November 29th 2024

Green Border

Blitz (streaming on Apple)

Only two films this week, but both very worthy, and one scoring my rare "unmissable"! 

Green Border

Dir:  Agnieszka Holland

Length: 148 mins

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbBii93HERw

© Sharmill - so timely, so heart wrenching,
simply wonderful. 

So powerfully authentic it feels almost like a documentary, the latest film from 78-year-old Holland is as strong a condemnation of the treatment of refugees as you could ever get. Keeping it brief in line with my "fiveminutefilm" concept is no easy task with this magnificent, unmissable film. The opening segment deludes us into a sense of optimism: a planeload of refugees lands in Belarus, having been told from there it will be a seamless entry into the EU. But shortly after being picked up by people they believe are their salvation, they are dropped in an area of forest between Poland and Belarus, known as the Green Border. From there they are shunted back and forth between the two countries, often experiencing brutality at the hands of Polish border guards, and trying desperately to simply survive, hoping they can fnd a way out of this nightmare. (The politics behind all this are too involved to go into - google it!)  The film takes part in five "chapters" and focuses on different players in this human tragedy. Syrian father Bashir (Jalal Altawil), wife Amina (Dalia Naous), along with their children and the grandfather bring the film's focus sharply onto a family we can feel deeply for and relate to. They befriend an Afghani teacher Leila (Behi Atai), who is a selfless and caring human being. Then we see things from the perspective of the guards, who have been brainwashed by their government into seeing the refugees as an almost sub-human threat. Their horrific treatment, even of pregnant women, seems to support this. One man Jan (Tomasz Wlosok) risks his job by showing compassion. Then we see the drama and trauma from the viewpoint of activists, struggling to help out where they can, with a focus on Polish psychologist Julia (Maja Ostaszewska). Holland shoots in startling black and white, and many of the actors are real refugees, adding to the authenticity. The sense of urgency, fear and hopelessness infuses so many of the scenes, that it is hard to watch at times, and yet this is one of the year's most important films, as it reinforces the need for basic human decency and compassion, and highlights the devastation caused when politicians use human beings as political footballs. It is heart-wrenching vital viewing, and so timely with everything going on in the world today. The film has won 23 prestigious awards. 

5- unmissable

Blitz

Dir:  Steve McQueen

Length: 120 mins

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZwykQK9aZo&t=1s

© Apple TV+ - a mother desperately searches for 
her missing child, amid war-torn London

London in 1940 is a dangerous place. The Germans are bombing it to smithereens. The British try valiantly to get on with their lives, taking shelter in the Underground when necessary, and many women work in munitions factories for the war effort. Single mother Rita (Saoirse Ronan) decides to send her nine-year-old son George (Elliott Heffernan), along with many other children,  to the countryside where they will be safer. But he is determined to return to his mother, and when she hears he has disappeared from the train transporting the children, she begins a frantic search for him. Although there is a certain sense of conventionality about the narrative, this is a terrific watch with much to recommend it. The recreation of  London under attack is disturbingly authentic, with tense scenes of falling bombs and firefighters desperately trying to save lives and buildings. The scenes of the women evoke the many war stories I grew up hearing, as do scenes set in the air-raid shelters and in the dance-halls where jitterbug and big band music ruled. There's another underlying strong thread to the plot and that is racism; George's father was black, and George is constantly subject to racial villification from other kids and adults. The dark side of exploitation - reprehensible people looting valuables from bombed homes and dead bodies - also comes under scrutiny. At heart though, it is a very lovely story of courage, and the love between mother and son. Ronan shines in her role, as does Heffernan.

4 - highly recommended

November 21st 2024

Goodrich

Last Stop Larrimah (streaming on Netflix) 

Woman of the Hour (streaming on Netflix)

Couch potatoes have two worthy films, both based on true crimes, to watch on Netflix, while a lovely family comedy/drama, featuring Michael Keaton, hits the big screen. 

Goodrich

Dir:  Hallie Meyers-Shyer

Length: 110 mins

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDv5eCpJiDU

© Rialto - Michael Keaton gives a tender
performance as a challenged father

Andy Goodrich, owner of a boutique New York art gallery,  is on his second marriage. His daughter Grace (Mila Kunis) by his first marriage is 27 years old and pregnant, but Billie (Vivien Lyra Blair)  and Mose (Jacob Kopera), the twins by wife number two, are only nine! When second wife suddenly leaves to go to rehab for 90 days, Andy is shocked and left struggling to be a competent father. He begins to lean heavily upon Grace, only to bring many long-harbored resentments to the surface. Although aspects of this plot are certainly well-worn film fodder, the story is elevated by a sensitive and nuanced performance from Keaton, who is absolutely empathetic and engaging in his role. In fact, the entire cast work really well together, with Kunis's Grace so poignant as the adult sister who has to watch her father become the sort of parent she had always hoped for, but never had. This is a lovely, gentle dramedy, that brings very relatable characters to the screen, in a story so relevant in a day when men are unsure of their fathering roles, and seem to have second families later in life. 

3.5 - well recommended

Last Stop Larrimah

Dir:  Thomas Tancred

Length: 117 mins - in two episodes

Streaming on Netflix

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PjOoWK8Eqw

© Netflix/HBO - truth is often way stranger
than fiction in this outback mystery

Is it a documentary, a Christopher Guest style satire, or a total fiction? In short, it's the true tale of dastardly doings in the Aussie outback, but it is so entertainingly presented that it could well be a carefully devised fiction. In 2017, Paddy Moriarty and his dog went missing from the tiny town of Larrimah in the Northern Territory. No trace of either dog or man was ever found, and given that the town's population was only 11, someone must have known something! We meet every resident of the town, and are treated to plenty of video taken of Paddy before his disappearance. All the residents seem to have a gripe about each other, so any one may have had motive enough to despatch Paddy. This is a colorful collection of true-blue Aussies, the likes of which we seldom meet: the publican who owns a huge pet crocodile, the cafe owner (and proud pie maker), a strangely ill-fitting married couple referred to as royalty, and more other eccentrics than you can shake a stick at. While they can be laughed at, we also get a sense of their oddly lonely lives. A most entertaining and eye-opening look at a side of Aussie life I've certainly never seen, not to mention an insight into a case that has mystified police to this day, and despite certain compelling evidence, has never led to a prosecution.

4 - highly recommended

Woman of the Hour

Dir:  Anna Kendrick

Length: 95 mins

Streaming on Netflix 

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

© Netflix - don't be too quick to go on
a date with a seeming charmer! 

Another true crime story turned into a Netflix feature film, this one is seriously chilling. Director Kendrick plays Cheryl, broadly based upon Cheryl Bradshaw who appeared on The Dating Game,  a TV show in the 70s.  Rodney Alcala (Daniel Zovatto), the man she chose from three candidates, turned out to be hiding a deadly secret. The directorial choice of how to handle the timeline makes for tense and interesting viewing. The opening scene, an idyllic photo shoot that soon turns deadly, then gives way to various scenes dealing with Cheryl's aspirations to act, and then we return to other crime scenes with the year being indicated by a surtitle. This can be a little confusing and the full story is only revealed just before the credits roll. What is really powerful, is the terrifying reality of how women can be so easily duped by evil men who seem charming, harmless, intelligent and even sweet. The reenactment of the actual TV game show, featuring some truly bozoish men, only adds to the misogynistic vibe of the era, leaving the viewer serously unsettled in this strong directorial debut.

3.5 - well recommended

 November 14th 2024

Gladiator II

Memory

Melbourne Queer Film Festival - 5 reviews

More JIFF  - Irena's Vow

Another great week for film. For lovers of swords and sandals epics, we have the sequel to Gladiator, with action aplenty. Early onset Alzheimer's features in a tender love story, while the Queer Film Festival bursts onto Melbourne screens. And JIFF continues with more new additions to the program. 

Gladiator II

Dir:  Ridley Scott

Length: 148 mins

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVgDrI6keck

© Paramount - swords, sandals, strapping men, 
and much blood, gore and excitement

Lucius (Paul Mescal) has been living far from Rome in northern Africa. His homeland is overrun by Roman forces and his wife killed by General Marcus Acacius (Pedro Pascal), who captures Lucius, taking him back to Rome to fight in the gladiatorial ring at the Colosseum.  Rome is now run by two obnoxious, cruel brothers, Emperors Geta (Joseph Quinn) and Caracalla (Fred Hechinger), who keep close company with cunning and power-hungry business man, Macrinus (Denzel Washington). Acacius's wife Lucilla (Connie Nielsen) will ultimately be torn, as her husband and son are pitted against each other in the ring. There's plenty of convoluted politics and plots, but for me they don't matter greatly, as this entire film is a spectacle of entertainment, decadence, gore, and machismo. It's a true blockbuster, with some impressive set pieces, such as a digitally created rhinocerous charging into the ring to fight several men, and two battleships sailing on a shark-infested lake created in the arena. (Some of the digital work is awe-inspiring; while some is too obviously digital!)  Apparently Scott even built a life-sized Colosseum and populated it with real people. The stand-out performance is probably Denzel, who simply oozes deviousness, while Pascal and Mescal are perfectly cast in their warrior-like roles. For me what is lacking however is a depth of emotion between the characters, something I felt more of in the first Gladiator. But, by my many uncomfortable jumps in my seat and intakes of breath, the film obviously does its job as a jolly good popcorn entertainment. 

3.5 - well recommended

Memory 

Dir: Michel Franco

103 mins

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeLbykMmLho&t=1s

© Potential - sensitive and compassionate 
story of love and memory loss

Sylvia (Jessica Chastain) is a social worker and recovering alcoholic. She leads an ordered life with teenage daughter Anna (Brook Timber). One day after a school reunion, she is followed home by Saul (Peter Sarsgaard), and is totally unnerved to find him still sitting outside her apartment the next morning. He is a man with early onset dementia who is under the care of his brother Isaac (Josh Charles). As Sylvia and Saul connect, what ensues will change both of their lives forever. The film is a delicate and tender examination of an unexpected and unlikely connection between two damaged people, and also explores the sort of prejudices others have towards such relationships. Chastain and Sarsgaard are simply terrific together. Other significant themes around family exploitation add to the depth of the plotting. Memory was a nominee for the Golden Lion (2023), and has won a well-deserved Best Actor for Sarsgaard's heart-rending performance, as his character wavers constantly between total forgetting, confusion, and being alert and alive in the moment.  This is no standard romance, rather a beautifully humane look at how life can be rewarding even in the face of extreme challenges.

4 - highly recommended 

Melbourne Queer Film Festival

14-22 November

ACMI, Nova, Capitol, Palace Como

For all info on sessions, ticketing, special events, visit: mqff.com.au

It's back - Melbourne's favorite queer festival featuring 19 docos, 42 feature films, and 90 shorts from all over the world.  This year's theme entitled "Formative Sound and Vision" celebrates queer music culture. 

Lesvos: The beautiful Greek island of Lesvos has long been a magnet for lesbian women from all over the world. The island is the birthplace of the poet, Sappho, the first person to write about lesbian love. This informative documentary chronicles 40 years in the sleepy village of Eresos, when gay women from all over the world flocked to make the town their own, causing some hostility with locals, but at the same time giving a sense of belonging to those local women who were themselves gay.  There's great archival footage, some enlightening interviews, and of course the eye candy that is the physical beauty of Greece. 

Where in the Hell: Non-binary actor  Cam Killion stars in this delightful buddy/road movie about Kasey and Alan (Joohun Lee) who meet up by chance at a motel in the middle of nowhere, USA. Kasey has just discovered their girlfriend has disappeared, and Alan says he's on the road to Canada for an acting audition. Together they pool money and a car and head off north towards Montana, Cam hoping to find the missing gal, and Alan hoping to make it over the border to his audition. The film has much humanity and gentle humour - two rather lost people trying to figure out their priorities in life are initially so mismatched, but gradually form an oddball friendship that is really engaging. 

The Beautiful Summer: Ginia is a young woman who has moved from a rural area to Turin, in the pre-war years. She works as a dressmaker, showing a lot of talent, but is searching for a more adventurous life. When she meets artist's model Amelia, she steps into a Bohemian world unlike anything she's experienced before. Although some familiar themes are revisited - finding one's identity, first affairs, same sex attraction - there is something very appealing about this sensuous and delicately-tackled film. Notably Amelia is played by the stunning Deva Cassell, daughter of Vincent Cassell and Monica Bellucci. The chemistry between the two women is perfect, and the sense of the era is powerfully portrayed in the production values. 

I Am What I Am: Kasumi Sobata is 30 and single. Her mother's matchmaking efforts come to naught, as Kasumi is asexual, having no feelings of love or sexual attraction for anyone. People of both sexes are friends, and nothing more. Here's an LGBTQI+ film with a difference; asexuality is not so often talked about, and is often misunderstood. Toko Miura (so fine as the introverted driver in Drive My Car)  has the lead role here, as the isolated young woman who people constantly misinterpret. The story is sweet and moving and a worthy challenge to the commonly held concept that everyone is expected to fall in love one day. 

Little Richard: I Am Everything: Entertaining and uplifting, this is something for rock'n'roll fans and anyone who loves a great music doco. Too much credit is often given to the white origins of rock'n'roll. Richard Penniman, black and queer, could well be called the father of the music craze that swept the world in the 50s. This exciting biopic features more archival footage than you can shake a stick at, along with insightful input from such iconic musicians as Mick Jagger, Paul McCartney, David Bowie, Tom Jones and more, all of whom credit Richard with being a major inspiration. The personal backstory of Richard's multi-faceted personality is equally captivating, and we learn much about his various incarnations: from popular pompadoured raucous singer, to being openly gay in a time when it was neither fashionable nor legal. Amazingly he later married a woman, divorced, turned to religion, returned to his rock roots, and continued for his lifetime to present different versions of himself to the world. This film is just so much fun, with a brilliant soundtrack (of course!) and an eye-opening insight into a man who changed the course of modern music.

Jewish International Film Festival

Melbourne: Until December 4th

Venues: Classic Elsternwick, Lido Hawthorn, Cameo Belgrave

For film details, ticketing and dates for other states: www.jiff.com.au

The festival  still has two more wonderful weeks to go, with new additions, We Will Dance Again and The Bibi Files added to the film program. Meantime I caught another to add to my list.  

Irena's Vow:  Holocaust stories are often a case of truth being stranger than fiction. And here's another astonishing true story of how a 19-year-old Polish nurse, Irena Gut, managed to save the lives of a dozen Jews by hiding them in the basement of her Nazi employer's villa. Featuring a memorable performance from Sophie Nelisse as Irena, the film is testament to a gentile woman's compassion and bravery, as she witnesses horrendous brutality to those who protected Jews, yet still retains the stength to do what she believes is right. Films about that level of moral courage are always an inspiration. 

November 7th 2024

The Pool

British Film Festival - four reviews

The new Aussie doco is a winner, while the four I've previewed so far for the British Film Festival are absolutely worth the watch. 

The Pool

Dir:  Ian Darling

Length: 95 mins

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-FGkvC4ds8&t=2s

© Shark Island - a love letter to a lifestyle, 
and a swimmming pool. 

"Everyone is equal in their swimsuits." So goes the tagline for this richly rewarding Aussie documentary about the world-renowned Bondi Icebergs swimming pool in Sydney. You might ask yourself how a film about a swimming pool could be so engaging, but I assure you it is! Various elements combine to make the film more than the sum of its parts. First we have the fascinating folks who go to swim there - from young beauties, through to the old and wise, those swimming for pleasure, fitness or to help them through inner crisis. Newcomers and those who have swum there for decades. The many characters have small stories to tell, and no one person dominates - it's the pool itself that is the central character. Then there is the sheer filmic beauty of the setting: stunning sunsets, awe-inspiring crashing waves, the light at different times of the day, human bodies like dolphins stroking through the water. The cinematography is mesmerising. Add a magnificent and nostalgic 60s-inspired surf music soundtrack, and you have a film that celebrates the human state and the joy of belonging and pursuing something together. The doco is an utterly refreshing change from the often dark fare I watch, and is like a meditation on people, beauty and the simple joy of being alive.

4 - highly recommended

Russell Hobbs British Film Festival

Melbourne: Until 8 December

Venues: Palace cinemas

For all you need to know about the other states, the films, times, synopses and events visit www.britishfilmfestival.com.au

This is always a much-loved festival, featuring many actors we know and love. Centrepiece film Hard Truths comes from iconic director Mike Leigh. The festival guest, Aylin Tezel, director of Falling into Place, will feature in a Q&A, while much-loved acting royalty Ralph Fiennes features in two highly-anticipated films, The Return and Conclave. Brit music gets a run too, with films on Blur and The Rolling Stones. As well as the latest British movies, this year's sidebar, entitled "History Restored" rescreens several iconic films with a historical slant. A Lion in Winter, Heat and Dust, A Man For All Seasons and more. My previewed films so far:

Falling into Place: When Kira (Aylin Tezel) and Ian (Chris Fulton) meet by chance on the remote Scottish island of Skye, they joke that they are each on the run. And they are - from themselves. Kira has had a traumatic romantic breakup and Ian has ongoing family dramas around his suicidal sister. It is obvious they are soulmates, but after a brief fun 24 hours together they return to their lives, and we are left wondering if their paths will ever collide again. This is exquisite filmmaking - visually evocative, with sweeping scenes of the rocky island in counterpoint to the bustle of London life. The non-linear narrative keeps you constantly engaged, while the hauntingingly lovely soundtrack stays in the mind. Best of all the two leads conjure up a magical chemistry that is so authentic, sweet and poignant. Don't imagine this is just another romance; it's also a deeply touching  exploration of the soul-searching journey of what one wants of life and the courage required to grasp it.   

Hard Truths: Mike Leigh reunites with his lead actress from Secrets and Lies, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, who gives a searing performance as Pansy, a wife and mother who constantly complains, criticises, picks fights with strangers, and generally alienates everyone around her. Her hardworking husband Curtley and slacker son Moses are always in her firing line, and the only person who seems to have a shred of compassion for Pansy is her sister Chantal. When the sisters visit their mothers' grave, there seems to be a slight shift in Pansy, encouraging us to question the whys of her endless malcontedness. We may laugh at her incessant griping, but what starts out as vaguely humourous settles into a darker and deeper look at what makes people tick, and tolerate each other. A typical Leigh "slice-of-life" drama that may well lead us to examine our own attitudes to life in the "glass half full or half empty" department. 

Poison: Lucas (Tim Roth) and Edith (Trine Dyrholm) meet in a graveyard after having not seen each other for ten years. While waiting to meet someone there, they talk, and gradually all is revealed to the viewer, as they unearth past memories, grievances, hurts and loves. Both have experienced a profound loss, but deal with it completely differently. Based upon a play, the film remains fairly cinematically contained, but its strength lies in the immense power of the performances.  Roth and Dyrholm display the sort of chemistry that only people who have been through so much together can have. A sad, lovely and reflective film, that sensitively handles the deepest of human emotions. 

The Stones and Brian Jones: Renowned documentarian Nick Broomfield, (who made memorable films about Leonard Cohen, Whitney Houston and Aileen Wuornos) now tackles the story of Brian Jones, the man who founded The Rolling Stones. Broomfield has gathered a lot of footage never before seen, from Jones' early schooldays, through to rare interviews and videos of the Stones in their very early incarnation as a strictly blues band. Interviews with Jones' many ex-girlfriends (and mothers to his five kids!), reveal the tumultuousness of his lovelife, while commentary from Bill Wyman gives wonderful  insight into Jones versatile musicianship which added such distinctiveness to so many of the Stones' songs. All this is set against the background of the 60s, a time of sweeping societal change.  This highly entertaining story of a tragically curtailed life is a wonderful addition to the pantheon of music docos.  

The British Film Festival is, of course, highly recommended!