No. 27 (2021) THE COURIER. APRIL 12th.

 

Film No. 27 (2021)  April 12th.  3:40 PM.  Cinema 3  ORANA Kalgoorlie.

"This is unexpected, I can't believe I'm having lunch with spies. I'm just a salesman" (Greville meets Emily (CIA) and Dickie (M16)for a lunch which sets this story in motion).

I'd never heard of Greville Wynne before I entered the very comfortable Orana Cinemas Kalgoorlie, Western Australia last week. I'd suggest you read no further than this paragraph if you too have never heard about the feats of Wynne and are keen to see the film. The story is a cracking yarn based on the real-life friendship that developed between two family men, from very different cultures who developed a loyalty that went some way to saving the world in the early 60's.

When you hear that the U.S. and Britain put their heads together to try to avert the Cuban missile conflict by recruiting a courier with no credentials in espionage, there is a sense that this all sounds a little simplistic. But Greville Wynne (Benedict Cumerbatch), a business man with Russian connections, interested in making money, was seen as the perfect conduit for transferring information. Oleg Penkovsky (Merab Ninidze), a Russian national, was spying for The West. Wynne represented the the best format for connection. Grenville agrees to undertake the task set for him.

Not since Bridge of Spies (2015) have I enjoyed a thriller of this genre so much. Like Spies, The Courier  relies on the forces of a special relationship to meld the story and tighten the tension with every scene. Cumerbatch and Ninidze created the perfect melding of art and truth in a handsome film. Jessie Buckley (Sheila Wynne) and Rachel Brosnahan (playing CIA agent Emily Donovan) brought important aspects of the female influences in The Cold War. 

So, I'm giving nothing away here. The reason being, The Courier is cinema infused with all the elements of good storytelling based on true events. I was surprised at the gravity and influence that this unlikely friendship had on world history. There are some licences taken with regard to the embellishment of the story, but not many. Most importantly, did Wynne and Penkovsky influence the outcomes in tense Cuba in 1961? The answer is a definitive, YES! 10GUMS.               

   

No. 26 (2021) PERFUMES (LES PARFUMS) Perth; French Film Festival APRIL 7th.

 

Film No. 26 (2021)  April 7th.  11:00 AM.  Cinema 2  LUNA SX Fremantle.

"I'm going to make perfume again. Would you help me?" (Anne ratifies her trust in Guillaume as she decides on the path she needs to take to re-establish her life).

My mum is ninety and she loves going to the cinema. She goes less these days because films are more violent, sexually explicit and more nasty in general. They are less to her liking. So along comes Le Parfums and some of that faith of my cinema loving mother is restored. Two likeable enough characters, Guillaume (Gregory Montel) and Anne (Emmanuelle Devos), both unsure about life in their middle age, find each other and find a bond. Comradeship between man and woman doesn't always need the bedroom to consummate good cinema. Les Purfums is testament to that.

Writer/Director Magne never tries to make this film something it is not.  He sets out to make a light but pertinent fairy-tale. Everyone on screen is likeable. A key conflict, so important to modern-day story-telling, never rears its head in Les Purfums. The real drama comes via the abundance of scents that are triggered through descriptive language then reinforced with the setting they occupy. 

Is there ever a miscast French film? Surely there must be plenty, but as an Australian critic, relying on Australian distribution, casting always rings true. Because Anne is so gifted when it comes to smell, her nose is filmed with such care. Guillaume is is given free reign as being slightly dishevelled but ruggedly handsome and completely likeable. The balance is perfect for the tale being told.

Minari might be the best film of 2021 and the story it tells hardly lifts a finger in anger via the drama that unfolds. Les Parfums similarly has hardly a bad bone in its tale. Maybe this is the new genre of film-making. The "Rarely a Nasty Moment" genre. My mother will certainly be back to the movies more often. 9GUMS.  

            

    

No. 25 (2021) THE MAN WHO SOLD HIS SKIN (L'HOMME QUI A VENDU SA PEAU) Perth; French Film Festival APRIL 4th.

 

Film No. 25 (2021)  April 4th.  1:30 PM  Cinema 5 LUNA,  Leederville. 

"With my latest work, I'm exploring a new real!" (Artist Jeffery Godefroi explains to his adoring public his latest creation on Sam's back).

Tim Steiner is a real person who has sold his skin. He appears in galleries all over the world displaying a tattoo, regarded as a work of art, that occupies the entirety of his back. What relevance has this fact to this review? Well it so happens this brilliant concept film has Tim Steiner at the seed of it's narrative. Some of cinema's best stories stem from actual people/events.

So, what if a person, Syrian refugee Sam (Yahya Mahayni) who sells his skin for art, as a means to an end (love and economics), becomes a pawn in a game only the sophisticated art-world can conjure, and so has to devise a plan (with the help of others) to escape his mini-hell. L'Homme Qui solves all those dilemmas and French writer/director Kaouther Ben Hania (Beauty And The Dogs) explores the outcome in very satisfying terms.

Ben Hania adopts a naturalistic style to her story. Split screen Zoom conferencing brings lovers Sam and Abeer (Dea Liane) into focus. A focus that has the audience willing them back together. While the love story is important to the narrative, the real theme is imbedded in the depiction of a society (Art World) with only money and aesthetic status on its mind. Sam has used the system to find his love and escape repression, but what does he learn along the way?

L'Homme Qui is the first Tunisian film to be nominated for an Academy Award (Best Foreign Language Film). It deserves the nomination but the greater hope for many Tunisians is that such high praise will bring the unrest and repressive images of life in this North African country into focus for the world to see. The film only skirts those themes of disquiet but it's presence will raise some awareness undoubtedly. I'm not sure it can win, but it might. I loved L'Homme Qui. 11GUMS.  

      

  

No. 22 (2021) THE BIG HIT (UN TRIOMPHE) Perth; French Film Festival March 23rd.

 

Film No. 22 (2021)  March. 23rd.  4:10 PM  Cinema 2  LUNA,  SX Fremantle. 

"The twentieth century's greatest playwright. His play is about two losers looking for a brighter future" (Etienne coaches his troupe on the virtues of Samuel Becket and his play, Waiting for Godot).

Inspired by true events; out of work actor Etienne Carboni (Kad Merad) takes a job as a drama teacher at one of France's high security prisons. He believes he can turn his ramshackle group into competent amateur performers via a rendition of Samuel Becket's, Waiting for Godot. The outcome is worth the wait. Naturalistic French film making (of a Swedish story) at its best.

This might sound something like a teacher overcomes adversity to make the world a better place, genre set piece. In some ways it is, but in more ways it's social drama with a life lesson played out closely to the reality of what actually happened. And in most respects it is a relevant tale. This genre, done well, often attracts a crowd.

The actors, playing prisoners, star here in Triomphe.  Unlike Nomadland, which used characters actually living a life on the road, Triomphe has chosen 5 actors who give the sense of naturalism director Emmanual Courcol so keenly seeks. The thought that inmates will depict classic stage craft (Beckett) to a professional standard in front of a live audience is fanciful but we believe in the standards set by the cast here. Adriane (Mariana Hands) is a rock as the progressive warden, she deserves a credit. 

The reason this story has come to the screen stems from a performance that is now world renowned and still performed by the real life Carboni. His one-man show had its accidental origins in the story that is Un Triomphe. It's the perfect punctuation for this well balanced, satisfying social drama. 10GUMS.      

      

  

No. 24. (2021) NOBODY March 29th.

 

Film No. 24 (2021)  March 28th.  6:45 PM  EVENT CINEMAS  No. 16,  Innaloo.

"There is a long dormant piece of me that so very badly wants out". (Hutch internalises his thoughts, as he contemplates his next move in life).

This film has no depth, but never fear, Nobody is senseless film-making but completely entertaining. Punters are never in any doubt about where Nobody is headed. Bob Odenkirk is Hutch Mansell and Hutch is anything but a nobody for the 92 minutes we enter his world.

Nobody is a complete rip off of the John Wick franchise, ranging from the innocuous ruffling of Hutch's feathers which reactivates his penchant to be violent, leading to the inordinate body count which may well leave the Wick franchise licking their bloodied wounds. It makes no excuses for what it is and never allows for emotional character development from a script POV. 

Hutch lives Oh So ordinary life in the suburbs of a typical U.S. city. The first 5 mins of ultra short cut-aways, paints the mundane pattern of his existence. This is most important because immediately we know something is hidden at the core of Mitch, ready to ignite at the strike of a match. He loves his family, consisting of wife Becca (Connie Neilsen),  son Blake (Gage Munroe) and daughter Abby (Paisley Cadorath) but they are held at arms length. Some cotton thread of a reason is given mid film but it's not important. Remember, it's a Wick lookalike!

Anyway, Hutch is a sleeper of sorts. David, his dad, is ex FBI and pleasantly played by Christopher Lloyd. A sub plot makes sure Lloyd has a gun at some stage with a few timely one-liners to lighten proceedings. The 15 minute climax is everything you'd expect. The revenge/bloodbath film is punctuated and rated on the effectiveness, choreographically, of these blood filled endings. Nobody does it as well as anybody, Wick included. 9GUMS.