October 19th 2023
The Origin of Evil
Oink
JIFF - Jewish International Film Festival
It's a wonderful week for film, including two new festivals with their opening night next Monday. A black thriller from France, a clever animation from Holland, plus the Jewish International Film Festival (movies from umpteen countries around the world), and the best of new Japanese film.
Dir: Sebastien Marnier
Length: 106 mins
 |
© Potential - entertaining and clever
French thriller, with a magnifique central performance |
Stephane (Laure Calamy) works in a fish cannery, and makes regular visits to her girlfriend in prison. One day she decides to get in touch with her wealthy estranged father Serges (Jacques Weber) who warmly welcomes his long-lost daughter. But Serge's new family, his shopaholic wife Louise (Dominique Blanc), his haughty daughter George (Doria Tillier), and the decidedly odd housekeeper Agnes are none too impressed, doubting Stephane's motives. This is a deliciously warped French thriller, with strong production values, a modern yet old-fashioned sensibility, and a few strong comedic undertones. The snooty rich women of Serge's household are gloriously portrayed in all their horridness, but it is Calamy who steals the show, giving us a mercurial woman who we can never quite put our finger on, until the film's final revelations. We are kept guessing throughout, and indeed highly entertained.4 - highly recommended
Dir: Mascha Halberstadt
Length: 72 mins
 |
© Vendetta - a terrific stop-motion animation
to be enjoyed by all age groups |
Grandpa Tuitjes returns from the USA to visit his family in Holland, and buys a piglet for his 9-year-old grand-daughter Babs. But the porker can only be allowed to stay if he undergoes puppy training. Meantime, unknown to his family, Gramps is planning to re-enter the King Sausage competition that he lost years ago to Butcher Smakarelli. Is Oink going to be safe from the scheming Tuitjes? This is a delightfully made stop-motion animation - colorful, funny, cute, and at times a bit gross, involving a big pile of poo jokes which should definitely appeal to kids of a certain age. Like many of the best animations, it works on multiple levels, exploring themes that adults can discuss with their kids later. Issues around animal welfare, the meat industry and family feuds give this film much depth. Oink showed at last year's Children's International Film Festival, and I'm delighted it has a mainstream release so that the whole family can enjoy it.4 - highly recommended
JIFF - Jewish International Film Festival
Melbourne: October 23rd - November 29th
Cinemas: Classic, Lido, Cameo
It's back with a massive 30 feature films, 20 documentaries, two series and six short films, plus a collection of live events. And in Melbourne there's a treat for lovers of the author Isaac Bashevis Singer: a world-first retrospective of seven films based upon the Yiddish author's stories, and including the much-loved clasic Yentl.
To quote the festival's artistic director Eddie Tamir: "In a world where stories are our bridge to
understanding, this year's JIFF is a testament to the timeless resilience and
adaptability of the Jewish spirit." Bridging understanding has never been so important in today's fraught world, where racism, wars, and nations divided are as alive and well as ever, and getting more troubled by the day. So, without further ado, here's a taster of some of the featured films I've been privileged to preview.
Jack Warner - the Last Mogul Fans of the great Golden Era of Hollywood film are going to die for this fabulous documentary, which guides us through the story of the birth and rise of the Warner Brother's studio. Jack Warner reigned supreme, giving everyone, from his brothers to the stars who helped make him, a very hard time. The archival footage from the old films is glorious, and the line-up of interviewees is dazzling. The film is made by Greg Orr, Jack Warner's grandson, and although the film shows Jack as someone both loved and loathed, it pays due homage to a man whose legacy will never be forgotten. I found myself in the loathe department, but enjoyed the doco, such a wonderful respository of film history.
Stella. A Life. Often truth is even more bizarre than fiction, as in this shocking drama based upon the true story of Stella Goldshlag, an aspiring Jewish singer in the early forties when the Nazi regime ruled Berlin. After she is forced into hiding, she becomes desperate to save herself and her parents, and so delivers umpteen of her fellow Jews into the hands of the Gestapo. Paula Beer is wonderful in the lead role, representing a character one can loathe and pity at the same time, as she is both a victim and a perpetrator. Therein lies the interesting moral dilemma.
The Future Two women sit in a room and talk. Israeli scientist Nurit works on algorithms that predict how to spot a future terrorist. Yaffa is a young Palestinian student who has just shot and killed the Israeli minister for Space and Tourism. Nurit is trying to become a mother by using a surrogate; Yaffa has effectively thrown her life away by her actions. There's a lot going on in this film, especially in the light of recent developments in Israel and Gaza. The powerful script invites audiences to reassess their own rigid narratives on the dire situation, while the performances of the two women make both their characters and their situations real and relatable.
Filip Winner of the Best Feature Film at a recent Polish Film Festival, Filip is the story of a young Polish Jew who escapes the Warsaw Ghetto in 1943 and heads to Frankfurt. There he pretends he is French and gets work as a waiter in one of the city's top hotels. The Nazis forbid any fraternisation between German women and either Jews or foreign workers, but Filip (powerfully played by Erik Kulm) is a ladies' man, and constantly violates the prohibition. This film is so atypical of representations of life under the Nazi rule; it shows an almost carefree and decadent scene among both the young and the upper echelons of German society. The tone fluctuates between lightness and a dark mood of violence and menace, a perfect setting for the burning desire for revenge that lurks underneath Filip's false persona. This is gripping watching, with perfectly recreated settings.
My Daughter my Love Much awarded Israeli actor Sasson Gabay plays Shimon, who travels to Paris to visit an unwell old friend. He stays with his daughter Alma and son-in-law Dori, who have a small baby. Soon it becomes clear there are major issues in the marriage and Shimon is at a loss at how to handle his distressed daughter. Not a great deal happens, but there is a delicate sensibility to this film, in which relationships are what matter most. Touching scenes of the two old pals babysitting the little one, and of a father comforting and reconnecting with his daughter all contribute to the fabric of this unusual slice of life story.
Revenge: Our Dad the Nazi Killer Three Melbourne brothers start digging into the past of their father Boris, a Partisan and Holocaust survivor who emigrated to Australia after the war. At the same time as many Jews resettled here, so about 800 Nazis and collaborators were allowed into the country. The brothers discover that many of these Nazis died or disappeared under mysterious circumstances. As the bits of evidence are assembled, the brothers start to have a strong feeling that their Dad may have had something to do with it. This is another film with a truly huge moral dilemma at its heart: the whole issue of vigilantism and taking justice and revenge into your own hands.
The Engineer Yahya Ayyash was the chief bombmaker for Hamas in the 1990s. He orchestrated several horrific suicide bomb attacks that killed 90 Israelis, and as such became the subject of the biggest manhunt in the history of Israel. This narrative feature is based upon that dark period, and stars Emile Hirsh as an operative who leads the hunt. This is a grim, heart-stopping story, that would have been far better served being filmed predominantly in Hebrew and Arabic. The mainly English dialogue feels false, and some very wooden acting does little to help matters. A shame, as this excellent true story could have made a brilliant fast-paced thriller had better directorial and casting choices been made.
The Conspiracy Anti-Semitism is alive and well, and thanks to social media, the amount of misinformation is ever increasing, so a doco like this is particularly relevant in looking at the historical basis of anti-Semitism. The film employes a mix of bold animation, combined with the examination of the lives of three prominent Jews: a soldier, Dreyfus; a banker, Warburg and the revolutionary, Trotsky. The anti-semitism that surrounded them, along with crackpot theories such as Jews taking over the world, or drinking the blood of children, are all somehow connected to show how the ongoing hatred today is rooted in the lunatic theories of the past.
Melbourne: October 23rd - Nov 5th
Cinemas: Kino, ACMI, Palalce Balwyn
The 27th Japanese Film Festival brings the best of Japanese cinema to you once more. If you're in search of romance, adventure, comedy, drama, action and more, you'll find what you're looking for here. Lovers of Japanese culture will know there is a certain exquisiteness and attention to detail about Japan, that has to be experienced to be believed. If you see only one film in this year's line-up, experience that essential Japanese beauty in The Lines That Define Me.
The Lines That Define Me Sumi-e is a style of Japanese inkwash painting (extraordinary use of brush strokes in monochrome, using black ink). This film is like a love letter to the art form, showing how it can transform lives and be a total reflection of the soul of the artist. Sosuke, a uni student whose family all died in an accident, observes a master sumi-e artist, Kozan Shinoda, putting on a public performance, creating a giant piece of art in the sumi-e style. Kozan picks Sosuke out of the audience to help him, and coaxes the lad into becoming his assistant. Kozan's granddaughter Chiaki (already learning the craft) feels initially slighted, but is soon drawn deeper into the world of learning more, and competitions within the discipline. Everything about the film reflects the Japanese aesthetic of beauty from the music, to the cinematography, to the loving way in which each artwork is created (the lead actor studied the discipline for a year to do the role). You need to surrender yourself to this sort of film - it's not one for the popcorn brigade! If you can just go with the gentle storyline and open yourself to a new form of art, this will be a film to absolutely relish.
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