner
Brittany Runs a Marathon
Iranian Film Festival (3 films)
Russian Resurrection Film Festival (3 films) 
Three more from JIFF
Alliance Francaise Classic Film Festival

This has to be the biggest review collection yet, methinks. As well as four excellent new latest release films, I've covered films from the Iranian festival, Russian Resurrection Film Festival, three more from the ongoing JIFF, and alerted you to the Classic French Film Festival. I'm exhausted. 

Pain and Glory
Director: Pedro Almodovar
Length: 113  min

© Universal - Banderas gives his best performance 
ever in a moving, deeply emotional story

Salvador Mallo (Antonio Banderas) is an aging film director in physical decline and so depressed that he can no longer make films. He re-meets Alberto (Asier Etxeandia), a drug addict and lead actor from a film he directed 30 years prior. Alberto performs a monologue Salvador has written around his deep love in his youth for Federico (Leonardo Sbaraglia).  To kill his pain, Salvador begins a flirtation with heroin. He reflects a lot upon his childhood living in the country with mother Jacinta (Penelope Cruz), now an old lady (Julieta Serrano). His reflections (including certain major revelations of his young sexuality) give hope that Salvador may return to his passion as a writer and director of film. This synopsis does not do justice to what is a profoundly deep and complex human story, some of it centred around the idea of cinema itself as a reflection of life. (Much is possibly inspired by Almodovar's own life.) The cast is stupendously good, with Banderas giving what is possibly his career-best performance. The way he portrays the nuances of emotion, his pain (emotional and physical), his grappling with how life has turned out, and the sadness of loss is beyond words. His eyes say it all. With such an intensely personal film, it is perhaps up to each viewer to discover their own meaning in the story. As you can see, I simply adored it.  
4.5 - wholeheartedly recommended!

Doctor Sleep
Director: Mike Flanagan
Length: 151  min

© Warner/Roadshow - an impressive sequel to
The Shining. 

Acclaimed horror writer Stephen King wrote The Shining in 1977 and the film, directed by Stanley Kubrick, hit our screens in 1980. In 2013 King wrote his sequel, and now the film of that sequel is here, and of course everyone wants to know how it compares. First up, I believe you will get more out of this one if you have seen or read The Shining. Doctor Sleep revisits Danny Torrance (Ewan McGregor), now an alcoholic, haunted by nightmares from the Overland hotel and his axe-wielding father. Joining AA and meeting Billy (Cliff Curtis), he cleans up his act and becomes a hospital orderly. Meantime he is contacted, via his mind's psychic receptivity, by a young girl Abra (Kyleigh Curran), who also "shines", (as these abilities are referred to). Abra has witnessed in her mind a horrific murder of a young boy. A group of evil people, led by Rose the Hat (Rebecca Ferguson), kidnap and kill young kids who shine, harvesting the "steam", an essence they give off when they die. This keeps the members of the group in a semi-immortal state. Danny, Billy and Abra set out to put an end to this murderous group. Whew!!! This is only the half of it. There is such richness to this plot, so many subtleties and convolutions, which, fortunately, director Flanagan manages to weave into a whole that is suspenseful, frightening, intriguing, and a most worthy follow-up to the original. Many iconic scenes from The Shining are seamlessly incorporated, and clever casting recreates some of the original characters.  McGregor and Curran nail their roles, while Ferguson mesmerises like a snake with her portrayal of the seemingly lovely, but fiendishly evil Rose. If you hate the horror genre give it a miss; I however say Doctor Sleep will no doubt give rise to as much analysis and years of discussion as its predecessor, and is absolutely worth seeing.
4 - highly recommended!

Brittany Runs a Marathon
Director: Paul Downs Colaizzo
Length: 104  min

© Transmission -  yes, you can change your life
if you want it enough

Brittany Forgler (Jillian Bell), is 27, overweight, and deep into an unhealthy lifestyle of too much partying and no exercise. Though seen as a "funny girl" by her friends, she knows she is also the "fat girl", and her self-esteem is low. When her doctor gives her a wake-up call, she decides to join neighbour Catherine (Michaela Watkins) and friend Seth (Micah Stock) in a running group. Could it lead to something bigger? I expected little from this film, but found myself  both delighted and moved. Despite the odd moments of predictability, the script rings true - especially the fresh, believable dialogue and the empathetic characters. Brittany's first flatmate Gretchen is so typical of the "self'absorption" generation while her next flatmate handsome Jern (Utkarsh Ambudkar) adds humour and romance to the plot. And why shouldn't it feel authentic, as the story was inspired by a real life friend of writer/director Downs. The film works well for all age groups, showing how changing your life is often a matter of determination, and support from real friends, not those who put you down.
4 - highly recommended!

Emu Runner
Director: Imogen Thomas
Length: 95 min

© Umbrella -  beautifully filmed story of young girl's 
relationship with her mother's totem bird

Nine-year-old Gem (Rhae-Kye Waites) is an Indigenous girl living in the remote township of Brewarrina. She is a promising runner, and has a close white girlfriend, Tessa. When Gem's mother suddenly dies she begins to wag school. She takes comfort from going into the bush, where she becomes captivated by a wild emu, stealing whatever food she can find around town for the bird. Her father Jay Jay (Wayne Blair) struggles to keep his family together, as Gem attracts the attention of the police and an inexperienced social worker Heidi. With the increasing  number of Indigenous films, it's rewarding to see one focusing upon the peoples' connection to land and totemic animals. There's a fine performance by the young lead actress, and the relationships between all the kids, including Gem and her older siblings, feel very real. There are a few too many similar shots of the emu, and some of the adult cast feel a trifle stilted, but are possibly non-professional actors. However, with the beautiful cinematography, and important themes of whitefellas' often total misunderstanding of the dynamics of Indigenous society, you have a gently optimistic, thought-provoking film that expands our understanding of our First Nations people.
3.5 - well recommended!

Iranian Film Festival
Melbourne: 7-13 November
Cinema Nova
For other states and times visit:  iffa.net.au

It is always fascinating and rewarding to get an insight into a society and culture so different from our own, and yet to see that the human issues are basically similar the world over. This festival is the number one showcase for Iranian cinema in Australia, but be quick to catch it, as the season is short. 
A few previewed by me:

Dramatic teen friendship drama

My Second Year in College: Mahtab (Soha Niasti) and her best friend go on a college excursion. Ava is depressed about her boyfriend Ali and has been taking sedatives. When Ava collapses and falls into a coma, Mahtab calls Ali, and the two begin a friendship, but Mahtab fantasises it to be something more. Her defiance and obsession get her into trouble with the university administration. This is an intriguing glimpse into the nature of female friendships, the envy and maliciousness involved, along with the constraints and expectations put upon girls within Iranian society and by their families. Niasti has been awarded for her performance. 

Repression: This intense family drama has three estranged sisters coming together to visit their mother who has Alzheimer's and is being minded by a dubious housekeeper. The family dynamic is tense; all the women are troubled, and there are obviously dark secrets from the past. Meantime a body turns up that could be the father who has gone missing that very morning. 

Aslan wants out from life

Old Men Never Die: Now here's a black comedy. In a village where no-one has died for 45 years, a group of old men, sick of life, consider how to end it all. But it's not so easy, as the army has been sent to stop any suicide attempts. The old actors in this are very strong, and their shenanigans and age-focused conversations bleakly funny. Surprisingly lovely scenery is featured, and overall, though it's an odd film, it is bizarrely captivating. 

Russian Resurrection
Melbourne: 8-17 November
Capitol Cinema, Swanston Street
For other states and times visit:  www.russianresurection.com

Back again with 16 new features, and a vodka-infused music lovers' opening night, this year's festival ranges from action blockbusters, comedies and animation, to nail-biting thrillers and horror, plus a retrospective of director Pavel Lungin. 

Once more I've seen in advance: 
The Outbreak: Scary stuff is afoot as Moscow is suddenly stricken by a mystery virus which leaves its victims bleeding and dead within days. Yes, we know this plot from similar films, but here there is a difference. The story focuses not on medical containment, but upon the best and worst of human beings, who either rise to such apocalyptic challenges in a humane way, or succumb to self-preservation at the expense of others. The military (males) are shown in a bad light as they take every opportunity for brutality. A powerful plot thematic is that of family relationships - the main character has to juggle between his ex-wife, the mother of his beloved son, and his current partner. This is a genuinely thrilling film (which turns out to also be the first episode of a series.) 
Breakaway: This thriller sees five youngsters determined to spend New Year's Eve in a gondola above a mountain. As you'd expect, what starts as an adventure soon goes pear-shaped when the gondola breaks down. Characters begin their petty brawls, and the structure of the gondola itself starts to crack up. Teens may enjoy it; I found it more laughable than thrilling. 

Sadistic Dad or tough love?

Temporary Difficulties: Foundry manager Oleg cannot cope with his new son, Sasha, being born with cerebral palsy. He is determined to force the child to do anything an able-bodied kid can do. This causes great grief for father and son, but the ultimate outcome is quite unexpected. Somehow Oleg's treatment of Sasha comes across more as a form of torture, than a raising of the bar. Odd moments are heart-warming, and the lead youngster playing the child Sasha is strong, but so much happens that is fundamentally disturbing morally, or simply not believable. 

More from JIFF - Jewish International Film Festival
For session times and ticketing, along with interstate information visit www.jiff.com.au

Producers and musos were like
a family at Blue Note

It Must Schwing! The Blue Note Story: Blue Note is a legendary jazz record label, recording such giants of the scene as Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Herbie Hancock. It was founded in 1939 in New York by two friends Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff, both escapees from Nazi Germany. This wonderful doco tracks the history of that record label, employing interviews with the artists, excerpts from a 1964 interview with Lion, fabulous clips of performances, many publicity photos that Wolff took, and a superbly creative black and white animation which fills in many aspects of "the plot".  This includes jazz musos performing in pre-war Berlin, to the almost familial relationships the white Jewish founders and their coloured musicians enjoyed. The empathy the persecuted Jews had for their artists is evident throughout. This is a film that jazz lovers should simply NOT MISS!

Latin rhythms and sexy moves -
it's the mambo

The Mamboniks: The perfect partner for It Must Schwing! is another music-inspired film, featuring a little known side of Jewish life in America in the 1950s. When the craze for Latin music hit, many Jews put on their dancing shoes. A number of aficionados reminisce upon their dancing days; indeed many are still dancing mambo into their old age. The film recalls a time when life seemed happier (maybe it wasn't), people were more connected through dance, and there was an overwhelming joy to be had from frequenting dance palaces, be it in Havana, Florida or New York. One Auschwitz survivor set up the Palladium Ballroom; others took adopted Spanish names to front Latin bands. Archival footage of Havana, the dancers and bands, is wonderful, not to mention the night Fidel invaded and some of the dancers got caught up in the revolution. Fabulous viewing for lovers of Latin music and dance. 

Hard at work for six years, but
never getting the recognition

Ziva Postec: The Editor Behind the Film Shoah: Claude Lanzmann's 1985 documentary about the annihilation of the Jews in WW2 redefined the word epic, running for 9.5 hours. The film and its director won 15 big awards worldwide, but perhaps the unsung hero was the editor, Ziva Postec, who worked tirelessly for six years to edit the 350 hours of footage shot by Lanzmann. In this doco, (which perhaps required a bit of Ziva's editing skills!), she reflects upon her early life, moving from Israel to Paris, and working with such masters as Resnais and Orson Welles. We learn of her tragic marriage, then her obsession with Shoah to the detriment of bringing up her daughter. Subject matter is fascinating, and as an insight into an editor's life I know  I'd hate that job, but it is so critical to a film's outcome. 

Alliance Francaise Classic Film Festival
Melbourne: 10, 17 and 24 November
Astor
For times and ticketing (and Sydney's program) visit afclassicfilmfestival.org

Isabelle Adjani as sculptor Camille Claudel

For the fifth year, this festival gives audiences a chance to reacquaint themselves with the best of French Classic Cinema.  Legendary French actress Isabel Adjani is this year's focus, with six films showing over three Sundays. Adjani has appeared in 30 films since 1970 and holds the record for the most Cesar Best Actress awards. Four of those Best Actress films are in this year's program, so what better opportunity to catch up. 
The films are: 
All Fired Up (1982), Queen Margot (1994), Possession (1981), One Deadly Summer (1983), The Story of Adele H (1975), and Camille Claudel (1988).