The Week in Review - 16/8/09

Illness is often the prime motivator for me to watch DVDs, and so this week I watched two. It was a very strange week, in which one day I thought I might die, and the next I was almost back to normal. As I wrote, not dead yet.

FILMS

• Tyson (James Toback, USA, 2008)
• Coraline (Henry Selick, USA, 2009)

DVDs

• Apache (Robert Aldrich, USA, 1954)
• L'avventura (The Adventure, Michelangelo Antonioni, Italy/France, 1960)

Tyson
Suffering post-MIFF film withdrawal, I had to see something on the big screen, but my need was not so bad that I would resort to most of the pulp screening at the moment. I figured I'd see this documentary that also screened at MIFF and it's not too bad at all. I'm not big on boxing by any stretch of the imagination but what makes this documentary so compelling is the honesty and introspectiveness of the film's subject.

Tyson is completely up-front about his inner world and what motivated him at different stages of his life. He fell into fighting out of fear of being attacked. He desired various things, the tokens of success. When he denies having raped the woman for whom he was convicted and jailed, he says it with the conviction of an innocent man. While I never admired the animalism of Tyson, I found him a character I could empathise with, which is quite an achievement by Toback.

Coraline 3D
The last time I saw a 3D movie, it was at the same Sun Theatre and it was again without knowing that the session was 3D. The initial response of myself and the missus was disappointment. Disappointment that it was costing $3 more per ticket and disappointment that we'd have to don those stupid bloody glasses. So how was the experience?

Well, you'd think that paying those extra dollars would get you a nice clean pair of glasses, perhaps sealed in a plastic bag. No such luck. These glasses are all greasy and sweaty, with smudges all over the lenses. It's DIY cleaning, a real downer, like turning up at the local cafe and finding you have to remove the previous customer's dirty plates and wipe the table yourself.

The glasses are quite bulky and as excellent as Coraline's 3D effects may be, one is always aware of the intrusion of the glasses on the cinema experience. It's both a gateway to the experience and a ball and chain that detracts from it. When all is said and done, there seems to be no net benefit.

Still, the 8yo kid loved the effects, which have certainly improved since we last saw Bolt. In that film, the 3D effects seemed to be concentrated at the start and end of the film, and pretty thin in-between. I don't know if it's because the technology has improved, or whether Coraline had a better budget, but there's no denying that the effects are impressive. But if the technology were to proliferate and become more common, I think one would bore of it. I think the appeal is wholly because it is uncommon.

Another problem with 3D is that it's not really 3D. Rather, the film-makers are very selective as to what to make appear in 3D, which gives the illusion of 3D, but it always feels inadequate. To really get absorbed into the 3D world, the whole image needs to be treated with the 3D effects. Until then, the 3D effects are a distraction from the story as one's consciousness is drawn to analysing what is 3D and what isn't.

In conclusion, even if the tickets were the same price, I'd prefer the regular cinema experience. The main reason is that I find that the glasses intrude on the experience, making me conscious of being in a cinema and preventing my absorption in the story. That I have to pay extra for the experience is a strong negative.

The film itself is very enjoyable and well-done. I haven't read the story, and after seeing the film, I asked my son if he'd like me to buy the book (which was selling in the bookshop across the road from the cinema). He liked the film but his answer was no, to my surprise.

The film is basically a horror story for kids. The idea of an alternate, happy world where everyone has button eyes, and your entering the world means relinquishing your own eyes certainly has the potential for nightmares. Alexander had no problems with that element, so maybe it's more of a problem for some young 'uns. The film's visuals are nice and the story satisfying for adults as much as children.

Apache
Westerns are a re-discovery for me. I pretty much grew up on a regular diet of 1950s westerns in my childhood; they screened and re-screened regularly on Sunday mornings on Channel 9 and consequently I grew not to take them seriously. I don't know much about Aldrich, nor much about American history. This film's use of caucasians with face-paint is both amusing and yet effective. I understand the cultural implications, and that native Americans would not have appealed to cinema audiences of the day.

The film has both an air of camp and seriousness and Aldrich seemed determined to depict the Apaches in a sympathetic light, something I imagine was quite rare for the day. I wonder how historically correct it is.

L'avventura
While I didn't like Antonioni's The Passenger, Zabriskie Point impressed me and so does this 1960 film. It's focus on the idle middle-class and their sexual shenanigans reminds me of Buñuel's obsessions with a similar demographic, though the mood is very different.

The mood is very dour, a type of mystery as a woman goes missing and her friends try to find her (if she is still alive). Antonioni is one of my favourite Italian film-makers, especially given that I'm not a big fan of that country's cinema. In fact, I generally don't like the dubbing of Italian films, something I barely noticed in this film. The characters are well-drawn, the narrative is beautifully elusive and the observational nature of the camera is very enticing. The visuals are stunning. I look forward to discovering more of this director's work.

The Week in Review - 21/6/09

Winter solstice - I love it! There's a change in energy and from today the days start to get longer. The two-week Guerín season started at Melbourne Cinémathèque and, if you missed this week (a highlight of my year so far), make sure you see the coming screenings on Wednesday.

FILMS:

• Wake in Fright (Ted Kotcheff, Australia/USA, 1971)
  
• En la ciudad de Sylvia (In the City of Sylvia, José Luis Guerín, Spain, 2007)
• Unas fotos en la ciudad de Sylvia (Some Photos in the City of Sylvia, José Luis Guerín, Spain, 2007)
• Tren de sombras (Train of Shadows, José Luis Guerín, Spain, 1997)
• Reservations (Aloura Melissa Charles, USA, 2008)
  

Wake in Fright + Q&A session
I don't have time to go into detail. I found this really enjoyable, a gutsy Australian film, made by a Canadian. Maybe it takes an outsider to take an honest look at ourselves, for that is what Kotcheff achieved. It's very authentic and has dated really well. It looks a helluva lot better than the pirated DVD copy of a VHS that screened at MUFF last year, but I was aghast when about a minute or two disappeared from the screening I attended. Grant wants to leave the pub when the cop (Chips Rafferty) is about to take him to task for not offering to shout a drink in return. We missed that, but the first-time audience wouldn't know it.

The Q&A was with director Ted Kotcheff, editor Anthony Buckley and moderated by Mark Hartley (Not Quite Hollywood). Various stories and anecdotes were shared and enhanced the evening. I raised the issue of the missing bits, but given that the speakers weren't in attendance during the screening, couldn't really comment. Buckley assured me that the film is present in its entirety, so I'm assuming it was a one-off glitch.

In the City of Sylvia
José Luis Guerín’s In the City of Sylvia has been described using various well-deserved superlatives. Not only is Guerin's unique film an amazing cinematic accomplishment, but it does it with almost no dialogue. It taps into primal human desires for connection and desire, exploring the nature of memory.

Humanity is a strange beast, full of contradictions. On the one hand, “man is gregarious” and we desire love, friendship, community and so on. On the other, there is an inherent incompatibility between both individuals and communities, who seemed destined for conflict. True friendship is, it appears, quite rare and many friendships seem to depend on absence for sustenance (a type of “absence makes the heart grow fonder”, I suppose).

The Melbourne Cinémathèque screening of In the City of Sylvia was greatly enhanced by Some Photos in the City of Sylvia which is much more compelling than it looks on paper. Not only is it completely silent (no dialogue, voiceover or music - which highlighted my rumbling belly and no doubt disturbed those sitting close to me), but there are no moving images either. It consists of a series of still photographs by Guerín that effectively constitute (unconventionally) a type of making-of documentary that explains the original film.

Not only is the original film highly autobiographical or self-reflexive, dramatising the director’s own experiences over twenty years earlier in the same locations, but it sheds light on his intentions with the film and the theme of the struggle between the human desire to connect and the natural resistance to the same, or disconnection.

The film has both a naturalistic look and feel, yet stylistically heightened. The visuals are stunning, with Strasbourg an amazing backdrop as our artist protagonist traverses the streets of this picturesque small city in search of his lost Sylvia. The film assumes a voyeuristic perspective, highly observational, perhaps as the guy sees the city. We see lots of images of women, particularly young women. Some are gorgeous, some not. Often they are backdropped by large perfume advertisements that feature the faces of gorgeous young models, underscoring the director’s fascination with femininity.

Guerín’s preoccupation with faces takes various forms and he often portrays how people appear from the voyeur’s perspective. He could almost be toying with the audience, demonstrating how from a distance one person looks relative to another: they are not seated together but from the viewer’s perspective appear to relate. Deep focus is used to good effect, differentiating between the different scenarios. Similarly, Guerín seems fascinated by the dual or parallel imagery of filming someone through a window whose reflections superimpose over the person, creating a unique kind of visual experience.

Couples kissing are a recurring theme. Several characters reappear intermittently, like the African belt seller. A homeless woman is sitting in the street and, while we don’t see her again, we recognise her discarded beer bottles. “LAURE JE T’AIME” appears to be scrawled all around the city. Who is this Laure? And who is her lover?

In a film where dialogue is near absent, the music takes on a heightened sense of importance. It powerfully punctuates the narrative in an organic manner as our protagonists wander the steets. Sometimes there are performers at the conservatoire, buskers in the street or music blaring over speakers in a bar or passing car.

In the City of Sylvia is poetic, original, beautiful, captivating and moving. It is an experience and a privilege. If you get the chance to see it, don’t miss it.

Tren de sombras
Fatigue set in during this screening and I don't think I imbibed it as well as I could have otherwise. So I don't want to comment on it, other than to say I'd like to see it again.

Reservations
Nice film, but unexceptional. Co-presented by ACMI and Women in Film and Television, it naturally has a woman director and features Australia's Kerry Armstrong in top billing in an ensemble piece. Like In the City of Sylvia, it deals with themes of human disconnection as we encounter various lonely individuals spending one night in the same New York hotel.

Reservations is what I find myself now calling a "worthy" film, and that's not a compliment. Like many local films of recent years that tackle "worthy" issues, it somehow lacks dramatic impact. Sure, a film doesn't have to be hyper-real, but it just lacks pizzazz, oomph, mojo, something. We can see where it's going, it seems a bit too derivative and the film's conclusion is a bit too neat. But it's worthy!

The Week in Review - 7/6/09

Yeah, I'm a bit late getting this one up, even with a long weekend. Such is life.

The highlight of last week's screenings was For a Few Dollars More, which screened as part of the Melbourne Italian Festival's retrospective of Sergio Leone. It's a lot of fun, but then I'm probably the last person around to have seen it, and you all probably knew that already. Unfortunately I missed out on Once Upon a Time in the West and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (which I have on Blu-ray, but was hoping to see on the big screen first).

There doesn't seem to be much out there on theatrical release, and was once again disappointed by the only new release I saw, Two Lovers. Melbourne Cinémathèque can always be counted on for something at least half decent. While I didn't find the Japanese noir screenings anything special, they're a welcome part of my film self-education. It's certainly fascinating to see this curated season, to discover a common aesthetic and themes of films of the post-war era.

FILMS:

• Kuroi kawa (Black River, Masaki Kobayashi, Japan, 1957)
• Taiyo no hakaba (Sun's Burial, Nagisa Oshima, Japan, 1960)
• Per qualche dollaro in più (For a Few Dollars More, Sergio Leone, Italy/Spain/West Germany/Monaco, 1965)
• Sergio Leone: The Way I See Things (Giulio Reale, Italy, 2006)
• Giù la testa (A Fistful of Dynamite, Sergio Leone, Italy, 1971)
• Two Lovers (James Gray, USA, 2008)
  

Black River & Sun's Burial
I don't intend to analyse these two Japanese films in any particular detail. However, what struck me most about these is firstly, the frankness of the sex and violence - something you generally wouldn't see in films from most countries of the day - and secondly, how squalid and depressing life was depicted in post-war Japan.

For a Few Dollars More
This film is a helluva lot of fun. The lack of dialogue and the almost total reliance on visuals and sound (including a magnificent score by the great Ennio Morricone) reinvents and rejuvenates the Western genre. The film crosses the boundaries, or perhaps fuses, the classifications of film as entertainment or art. I doubt that there's any deep meaning to the film, but I'm open to being corrected. Clint Eastwood is at his charismatic best, together with Lee Van Cleef and Eli Wallach making for an awesome triumvirate.

Sergio Leone: The Way I See Things
This is not a particularly expository documentary but, interviewing those who worked with Leone, offers some good behind-the-scenes insights into what made him tick and the ideas behind his film-making.

A Fistful of Dynamite
I actually found this tedious after For a Few Dollars More. Perhaps it was too ambitious - it obviously had a much bigger budget than the earlier film. For me, it tries too hard, trying to cover too many bases with too many special effects and action sequences. The music is nowhere near as good either.

Two Lovers
I found Two Lovers quite a let-down and having heard conflicting reviews, I went in with an open mind but low expectations. I didn't think much of the dance sequence at all; it doesn't really add anything to the film. The opening scene, with Joaquin Phoenix's Leonard jumping from a pier is my favourite, but the film does nothing with it. It had so much potential but then falls flat.

Is the director Australian? I'm joking, of course, but you could be forgiven for thinking so, because the film has the unfortunate structure of a long line of Australian films that tackle some worthy issues, look OK, contain reasonable performances but fail to take off dramatically. Like I said about My Year Without Sex (a film I found myself comparing it to), it's just dramatically flat. It doesn't make me want to care about anyone in it or what happens to them. Leonard can jump in the sea, or hook up with either the blond or the pretty girl and I wouldn't give a toss either way.

BTW, the Nova session I went to was packed. I spoke to a couple of respectable middle-aged women afterwards, confident they would have loved it. They had a similar reaction to the film as myself. I even found myself nodding off from time to time.

St, Kilda Film Festival 2

IMAGES OF AGE:
These are a collection of local films screening in competition (in other sessions) at the festival that share a theme of old age. My pick of them is Fallen and Lover's Walk and the other two (both documentaries) did little for me. In fact, I allowed myself to doze off during Royboys, not necessarily a reflection of the film but rather, my disinterest in football and my lack of sleep.

• Fallen (Mark Priems, 17’50”)
• Lover's Walk (Abigail Hargrave,15’47”)
• The People's Plot (Mikael Bones Olsen, 12’27”)
• Royboys (Brett Swain, Michael Wannenmacher, 27’52”)

FRENCH SHORTS:
These films are a selection from the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival.

• Skhizein (Jérémy Clapin, 13'10")
• Forbach (Claire Burger, 35’)
• Dix (Bif, 7’)
• Citizen Versus Cane (Severi Shun, 18’)
• Lila (Broadcast Club, 12'30")

Skhizein is a clever and entertaining animated short that I really relate to. It's an exploration of the concept of matter and its occupation of time and space. When a meteor strikes Henry, his physicality is displaced by 91 cm and he must retrain himself to act in a parallel reality. As a film, it's visually compelling but its novelty belies the thoughtfulness of the concept. I remember as a teenager being amazed at how we fill a certain space at a certain time, and I used to imagine that space leaving a trail as I, for example, travelled in the 67 tram to school. It was all part of my life-long quest to understand consciousness and the nature of the universe, which this film also alludes to in a humorous way.

Forbach completely fooled me until the end. I truly thought it was a documentary about Samuel, a famous TV actor, returning to his small town, Forbach, to visit his family and to receive town honours. Things don't go well and we can see why Samuel doesn't visit often. His mother is an alcoholic and his brother has been in the wrong crowd. Very cleverly made.

Dix (literally, ten) also recalls something from my childhood, the fear of stepping on pavement lines. My mother used to tell me to watch out for the boogey man, and I often had nightmares about it. In this film, Marc has the same phobia, multiplied many times and has ghastly visions of the consequences that recall Vincenzo Natali's Cube.

Citizen Versus Cane has English actors speaking English but it's a French crew. It's a fairly formulaic comedy and OK, but nothing special. Lila is without dialogue, a visual compilation of people on summer vacation. Again, OK, but nothing special. The Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival is one of the most reputed short film festivals in the world, screening some 500 French films, and I find it hard to believe that some of these are among the pick of the festival.

St. Kilda Film Festival

I was blown away by the two sessions I attended this evening at the St. Kilda Film Festival. I originally intended to see just the German Shorts but was able to squeeze a session of the local films in competition also. As expected, the German session was stronger, being the best of the InterFilm Berlin Film Festival. The real surprise was how strong the Australian films are. The programming has really picked up since I last saw a local session, with less of the one-joke plots, more variety and documentaries being the strongest contenders.

The Australian shorts I saw (session 4) were:

• Collide-A-Scope (Gregory Godhard, 3')
• Birthday Girl (Angie Black, 6'30")
• A Different Cut (Fahim Ahad, 9'30")
• Home Away From Home (Riyadh Abdul Hussain, 18'37")
• Multiple Choice (Michael Goode, 4'46")
• One Shoe Short (Jackie van Beek, 8'17")
• Wounded (Fiona Corke, 6'09")
• Undressing Vanessa (Matthew Pond, 22'36")

My biggest belly laughs were with Undressing Vanessa, a documentary about Tobin Saunders, better known as drag queen/performer/social activist Vanessa Wagner. Now, I've had friends who were cross-dressers, but this cat is totally wild and over-the-top. She's an impressive character with a social and political conscience and was involved with the Pauline Pantsdown spoof of Pauline Hansen several years ago. He's also a man with HIV and the film charts his struggles to come to terms with that. If you ever get the chance, see this wonderful little gem.

I loved that several of the films in this session had a political and/or social element to them. Home Away From Home is a very moving account of a lovely Iraqi man who worked as a marketing manager at Al-Jazeera TV and now finds himself driving a taxi in Adelaide. I couldn't help but surmise that that is how the director met him and got talking about his life. So my two favourite Australian shorts are both documentaries.

Also very strong are A Different Cut, which addresses racial prejudice, and Wounded, a story based on true accounts of former shooters who have been traumatised by their experiences of killing animals. I exchanged a few words with the director, Fiona Corke, after the session to ask her intent. It wasn't vegetarianism (which she isn't) but rather, to point out how damaging violence can be, in ways that aren't foreseen.

Collida-A-Scope is an experimental film that did nothing for me. Birthday Girl is about a woman grieving the death of her child that is OK but perhaps a little derivative (reminding me of Juliette Binoche in Paris je t'aime). One Shoe Short would make a good companion piece to Samson and Delilah, depicting aboriginal children living in poverty in Alice Springs, and recalling Iranian cinema with its focus on children. Multiple Choice is the only film that came close to that one-joke formula that I have disdain for, but it was clever enough not to be too silly and being only the one, it was quite OK.

The German shorts were:

• Pingu Q (Kun Jia, 1’)
• The Pick Up Artist (Der Aufreißer, Steffen Weinert, 13’)
• Robin (Hanno Olderdissen, 20'30")
• Apple on a Tree (Astrid Rieger, Zeljko Vidovic, 4'50")
• It's My Turn (Bende Sira, Ismet Ergün, 10'05")
• Cuddling with Politicians (Christian 3 Roosen, 4'50")
• Frozen Sea (Likas Miko, 27’)
• Our Wonderful Nature (Tomer Eshed, 5'05")

Where to start? Frozen Sea is the clear stand-out and this Likas Miko should be a talent to watch. I predict that his name will become more prominent. The film looks gorgeous with a raw naturalistic look, set in winter. The film has a mysterious edge to it, and we gradually learn about family secrets and lies. Told from a child's viewpoint, we see his parents quarrelling and the father is often absent. Things come to a head at Christmas and we realise that things are not always what they seem.

Apple on a Tree is a real festival crowd-pleaser. Highly inventive, visually amazing and very funny. Basically it's a musical (lyrics in English), an absurd pantomime not unlike the inventive music videos of Michel Gondry (think Björk). It depicts a man who is an apple on a tree who becomes a human and realises that it's better being an apple. This description doesn't do it justice, you just have to see it.

It's My Turn screens without sub-titles, and that is its original intent, because it's not even in German. Unless you're Turkish, you won't understand the words, but that's part of the experience. This film so strongly uses the language of cinema that it doesn't matter and maybe it's a better film because of it. It's terribly moving and it had me in tears like I haven't been for a long time. It's a very simple story which also recalls Iranian cinema's preoccupation with children and would have been very much at home in the Chacun son cinéma collection of shorts, made for the 60th anniversay of the Cannes Film Festival, that are an ode to cinema itself. It depicts a group of young boys who find a way to enjoy the cinema vicariously. I loved it immensely.

Pingu Q is just a quick little animation that serves as a crowd warmer. The Pick Up Artist is a bit of a one-joke plot, but well done. Robin is a fairly gritty social tale that looks very Kieslowski-like but not in the same league (which is not a criticism because I don't think anyone else is in that league). Cuddling With Politicians is OK for variety (but not much else). I saw Our Wonderful Nature at the Festival of German Films recently and obviously so did many others in the audience because the laughs came long before a fresh audience would know to laugh. Basically it's a spoof of a nature documentary, about the mating behaviour of water shrew, using Pixar-quality animation. In fact, you'd almost swear it was a Pixar production.

My evening at the George cinema (where the festival is running until Sunday night) restores my faith in short film, which received a kick-start at the recent Thornton shorts. I'm planning to see the French ones tomorrow along with a local session, and one or two sessions on Sunday. Kudos to Paul Harris and I believe this is his 11th year at the helm of the festival.

The Week in Review - 17/5/09

FILMS:

• Zabriskie Point (Michelangelo Antonioni, USA, 1970)
• Der Stand der Dinge (The State of Things, Wim Wenders, West Germany/Portugal/USA, 1982)
• Samson and Delilah (Warwick Thornton, Australia, 2009)
• Rudi y Cursi (Rudi and Cursi, Carlos Cuarón, Mexico/USA, 2008)
• Sita Sings the Blues (Nina Paley, USA, 2008)

SHORT FILMS:

• Warwick Thornton shorts
  

Zabriskie Point
Wow! After the disappointment that was The Passenger, this was surprisingly good. Antonioni wears his political leanings on his sleeve (something I'm prone to myself) and really captures the zeitgeist. Sometimes a film is too close to the bone; this film seems to be have been too confrontational for American audiences at the time of its release. Often a film can be appreciated for what it captures long after the emotions of the time have dissipated. This is certainly true of many Australian films that were not acknowledged on first release, such as some of the so-called Ozploitation films or Pure Shit, which (like Zabriskie Point) has elements that are almost documentary-like now.

The lack of expository narrative in Zabriskie Point really adds to its mystique. Antonioni's camera gradually covers various, seemingly unconnected scenarios and we, the audience, have to work a little to make sense of it. Or, not so much make sense as try to connect the dots. By covering a student meeting calling for revolt, police brutality, riots and capitalism in action, it's not too hard to see where Antonioni is going.

The film has an unmistakable 70's feel to it, though it was made at the start of the decade. The themes are clearly related to the aftermath of the political turbulence that swept the globe in 1968, most strongly recalling Haskell Wexler's Medium Cool (1969). The final explosion, while literally a blast, is not the film's biggest drawcard for me, though clearly a delight for the film's fans.

The State of Things
There's been a lot of films made about making films. For me, this one directly recalls Catherine Breillat's Sex is Comedy. Both films are about the struggles of making the respective director's previous trouble-prone film. The self-reflexive nature of this Wenders film is quite funny, especially when the film is shot on black and white film and the script has a producer slamming the use of just that. There are a number of moments like that. I don't think the film is brilliant, but certainly very enjoyable.

Rudi and Cursi
After the very sublime Y tu mamá también (my favourite Mexican film), directed by Alfonso Cuarón and starring Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna, I figured a comedy by Alfonso's brother with the same duo of actors couldn't be too bad. Alas, it came in at the low end of my expectations.

It screened as part of the Spanish Film Festival at the Kino. I'm not accustomed to full-houses at the Kino, so I was pleased for their sake to see them doing good business. Rudi and Cursi is really a populist film and I suppose it certainly got bums on seats. I just found it all a bit tiresome. Here's two very luminous and intelligent actors (Luna played the Michael Jackson look-alike in Mister Lonely), and it was obviously some kind of joke to have them playing dumbass country hicks who hit the big-time when they're scouted for rival Mexico City football clubs.

Don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with intelligent actors playing dumbasses; that's what actors do. But the gags were all fairly puerile and predictable. The film did nothing for me whatsoever.

Sita Sings the Blues
I'm more than familiar with the Ramayana, having spent some part of my youth exploring Hinduism and Indian culture - I've been there six times. I'd heard good things about this film, especially from Lynden Barber of Eyes Wired Open, so took the opportunity to take my eight-year old son to see it. The Ramayana recounts the story of Rama, an incarnation of Vishnu (God), and his consort Sita who is abducted by Ravana and taken to Lanka. The monkey-king Hanuman finds Sita who is rescued by Rama but ultimately banished to the forest over doubts of her purity.

The film is visually stunning, with Sita singing love songs that are actually 1920's jazz songs by Annette Hanshaw. And cleverly, director Nina Paley weaves her own real-life heartbreak story into a parallel narrative. What most are not aware of is that Star Wars is almost a direct rip-off of the Ramayana. I don't think as highly of the film as Lynden obviously does, but it is entertaining and original nonetheless. And the kid's verdict? Like me, he liked it, but nothing special.

Warwick Thornton Shorts

Samson and Delilah may give the impression that Warwick Thornton’s talents have suddenly sprung from nowhere. In fact, he has been quietly honing his craft, working as a cinematographer, writer and director on many short films and documentaries for over a dozen years. Next Thursday 21 May, Cinema Nova is screening the following selection of his short films that highlight his talents across a range of diverse films.

Green Bush (26 min, 2004)
Kenny (David Page) is a DJ each night at a remote community radio station. Single-handedly, he plays music, takes requests, answers the phone and handles business in general. The portable building housing the radio station is a focus of the local community and Kenny finds himself offering cups of tea to, shelter and support to others.

Thornton has found his style in this medium-length film, largely using music and visuals to tell the story. Like Samson and Delilah, there’s not a lot of dialogue and there’s also a lot of understated, naturalistic humour. Kenny’s choice of music enables social and political themes to be subtly raised, without being didactic, much like Kelly Reichardt’s talk-back segments in Old Joy. The same could be said for Kenny’s taking requests for prison inmates.

The story, visuals and acting are all strong, and this is one of my favourites of the shorts. The story is clearly personal to Thornton – he once worked as a community DJ – and this personal nature of his work and the humanism he infuses into it are largely what I connect with. I sense that Thornton is passionate about various social issues but he never rams them down our throat. As I mentioned in my review of Samson and Delilah, he has a great instinct for cinematic story-telling.

Cast: David Page
Awards:

• Short Award Special Mention, AFI 2005
• Special Mention, Almería International Short Film Festival 2006
• Jury Prize Best Short Film BendFilm Festival 2005
• Panorama Short Film Award, Berlin International Film Festival 2005
• Best Short Film, IF Awards 2007

Clip from Green Bush



Payback (10 min, 1996)
This is Thornton’s first short film and is beautifully shot in black and white. Set in a prison, the black and white initially recalls Alkinos Tsilimidos’ Everynight, Everynight…, but the stories are completely different. Thornton’s film is much more subdued, and the choice of black and white suits the mystical element that is explored.

After years behind bars, Paddy is on the eve of his release when he is visited by the spirits of his people. He is forewarned of tribal payback and learns first-hand that there is white man’s law and there is black man’s law. Doing time for one does not release him from the other.

Short films are a great medium for a director to explore and experiment with the craft of film-making. This is quite different in style to what we see in Thornton’s more recent work yet it is an impressive and thoughtful debut. Even from the start, Thornton displays elements we see in later works, such as sparse dialogue and effective use of sound and music.

Cast: George Djilaynga, Charlie Matjiwi

Clip from Payback



Mimi (13 min, 2002)
This is the most conventional of the Thornton shorts and uses known actors. It is a comical story that satirises the commodification of indigenous art as well as introducing a character if central Australian indigenous culture. The Mimi is an ancient mischievous spirit who is said to have taught the aborigines of the region how to hunt and paint.

Catherine (Sophie Lee) purchases some pieces of indigenous art – a Mimi carving and a barramundi painting – at auction for investment purposes, but finds the statue has eaten the barramundi. To deal with the troublesome spirit, Catherine calls in a ‘real aborigine’, urbanite Jonathan (Aaron Pederson) who consequently calls in his grandfather (David Gulpilil).

This is a fine-looking film, probably the most accessible for conventional audiences, but my least favourite.

Clip from Mimi



Nana (6 min, 2007)
This film pre-empts Samson and Delilah with the appearance of Mitjili Napanangka, who plays the grandmother of Delilah in that film, and who is the actual grandmother of Marissa Gibson who plays Delilah. In Nana, Napanangka takes centre stage. It seems to be Thornton’s homage to this colourful and feisty character, who is idolised by her grand-daughter (Kiara Gibson, the younger sister of Marissa).

The child’s narration is a real joy as we see Nana being depicted in various roles as cook, artist and community protector. The humour is just right and is the perfect choice to end the Thornton retrospective.

Cast: Mitjili Napanangka Gibson, Kiara Gibson, Ted Egan Jangala, Noreen Robertson Nampijinpa

Awards:

• Crystal Bear Generation Kplus – Best Short Film, Berlin International Film Festival 2008
• Best Short Film, IF Awards 2007

The retrospective underscores the talents of Warwick Thornton, highlighting the quietly humanistic and ultimate universality of his work, while at the same time being culturally specific. Technically, his films are very accomplished with a naturalistic beauty using solid camera work that never draws attention to itself. Thornton has a very strong way with sound and music that complements the excellent visuals. This is a one-of opportunity to see these little gems and I highly recommend them.

As an aside, while I was at ACMI this afternoon, I was discussing the shorts with an ACMI programmer. I suggested that the other works of Thornton could be worth screening at ACMI, and he said that was something that was being looked into. As can be seen from the Screen Australia website, Thornton has been involved in a lot of film-making.

The Warwick Thornton Shorts are screening at Cinema Nova on Thursday 21 May at 7pm.
Samson and Delilah is screening at the Nova, Rivoli and Palace Brighton Bay cinemas, and is currently screening at Cannes Festival in the Un certain regard section.

All clips sourced from Australian Screen who, incidentally, are currently featuring Warwick Thornton's Green Bush.

The Week in Review - 26/4/09

This week was exceptional for its quality more than its quantity. Le feu follet and Pandora's Box are both outstanding films that lifted my spirits immensely, in spite of their potentially bleak subject matter (suicide and Alzheimer's respectively). To see two films of such high standard in the same week is fantastic and highly recommend them both. I really liked Palermo Shooting as well.

FILMS:

• Selvi boylum, al yazmalim (The Lady with the Red Scarf, Atif Yilmaz, Turkey, 1977)
  
• Les amants (The Lovers, Louis Malle, France, 1958)
  
• Le feu follet (Louis Malle, France, 1963)
• Pandora’nın Kutusu (Pandora's Box, Yeşim Ustaoğlu, Turkey/France/Belgium/Germany, 2008)
• Lulu und Jimi (Oskar Roehler, Germany/France, 2008)
• Palermo Shooting (Wim Wenders, Germany/France/Italy, 2008)
  

The Lady with the Red Scarf
Other than opening and closing night films, this is the only other Turkish Film Festival film I could squeeze in at ACMI. It's a classic film, based on a novel and very popular in Turkey and elsewhere. Maybe it's a cultural thing, but I didn't like it at all.

This kind of melodrama would play out well in India and other countries where films tend to be, shall we say, simple. I found it beyond melodramatic, moving into soap opera and downright corny. I could have walked out at any point and left a few minutes early for Melbourne Cinémathèque.

Les amants
Louis Malle's second film, and a little disappointing after his thrilling Lift to the Scaffold. The film looks good and starts of with promise. The story of a philandering provincial couple has all the right tension. However, after Jeanne Moreau's character has done so much to convince us what a completely selfish bitch she is, I couldn't buy into her falling in true love with a stranger and elope with him. I wonder what Malle's intent was. Was he just messing with our expectations? Messing with our heads? Was there supposed to be some intuitive chemistry between these unlikely lovers that I missed? I love Moreau as an actress. In terms of both looks and demeanour, she's like a French Bette Davis.

Le feu follet
This is one of the most remarkable films I've seen from this era (early 60s). Stylistically, Le feu follet looks French New Wave, but thematically, it's decades ahead of its time. At times, it reminded me of early Cassavetes. Full of wise insights into relationships and the human condition, the film is basically an under-stated portrait of a suicidal alcoholic.

Alain Leroy (Maurice Ronet) wanders the streets of Paris, in all it's glorious urban decay and beautifully filmed in black and white. We've already seen his service revolver, perhaps a remnant from a distant war, with which he intends to kill himself. The film follows Alain as he visits his old haunts, saying good-bye to those he considers friends and associates. We know he is doomed, because no matter how sincere are the attempts to help him, he is beyond help. All he wants is to leave.

Alain's occasional outbursts about his personal failures reveal much about the mind of a depressive man, and much about the nature of relationships. It also demonstrates the destructive nature of alcohol. This is a film I could watch over and over. Some may find it depressing, but I find it life-affirming. There's still another week to go of the Malle season at Melbourne Cinémathèque, but this is my favourite so far.

Oh, and by the way, does anyone know the significance in the film of 23 July (scrawled on the mirror)?

Pandora's Box
This was the closing night film for the Melbourne Turkish Film Festival, and what a film! This is a pan-European production, and it shows. While family friction is a common dramatic theme (hinted at in the film's title), old age and Alzheimer's disease aren't.

The latter subjects were, of course, tackled in Sarah Polley's Away From Her. I have much respect for Polley and don't doubt her sincerity and integrity. However, her romanticised story, also featuring an elderly woman with Alzheimer's and starring an impossibly gorgeous Julie Christie, just isn't in the same league as this amazing film by Yesim Ustaoğlu.

Pandora's Box tackles multiple themes, masterfully handles them all, is poetic, naturalistic, funny (without trace of comedy), dramatic and moving. The festival blurb forewarns us of the adult sibling conflict, which is not as prominent as I expected. It is merely an element, woven into a greater tapestry, the tapestry of life.

The film is to different degrees about various types of relationships, generational change (thematically similar to Summer Hours) and the effects of Alzheimer's as well as documenting the rural and urban divide. The latter element seems to be a recurring theme in European cinema, as a way of life that has remained largely unchanged for many decades (if not centuries) slowly dies.

The main character of the film is the elderly Nusret played by Tsilla Chelton, a 91-year old French actress who learnt Turkish for the role! Her performance is so convincing, so realistic, that it's hard to believe that she is acting. Her blend of smouldering attitude and frail vulnerability is terribly moving. The whole ensemble cast performs wonderfully, a credit both to their skills and the direction.

An element of the film that I strongly related to was the way in which virtually all the characters in the film rejected, in one way or another, the controlling nature of one of the siblings. It alienated her husband, her son, her siblings, and even her mother in a very amusing and poignant way.

The film is filmed in a very naturalistic and beautiful way without the slightest trace of pretentiousness. The music, which seemed to be absent until the 80-minute mark, is subtle, full of melancholy and added beautifully, especially in its restraint. The film was a lovely way to finish the festival and I left on a high. Now I want the DVD, and intend seeking out the director's earlier works. Check out the official website.

The closing night film was preceded by various presentations. This is the inaugural year of the Turkish Film Festival and the indicators are that it will continue and grow on the success of this year. Expect a longer, larger festival next year, and without the clash it had this year (with the Festival of German Films.

Lulu und Jimi
Fortunately I was forewarned about this film, screening at the Festival of German Films. It was compared to early Ozon, ie, bizarre/unconventional melodrama, and that's largely whey I made a point of seeing it. Bizarre it certainly is, entertaining too. It has shades of Lynch - Jennifer more than David - with its over-the-top plot, bright colours and its surreal aburdity and fantasy. I respect its audacity but it doesn't pull it off quite as competently as it wants. The lead actors aren't completely convincing and the dubbing for the English dialog for Lulu is a bit rough. Still, it's a lot of fun and way left-of-centre.

Palermo Shooting
What do you do when you're a famous international film-maker, you've been around for a long time and made a lot of films, two of your favourite directors die (on the same day) and you're feeling your vulnerability. Well, if you're Wim Wenders, you'd make Palermo Shooting and, despite it being canned at Cannes 2008, I really dug it. Mind you, Wenders' previous feature, Don't Come Knockin' wasn't exactly warmly received, but I liked that a lot, too.

Palermo Shooting is, however, a very different type of film. It's a small budget project, a film that could be compared with Francis Ford Coppola's Youth Without Youth. Compared, because they are both made by established and aging directors that deal with the passage of time and death (albeit treated in very different ways). In a sense, they might both be considered indulgent, about subjects that are very personal to the respective directors, but I think that perception is unfair.

Death and aging (also a theme in the above Pandora's Box) is every bit a part of life and a universal experience, a topic ripe for exploration in cinema. Finn is an in-demand photographer, well-heeled and well-travelled. He's experienced much and is known in all the right circles. But he can't sleep well. He has recurring dreams, and he is suffering an existential crisis. If that sounds a lot like a Bergman film, it should. Filmed at the time of the dual Bergman-Antonioni deaths, Wenders salutes the great masters and incorporates aspects of their work into the film. Berman is most apt, as existential crises and a preoccupation with time, aging, death and the meaning of life are themes he dealt with throughout his life's work.

The film most obviously references Wild Strawberries with the surrealist dreams of Finn and The Seventh Seal, with Dennis Hopper taking the role of Death, and thematically with Winter Light's existential crisis. I think critics take issue with the audacity of a director taking on such iconic films but then, Bergman himself was ridiculed for the being too arty farty towards the end of his career. I had no problems with the self-conscious references, and I thought Wenders take and variations on these was quite moving (and funny at times, too). There were aspects of the writing that seemed a little unpolished, but always managed to stay on track, even if it seemed they wouldn't.

Death, consciousness and the meaning of life are topics I've contemplated since my childhood. Less than a week ago, I was discussing with a friend how my entire outlook has changed since my motorcycle accident in which I too looked Death in the eye (figuratively, of course). It's had a quietly profound effect on me, and I really related to Finn's existential crisis. I even articulated to my friend that I felt death was simply like walking through a door, a door we don't walk back through. I was thunderstruck when virtually the same dialogue appears in the film. Of course, when one walks through a door and doesn't return, we are gone to those who remain, but we continue in another room. This cosmic-view is a strong argument against suicide, another subject I would like to write on in this context, but not now. It was also relevant to another film I saw this week - the brilliant Le feu follet (see above).

Palermo Shooting is a return by Wenders to his native Dusseldorf. It's a personal film, it's an indulgent film. It tackles some of the most relevant, important and universal themes of life. It's explorative, it's derivative, it's moving. I don't think it's for everyone, but I loved it. Riding away from the cinema on my motorbike, I was surprised how much it moved me and affected me in a physical way.

My exposure at the Festival of German Films 2009 hasn't really been representative of German cinema: One, Two, Three is American (though set in Berlin), Lulu und Jimi has an American protagonist and much of the dialogue is in English, and now Palermo Shooting, a significant part of the dialogue is in English and features a couple of American actors (Dennis Hopper and Milla Jovovic as herself). I really wanted to see Jerichow, but life got in the way (the missus says cinema gets in the way of my life, but what does she know?).

Josh Jarman

Josh Jarman (Pip Mushin, Australia, 2004)
I love ACMI's Australian Perspectives series, screening Australian films most Saturday afternoons at 4pm. Today, a little known gem, Josh Jarman, was co-presented by AFCA, the Australian Film Critics Association. As an AFCA member, I got in for free, but I also brought along the family and we all enjoyed the screening. Mind you, ticket prices are all a very low $8, close to the best value cinema in town. Australian audiences seem to have a reluctance supporting local films but these ACMI selections really are worth checking out and I highly recommend them. That some of them are accompanied by Q&A's with those involved in the films is an added bonus.

The film was written, directed and co-produced by Pip Mushin, who I recognised as an actor from one of my favourite Australian series of all time, Frontline. It's about a struggling playwright, Josh Jarman (played against type by Marcus Graham), who finally hits the big time, but at a cost. With obvious parallels to the film industry, the film has a strong underlying truth and uses humour to good effect. It had the potential to appeal to a broad audience but unfortunately, was released in only twelve cinemas Australia-wide.

The film has a strong line-up of support actors, including Kim Gyngell as Stan Billows, the unprincipled theatre producer, and two spunky performances from Kestie Morassi (as Stan's daughter Sasha and Josh's girlfriend) and Daniella Farinacci (as Maxine, Josh's neighbour). The film works well as a satire, critiquing the quandary of being a struggling artist and what it takes to get so-called success. It also works well as a story in its own right, with the situations that the eponymous character finds himself in, largely concerned with sex. My eight-year old son asked me during the film, "what's an orgasm"? I told him later.

The Q&A panel included Pip Mushin, Marcus Graham, co-producer Eva Orner via phone link-up from Los Angeles and, from AFCA, Peter Krausz and Greg King. As well as discussing how the film got made and other background info, it was discussed in the context of the struggles of getting Australian films made, a pet subject of mine at these Q&A events. The turnout wasn't huge, but the questions just kept coming and in the end, we went over-time and had to be cut short.

See also, film notes by the director.

ACMI's Australian Perspectives are curated by James Nolen. Upcoming screenings include John Hillcoat's The Proposition on 28 February, Baz Luhrmann's Australia on 7 March and Jasmin Tarasin's Flight of the Obüs Bird - Winter 2009 on 14 March.

The Week in Review - 30/11/08

This weekend has been full on. My work Christmas party was on Saturday, and the weekend pretty much revolved around that and a child's birthday party. I've completely missed the Japanese Film Festival at ACMI as well as the 15 hour screenings of Berlin Alexanderplatz. As I have mentioned, November has been chock-a-block full of films to see, most of which I've missed. When I get my Christmas break, I could watch a film a day, but then there's nothing decent to see in the cinemas. I suppose that's when I'll catch up on a few of the 50 or so DVDs I have that I haven't yet seen.

With the end of the Pedro Costa season at Melbourne Cinémathèque this week, I feel a little sad. I just want the season to continue, even if it means repeating the same films. The man's work is incredible, though not for everyone (many cinephiles may struggle with some of the themes and the scenes). Next week is the start of the Howard Hawks season, which lasts for three weeks before we take recess for the holiday season. I'll miss the last week as I'll be participating in my university graduation ceremony.

I started my Bachelor of Business (Business Information Systems) at RMIT University in 2001 and did the first three years (of four) full-time and the remainder part-time. I had only one subject to complete the degree but needed to put in an exemption. It's taken me three years to get the exemption in and I've not done a subject in that time. I can't wait to have this formality behind me, to have closure. As a fellow student once said: "to finish that which one has started".

Those three years have not been without tumultuous times. My oldest child suffered psychosis and my middle child took his own life (nearly two years ago now). There's been stresses at home and I've taken up learning French at Alliance Française. I've often felt like bowing out of classes, but have kept up my determination for over 18 months now. I figure that if I just stick to it, I'll get to where I want to be. I figure once one bows out, it's all pretty much over. If I put the same time into it as I put into my uni studies, I'd be speaking fluent French by now.

FWIW, I'm quietly happy with my French progress. I still struggle listening to say the French news, but I can get a reasonable understanding of a newspaper article. I can make myself understood to a French person; they just have to speak very slowly back, often more than once. I hope to live in France one day, for at least a year and preferably more. There's something about the country's culture that draws me, and I feel that moving to a foreign culture is an experience and personal challenge I want to have in this life-time.

FILMS:
Slumdog Millionaire (Danny Boyle, UK/USA, 2008)
No quarto da Vanda (In Vanda's Room, Pedro Costa, Portugal/Germany/Switzerland/Italy, 2000)
Ossos (Bones, Pedro Costa, Portugal/France/Denmark, 1997)
Il y a longtemps que je t'aime (I Have Loved You For So Long, Philippe Claudel, France/Germany, 2008)

DVD:

• Bande à part (Band of Outsiders, Jean-Luc Godard, France, 1964)

Slumdog Millionaire
I'll post a review of this film in the first week of December, closer to its release (which is 18 December, and 'sneak previews' on 12-14 December). In short, it's OK and I think most people will like it more than me.



In Vanda's Room
Wow! How did Pedro Costa get a film like this made? Could he have done it today? This is so raw and so bleak, that these questions kept coming into my head while watching this remarkable film. Audiences often think of the films of Alkinos Tsilimidos as bleak, but his are quite upbeat in comparison to Costa's (and that's not a sleight on either director's work, just observation).

The non-professional actors, residents of the Fountainhas slum being filmed, are all extraordinary, especially the two drug-addicted sisters, Vanda and Zita. They spend their lives in Vanda's room, smoking crack and occasionally venturing outside to sell vegetables to the neighbours. Their physical state is deplorable and I found my heart bleeding for them. Words fail me with both this film and Ossos (Bones). These films have been my favourite double of the three week Costa season, which has now concluded. Melbourne Cinémathèque screened all of Costa's feature films and three of his shorts. I feel like I need to re-watch these films to truly appreciate them. Costa is an awesome film-maker.

Bones
I'd have preferred to have seen Costa's films in chronological order, especially the trilogy of films featuring the Fountainhas slum. Of the trilogy, no. 3 screened on week 1, and no. 2 screened before no. 1 on week 3. C'est la vie ! In Vanda's Room is nearly three hours long, so it was good that Bones is not too long (94 minutes). It makes for a long night, especially when one has work the next morning.

Bones is nowhere near as bleak as In Vanda's Room. There is more colour and the people's lives have a little more hope. I can't say it's a better film, just less downbeat. Mind you, the story is no Hollywood theme: suffice to say that the Dardenne brothers' L'enfant (The Child) covers similar territory. These Costa films simply have to be seen, to be experienced.

I Have Loved You For So Long
You'll enjoy this film much more if, like me, you know nothing about it prior to seeing it. There is a central mystery, and the unravelling of it could have resulted in a much stronger film if it hadn't played out conventionally at the end. Suffice to say, I'm not giving any plot details here.

Kristin Scott Thomas is impressive in the central role of this film. As an English-speaking actress, her French-speaking seemed impeccable, though her character in the film is written as having an English accent, so obviously the French would pick it up. This is perhaps the best role I've seen her in, though I generally haven't been impressed with her. This role required a fairly repressed individual, and as Thomas' acting is generally quite wooden, she is perhaps perfect for the role. This probably sounds less kind than I mean it to be, because she does play the part well.

Thomas appears with little makeup for most of the film, and seeing her bravely bared before the camera like this gives the film a visual rawness that enhances the verisimilitude of the story. For most of the film, there are unexpected turns that feel natural rather than being contrived twists. After about the three-quarter mark, the initial setup is, well, I'll call it cheapened, though what it's doing is catering to populism. I could start to predict what some of the outcomes would be and the story really tugs at the heart strings.

The French are excellent at producing gutsy arthouse films, of which this is not one. But nor is it a middle-of-the-road family melodrama (which I usually hate). This is a solid drama, with some great arthouse aesthetics that should be very popular with most arthouse audiences (think Nova or Como). The film's compromises are what make it accessible and enjoyable, but left me feeling just ever so slightly disappointed.

The Week in Review - 26/10/08

FILM:

• Choke (Clark Gregg, USA, 2008)
• Esther Kahn (Arnaud Desplechin, France/UK, 2000)
• Rois et reine (Kings & Queen, Arnaud Desplechin, France, 2004)
• Man on Wire (James Marsh, UK/USA, 2008)

DVD:

• Izgnanie (The Banishment, Andrei Zvyagintev, Russia, 2007)
  

Esther Kahn and Kings & Queen
I feel inadequate commenting on these remarkable films, the first of a three-week Arnaud Desplechin season at Melbourne Cinémathèque. Desplechin's style is certainly idiosyncratic and, while I found them (especially Esther Kahn) very moving, I think I was perhaps too tired to appreciate, absorb, analyse and understand them as much as they deserve. I'm hoping I'll formulate more of a considered opinion after this week's screenings of La Sentinelle and Playing "In The Company of Men".

Man on Wire
I'm not big on documentaries. Generally, I find they're a medium that's best suited for the small screen, though there are exceptions (Waltz With Bashir is a recent example, and I think Errol Morris' aesthetics are a big screen must. Seeing Philippe Petit, the subject of James Marsh's latest film, Man on Wire, on Denton's Enough Rope on Monday, and hearing good things about the film, I decided to give it a go. I wasn't disappointed.

James Marsh is a director I admire immensely. His previous film The King (with Gael Garcia Bernal, William Hurt, Paul Dano and Laura Harring) is a gutsy effort one of my favourite films of 2006. This documentary has not just an excellent subject, but is told by an excellent story-teller. Petit himself collaborated closely with Marsh, and he too has a strong sense of how to tell a story.

There are a number of other reasons that this film works so well: Petit is an entertainer, a showman. He had a vision of what he wanted to achieve and he made and kept a record of the planning of those achievements (such as the walking the wire between the towers of the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, the Harbour Bridge in Sydney and finally, the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York). His sense of rebellion, of doing the outrageous was so overwhelming that his planning for the WTC towers took on the magnitude and sense of a bank heist.

The film is thrilling right from the start. The way the story unfolds, we feel we are privy to the plans as co-conspirators to what the film calls "the artistic crime of the century". It's not a bad description. Music is used to good effect, adding to ambience and supporting the story-telling as it should.

Marsh has assembled most of Petit's co-conspirators and their vivid and emotional recollections, even after all these years have passed, is particularly moving. There is a sense at the end of the film, that Petit's friends felt betrayed or used by Petit. This is touched upon but not explored.

Finally, the fact that the Twin Towers are no longer there, and the manner of their departure (which is itself somewhat controversial) adds a poignancy to the film. This is a film that really should be seen on the big screen. I loved it, and so did the missus and kid (yes, it's a good film to take kids to).

Russian Resurrection 2008

The Russian Resurrection 2008 film festival opens in Melbourne on Wednesday evening with veteran director Karen Shakhnazarov's latest film, Vanished Empire. The festival honours Shakhnazarov with a retrospective that includes seven earlier works: Zero City, We Are Jazz Men, American Daughter, Rider Named Death, Courier, The Assassin of the Tsar and Day of the Full Moon. A second retrospective features Russian fantasy films Amphibian Man and Letters from a Deadman. Other than Vanished Empire, the festival includes 10 films, most notably (for me, at least) is The Banishment by Andrei Zvyagintev (The Return, 2003).

Vanished Empire (Ischeznuvshaya imperiya, Karen Shakhnazarov, Russia, 2008)
This is a beautiful-looking film, technically proficient in every respect. It's an homage to the Russia of times past, to the days of the Soviet Union. The protagonist, Sergei, is a narcissistic first-year university student who is more interested in the Rolling Stones, vodka and bedding girls than studying. Sergei is a mere teenager, of a similar age to what Shakhnazarov would have been in the year of the film's setting, 1973, so one suspects there is something personal in this story.

This film should appeal immensely to a mainstream audience, but left me a little cold. I found it a little contrived, particularly with the western soundtrack and also because I couldn't empathise with the main character. Plausibility was a little stretched at times. The strong points are the excellent visuals and the cultural depictions, such as the cars of the day.

The Banishment (Izgnanie, Andrei Zvyagintev, Russia, 2007)
I have only just learnt that Andrei Zvyagintev's The Return was his feature film debut. Now, I've got to say it really impressed me with it's sparse and elusive narrative, filled with mystery and ambiguity. It is visually spectacular, with a strong Eastern European aesthetic that one can't look away from. The Banishment is no less a film.

This is a much more ambitious effort than Zvyagintev's debut. Again he has crafted a story that is highly enigmatic. It stars Konstantin Lavronenko, who played the role of the absent father returned in The Return. Alex is a man with a shady past and his brother Mark (Aleksandr Baluyev) is of the same ilk. When Alex's wife, Vera (Maria Bonnevie), reveals she is pregnant and that he is not the father, a sequence of events unfolds that will have you on the edge of your seat. "If you want to kill, kill. If you want to forgive, forgive", says Mark.

The tension is palpable, magnified by the sparse dialogue. In one sense, words are not needed as the body language says it all. Yet in another, the inability of the protagonists to bring out into the open what needs to be said leads to unforseen consequences. This is both thematically similar to Nuri Bilge Ceylan's similarly excellent Three Monkeys and stylistically they also share much in common. As in Ceylan's films, Zvyagintev shows great confidence in telling a story, taking his time to create a palpable ambience. At 157 minutes, the film is quite long, but always engaging.

The cinematography is stunning throughout, with excellent use of the widescreen. There is one tracking shot in particular that left me breathless as the camera seemingly floated through space. I can recall only twice where the camera movement impressed me so: the caravan sequence in Noise and the various tracking shots in Soy Cuba. The use of darkness, light and shade are used to great effect. The music is haunting, reminding me of the gothic sounds of the music of Enigma. It renders the film with a sense of tragedy of biblical proportions.

Zvyagintev is a magnificent talent that just can't be ignored. If you see only one Russian film this year, make it The Banishment.

The Russian Resurrection film festival screens at Palace Como Cinema from 29 October to 5 November.

Vanished Empire is the Opening Night film, screening Wed 29 November, 7.00pm.
The Banishment screens on Sun 2 November, 9.10pm.

The Week in Review - 5/10/08

Just a quick byte tonight. This is all time permits.

FILMS

• Le fils de l'épicier (The Grocer's Son, Eric Guirado, France, 2007)
• Medium Cool (Haskell Wexler, USA, 1969)
• Petulia (Richard Lester, UK, 1968)
• Davandeh (The Runner, Amir Naderi, Iran, 1985)
• Khaneh-ye doost kojast? (Where is My Friend's House?, Abbas Kiarostami, Iran, 1987)

THEATRE

• Just Macbeth (written by Andy Griffiths, directed by Wayne Harrison, Playhouse Theatre)

The Grocer's Son
This is a French crowd-pleaser that should... dare I say... please crowds. My family liked it but for me it was just "meh". It's a meandering story, city boy goes back to his hometown in the provinces to help out with the family grocery business when the father falls ill. There's an attractive female who looks uncannily like Delta Goodrem and an array of idiosyncratic locals. Nice for a social night out, but nothing special. My main complaints are that it's too predictable and, like The Visitor, it lacks any genuine dramatic tension.

Medium Cool
An impressive film, edgy for it's time (or any time really) and the manner in which it captures a defining event is extraordinary. Wexler has crafted a fitting homage to the profession of cinematography (his normal line of work). Not without its faults, but compelling nonetheless. It screened as part of Melbourne Cinémathèque's season of Cinema '68: The Whole World is Watching, and indeed "the whole world is watching" is a line from the film. Medium Cool was an excellent selection for this season, a quintessential piece that encapsulates the political turmoil of the time. The film was complemented by the screening of Chiefs, a short documentary about crowd control devices in the wake of the Chicago convention featured in Medium Cool.

Petulia
A fairly whimsical film that lacks the bite of Medium Cool (they screened together at Cinémathèque) but is enjoyable enough.

The Runner
An impressive film with some intriguing elements. The final visuals are quite extraordinary.

Where is My Friend's House?
I have a lot of affection for Iranian cinema. I also love the frequent telling of stories from a child's perspective. Maybe I've seen too many that have used the same theme as this one, as I found it a little repetitive (even though it was made before most of those I have seen). It's a worthy film, in fact, more than a worthy film. But I felt like I'd seen much of it before. I brought my son to this (at 7, a similar age to the protagonists) and he enjoyed it. This is an aspect I like about Iranian films.

Just Macbeth
The third row (at the Playhouse) might ordinarily not be the best position for a live performance, but for this children's theatre, it was where the action was. The kid (7 years old) loves the writing of Andy Griffiths, so the common style evident in this performance was right up his alley. He laughed and laughed, learning a little about Macbeth (the play) and Shakespeare in general. Heck, even I learnt what a soliloquy is. Great fun!