March 5th 2025

Hard Truths

My Melbourne

Every little Thing

Alliance Francaise French Film Festival

With the French Film Festival upon us, it's time to publish a little early. I expect to bring you more reviews over the weeks that it runs. It's another terrific week for movie lovers. 

Hard Truths

Dir:  Mike Leigh

Length: 97 mins

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

© Mushroom Studios /Reset Collective - another
Mike Leigh slice of British life

Mike Leigh reunites with his lead actress from Secrets and Lies, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, who gives a searing (if at times infuriating!) 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 (David Webber) and slacker son Moses (Tuwaine Barrett) are always in her firing line, and the only person who seems to have a shred of compassion for Pansy is her sister Chantelle (Michele Austin). When the sisters visit their mothers' grave, there seems to be a slight shift in Pansy's outlook, 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, their strengths and frailties, and how they learn to tolerate each other. A typical Leigh "slice-of-life" drama that may well lead us to examine our own attitudes to life, asking ourselves whether we are in the "glass half-full or half-empty" department.

4 - highly recommended

My Melbourne

Dir:  Imtiaz ali, Kabir Khan, Rima Das & Onir

Length: 100 mins

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9fQ4hrZSDQ

© Mind-blowing Entertainment - four moving
and insightful stories 

There's something exciting about seeing one's own city up on the big screen. And it's even more engaging when the stories are something fresh and original, as is the case here. Four established Indian film-makers have collaborated with emerging film-makers in Melbourne to bring us four loosely connected short films dealing with issues around sexuality, gender, race and disability. Each story has been inspired by true events. 

Nandini is the story of a gay Indian man, Indraneel, living with his lover, something which his conservative father over in India highly disapproves of. But when Indraneel's mother dies, her last wish is for her ashes to be scattered in Melbourne. The father arrives, bringing ashes and hope for reconciliation. This is a tender and gently told story. 

Jules focuses upon two totally different women. Sakshi is a young woman recently arrived in Australia with her dominating husband, and working as a kitchen hand in a Melboune restaurant. When she meets a homeless woman, Jules (Aussie actress Kat Stewart), things start to turn around in Sakshi's life, as she gains confidence to stand up for her rights. 

Setara tells an inspiring story of a young Afghani refugee who has emigrated here with her mother and sister. Her school sports coach (played by legendary cricketer Brad Hodge) recognises her skill as a cricketer, but Setara must defy her mother's disapproval to pursue the sport she loves. It's a lovely tale of becoming recognised and accepted. 

Emma: Finally, the fourth story in the film features a young deaf dancer who faces self-doubts and  discrimination in the industry, until she meets Nathan, a profoundly deaf dancer who teaches her the discoveries she can make in the silence. All four episodes work really well, are beautifully and truthfully scripted and finely acted. As well as giving local creatives a chance to work with the finest Indian directors, this moving and insightful film entertains while highlighting people in our city who have so much to give but are often overlooked.

4 - highly recommended

Every Little Thing 

Dir: Sally Aitken

Length: 93 mins

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYgVXMc15kw

© Umbrella - a story of compassion and tiny
resilient creatures of great beauty

Bird lovers should not miss this shimmering documentary about hummingbirds, and a big-hearted woman from Los Angeles who devotes her life to caring for those creatures which fall from the nest or are otherwise injured. Terry Masear has a homemade bird hospital, and filmmaker Aitken (an Aussie documentarian) sets up her camera to track the progress of several feathered friends, from admission to release. Each bird is given a name by Terry, so their tiny personalities soon become utterly endearing and, as a viewer, we become invested in the fate of each individual. The close-ups and slo-mos of the amazing avians are stunning, as is all the cinematography. Impatient viewers probably won't enjoy this type of film, but it feels like a little ray of hope, caring and compassion in a world that seems to be heading in a more heartless and uncaring direction. 

3.5 - well recommended

Alliance Francaise French Film Festival

Melbourne : March 5 - April 9

Venues: Palace cinemas

For other staes' dates, bookings, and venues visit: affrenchfilmfestival.org

One of Australia's favorite film festivals rolls around again! The 36th AFFF presents 42 outstanding films. As always, it encompasses the gamut of genres, from blockbusters like The Count of Monte Cristo, to intimate life stories such as When Fall is Coming, through to such action thrillers as Elyas, zany comedies like Scammers, and some strong biopics about the likes of Sarah Bernhardt, Charles Aznavour and Maria Schneider. I've started my previewing and bring you several to consider, with more to come over the weeks of the festival.

Elyas:  Want a nail-biting, heart-stopping thriller?  Special forces veteran, Elyas (Roschdy Zem), is haunted by his past in Afghanistan, but accepts a job as a bodyguard to an Arab family from Saudi. He must protect the mother Amina (Laetitio Eido) and her young 13-year-old daughter Nour (Jeanne Michel), though from what only gradually reveals itself. As Elyas starts to bond with his young charge, the intricacies of the plot develop, and the tension ratchets up. Elyas must revisit all the skills he learned in combat. At times things get pretty brutal and violent, but the film retains a lovely grounded central relationship between the taciturn, battle-scarred man and the frightened young girl. 

Bolero: In 1928, Russian dancer Ida Rubenstein commissioned a young French composer to write a short piece of music for her, stipulating that it be highly erotic. And so Maurice Ravel composed a 17-minute piece of music that, apparently, is played around the world today once every 15 minutes. That piece is Bolero and this is the story of the man who created it. Raphael Personnaz embodies the melancholy composer, full of self doubt but mentally scouring his surroundings for the sounds that will both haunt him and inspire his iconic piece. Emmanuelle Devos is pianist and Ravel's supportive friend Marguerite, while Doria Tillier adds a poignancy as the beautiful Misia, an unattainable romantic interest for Ravel. Jeanne Balibar acts and dances sensually as Rubenstein. Director Anne Fontaine is skilled at capturing a historical period, and the movie is an intriguing look at a sad man, who composed many fine works but seemes ultimately defined by the one iconic piece. 

Being Maria: If you're as old as I am, you may remember the 1972 film, Last Tango in Paris. Starring Marlon Brando and a 16-year-old Maria Schneider, it caused a furore because of one controversial sex scene. This is the story of a young naive actress, who escapes her mother's influence and falls under the spell of Brando and the director of Last Tango, Bernardo Bertollucci. Anamaria Vartolomei is perfectly cast as the effervescent alluring young girl, whose experience on set is a turning point which damages the rest of her life. In the #metoo era, especially where movie-makers are under close scrutiny, this is a highly releveant and disturbing film. It also asks the question of just what is acceptable in pursuit of art. A fine biopic, with an impressive performance by Matt Dillon as Brando.

Scammers: Often, English-speaking film-makers remake French films; this one is a French remake of an Irish film, Waking Ned Devine. On a tiny island off the coast of Brittany, two old best friends, Jean-Jean and Henri, discover that the lottery has been won by one of the few people on the island. They set out to discover who, but when they find the owner of the winning ticket dead in his chair, ticket in hand, they set up a convoluted scam to get their hands on the money. I don't usually enjoy French comedies, but I laughed a lot at this one, and the main characters are so likeable and the Bretagne scenery so lovely, that it's hard not to simply enjoy the film's light-heartedness. 

 

The FFF is of course wholeheartedly recommended!!