November 2nd 2023

The Dive

Vishniac (JIFF)

Bollywood Film Festival 

British Film Festival 

Aside from one mainstream release, this week for me is mostly about festivals. (There's even a 3-day Irish Film Festival that I didn't get around to reviewing.) Indiaphiles should get in quick for the inaugural Bollywood Film Festival, JIFF continues apace, and the British Film Festival gets underway for the next few weeks. 

The Dive

Dir: Maximilian Erlenweil

Length: 91 mins

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZR8IJy1VR9g

© The Reset Collective - panic levels rise
in a a taut underwater thriller 

Drew (Sophie Lowe) and May (Louisa Krause) are two sisters with a complex past, which includes learning to scuba dive with their father. They meet up after some time apart and head off on a dive in a very remote area. All goes well until a cliff collapse on shore sends huge boulders plummeting into the water, trapping May's leg. Will her oxygen run out before her sister can get help?  There's nothing new about this sort of scenario. The race against the clock, the glimmers of hope that are repeatedly shattered, the obstacles fate thows in the way of the rescue attempt - although we know this type of plot quite well, it is executed with enough impressive underwater photography  and tension to hold you in suspense for most of the time. The two sisters are good foils for each other - one serious and broody, the other somewhat scatterbrained, and they come across as authentic characters, although the so-called backstory of their estrangement is never really expanded. Nevertheless, for those (like me) who got their thrills from old TV shows like Sea Hunt, this one should fill the bill well as a diverting and (mostly) exciting watery tale. (And the coastline and underwater scenery off Malta is fabulous.)  

3 - recommended 

Vishniac

Another wonderful film from JIFF (Jewish International Film Festival)

Melbourne: Until November 29th

Cinemas: Classic, Lido, Cameo 

For other states, other dates visit www.jiff.com.au for all the details. 

©JIFF - a vanished way of life;
photographs to haunt you forever

Half a lifetime ago I discovered a book called A Vanished World. I was stunned by the poignancy of the photos, which showed the life lived by poor Eastern European Jews just before the Holocaust wiped that life out forever. And now here is a magnificent documentary that examines the life of Roman Vishniac, the photographer and scientist who took not only these iconic photos, but also groundbreaking nature and scientific photos that were used in Life magazine. The doco works on so many levels: as a tribute to a way of life, as a biopic of a most dedicated and unusual man (given to lies, womanising and self-aggrandisement), and as an insight into the art of photography and new methods Vishniac pioneered, such as coloring photos taken through microscopes. Vishniac's daughter features large in interviews, filling out details of her family's life. along with revelatory archival footage and chilling stills of faces, places, and lives long gone. A must for historians and lovers of photography.

4.5 - wholeheartedly recommended 

Cunard British Film Festival

Melbourne: Now until November 29th

Palace Cinemas

For other states, other dates visit www.britishfilmfestival.com.au for all the details. 

Always a showcase for top British films, and many of Britain's most acclaimed actors, this year's festival is no exception. Anthony Hopkins stars in One Life, Ian McLellan in The Critic, and Helen Mirren in Golda. These are merely three of the amazing line-up of contemporary feature films and documentaries, along with a retrospective of six films featuring Britain's finest leading ladies and a centrepiece screening of a 4K restoration of the film Tommy. I'm eagerly awaiting the chance to catch more, and have so far seen this documentary that music and art fans will not want to miss:

Two talented guys who changed the face
of record album covers

Squaring the Circle - The Story of Hipgnosis: Are you one of those people who, in the days of vinyl records, bought your latest album and pored over the cover artwork, and every word on the sleeve? If so, you're going to love this documentary. In the late 1960s Storm Thorgerson and Po Powell formed a design company which produced artwork for some of rock's most iconic ever record covers. Think Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, Wings Band on the Run, 10cc's Look Hear?  - just a fraction of the magic created back in the day. This absolutely entertaining doco looks at the evolution of the company, and features countless insightful interviews with legendary rockers now grown old: Paul McCartney, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant to name a few. This is a film music lovers will relish.    

Bollywood Film Festival

Melbourne: November 2-5

Cinema Nova

For venues in other states, and information on all the films, visit www.bollywoodfilmfestival.com.au 

The inaugural Bollywood Film Festival launches nationally this weekend to align with Diwali, India's beloved Festival of Lights. Don't be fooled into thinking it's all colorful saris, lovelorn lovers, and song and dance - these films illustrate the diversity of Indian cinema, much of it very serious. Several of the films feature a rare insight into Indian village life, while the documentary Brand Bollywood Downunder has enough color and movement to satisfy any Bollywood aficianados. A couple of the films also highlight the struggles that continue for women in a patriarchal society, and the ignorance and superstition that dominates much of village life even today. I've previewed several, all of  which come highly recommended:

 

Brand Bollywood Downunder: Seen through an Australian lens, this is the story of not only Australia's love affair with Bollywood, but a short history of the juggernaut that is the Indian film industry itself. With so much Indian immigration to Australia, it is natural for there to be a merging of Aussie culture with Indian culture, especially via film, and this excellent doco looks at the ups and downs, the politics, and the mutual love between the Indian film industry and Australia. The movie is colorful, joyous and informative - a true homage to an art form that celebrates the exuberance of Indians throughout the world, in fact celebrates life itself. 

To Kill a Tiger: This much-awarded documentary deals with disturbing subject matter - that of the rape of females in India, a crime that happens once every 20 minutes. Several years ago 13-year-old Kiran went to a village wedding where she was later raped by three local boys, (including her cousin.) The village elders claimed she should be married off to one of her attackers, to assuage the shame, and espoused the horrific theory that the girl always carries some blame in these cases. Her father Ranjit was determined to prosecute the boys and see justice done for his daughter. The film-makers follow the painfully slow and  incompetent process of the trial, and expose the shameful ignorance and patriarchal attitudes of the villagers, both men and women. To watch the innocent child braiding her hair, as she tells what befell her, is so painful, and yet only with films of this nature can men be educated to change their entrenched ways of thinking. A confronting but vitally important and brave film.  

Joram:  Basru, a tribal migrant worker, works on a construction site in Mumbai. When violence comes to his doorstep, he flees with his 3-month old daughter in his arms. A policeman from Mumbai is hot on his trail. He heads back to his homeland, the region of Jharkhand, where his past connections have been the cause of his current woes. The film's taut direction ensures the tension is constant, the emotion and fear for Basru and his tiny daughter ever present, but it is also a very interesting insight into the persecution that tribal people in India still face. They are low in society's pecking order and government and industry try to take their lands without paying. It all resonates with what is a similar problem for indigenous groups worldwide. With many nominations and awards worldwide at festivals, this is well worth seeing. 

Fire in the Mountains:  Chandra lives in a mountain village high up near the Tibetan border. She juggles relentlessly hard work, caring for a son who refuses to walk, keeping an eye on her developing teen daughter, and managing a hard-drinking, brutal husband who wants to spend money on superstitious religious rituals instead of proper medical advice. The magnificent landscapes in which this is shot, form a stark contrast to the oppressivenesss of village life, while radio reports of India being such a progressive country are ironic in a village that has no decent road access. This is another beautifully-drawn picture of village life, family dysfunction, women suffering from traditional patriarchal views, and an India caught between the past and the future.