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
 |
© 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
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
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.
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