Film No. 52 (2015) Madam Bovary 17th July.

Film No. 52 (2015) July 17th. 2:30 PM THE WINDSOR Nedlands.

"I imagined that this would be the happiest time of my life" (says Madame Bovary in confidence to her faithful servant).  

Madame Bovary

Gustave Flaubert's 1856 novel gets worked over for the umpteenth time for good reason. The baby boomers can't get enough cinema joy from costume dramas in this day and age. There are so many expert designers keen to show off their talents, soon there won't be enough classic tales to provide the backdrops. Of course there will be, I'm being flippant. This version captures the tragic tale most handsomely, I've just become jaded  by these mini costume epics.

My greatest pleasure in unraveling, for the first time, this tale was to gain a greater understanding of the contemporary  French / Anglo satire Gemma Bovary. It's always pleasing to get the gist of a legendary story like Madame Bovary in 2 hours, rather than spending 20 hours (not including doze time) reading the book.

Mia Wasikowska wears corsets with great aplomb. She is a wonderfully talented actor with the perfect waist to bring each of her magnificent costumes to life. Living beyond her means and taking to well to do men who might improve her social standing, takes up most of her time and Ms Wasikowska shows herself to be more than adequate in the talent department. Her ability to gradually lose friends and influence people (including the audience) is done with great subtlety.

In reality Madam Bovary plays out like an adult fairy tale. Wicked, is captured brilliantly by Rhys Ifans as Monsieur Lheureux as he greases the pole for our Madam to gradually slide down. Charming princes are done with just the right amount of ruggedness by Logan Marshall-Green and Ezra Miller with the hapless husband Charles nicely strung out by Henry Lloyd-Hughes. Mia is great, this version is slick and we all know the ending. 8GUMS.          

Film No. 51 (2015) Underdog 16th July.

Film No. 51 (2015) July 16th.  6.30 PM LUNA Paradiso, Northbridge. 

"I'm having some friends over for dinner. Do you want to join us?" (Asks Steffen of Dino as he realizes he has feelings for her).

 

Underdog (SvenskJavel)

It is such a privilege to sample the taster film of an up coming festival. The Scandinavian fest is about to launch in Perth (Western Australia) from the 24th of July for 6 days and the taster for this year was Underdog. Underdog is an understated, satisfying social drama. The characters all have redeeming features but it's the ultimate honesty of a few who reap the real benefits.

The Scandinavian Film and T.V. industry has produced very entertaining stories over recent years. Last year's 100 Year Old Man, The Killing and The Bridge series are just a few of the raging success stories coming from Denmark and Sweden. Norway's industry has an equal standing and Underdog represents the understated quality of their product.

Set in Oslo we enter the world of 23 year old Dino (Bianca Kronlof), she is unemployed but through circumstance becomes a part time nanny to a once happy family, dealing with the rigors of middle class life. Dino is an instant hit with Steffen's (Henrick Rafaelsen) children, Siri (Naomi Christensen) and Ida (Mona Kristiansen). Steffen and Dino are attracted to one another in an unforced manner and much credit should go to the actors for the naturalistic style they adopt which becomes a real signature of the film.

Underdog won some low key festival awards last year (Zurich and Chicago) mainly from critics. It's a film for purists who love the opportunity to visit the lives of others and experience their trials and tribulations - common to our own lives, no matter how great the cultural divide. Relationships form the foundation for the story told by Underdog and it is the least features bond between Ida and Dino that steals the show. It takes clever direction (Ronnie Sandahi) to bring the subtleties of this charismatic union off.  10GUMS

 

  

Film No. 51 (2015) Paper Towns. July 15th.

Film No. 51 (2015) July 15th.  6.30 PM GREATER UNION Innaloo. 

"It's a paper town with paper houses and paper people" (Margo discusses her impressions of the city she lives in with her accomplice, the wide eyed and innocent Quentin). 

 

Paper Towns


It is not surprising that after the success of The Fault in Our Stars that another John Green novel would be adapted for the screen. Paper Towns was written 5 years prior to Stars and was never as lauded but there is no doubting the business proposition it would represent for Fox 2000. I dare say this flick will do okay but it won't reach the heights of its predecessor because the meandering road movie (Towns) does not have the appeal of the heart felt, tear jerking, love story (Fault).  

What I do like about the film adaptations of Green's novels is the naturalistic way the key young characters interact. There is a humour and an unforced ease that unfolds in each scene. It's not surprising seeing Green has had input on both films. The issue I have is that Paper Towns is perhaps better in this respect but far more meandering to the point of being slightly chaotic in its narration. It had so many themes that I wondered a few times during the screening if there were important points I was not grasping. 

So, re-imagine that brilliant masterpiece of a Film, Stand By Me. In it, four good mates set off on a journey of discovery up a train track leading out of their small up-state town, soundtrack and all. In Paper Towns, we meet Quentin (Nat Wolff) who's had a longstanding infatuation with his neighbour Margo (Cara Delevingne). When she goes missing it comes time for him to prove his undying love for her and off he goes looking for her, following her trademark clues. His best mates come along for the ride and to offer assistance. Using a tag line like, "its the journey not the destination that holds the key to truth".

I'm being flippant I know, and Paper Towns is engaging because it's not too cliched. The fact is the film has too many themes to leave a lasting impression. Also, I didn't like Margo enough to care whether Quentin actually found her. Maybe the early scenes didn't establish enough of a connection between them.  What is good however is the scenes between Quentin and his mates. Ben (Austin Abrams) and Radar (Justice Smith) are excellent and there is real chemistry emanating from this threesome. I sometimes make the mistake of comparing the best (Stand By Me) with a film that is just okay! 7GUMS      

 

Film No. 50 (2015) Tehran Taxi. July 12th.

Film No. 50 (2015) July 12th.  6.00 PM LUNA SX Fremantle. 

"So we are working together, hah?" (Asks Panahi of an eccentric character selling bootleg DVD's from a knapsack while seated next to him (Panahi) in the front of his taxi) 

 

Tehran Taxi.

Jafar Panahi is back with yet another groundbreaking film. And while the film itself sets new ground in story telling the fact that this is Panahi's third film since being banned from making films in his native land (Iran) is the most astonishing thing. Oh and I forgot to mention, he won the Golden Bear (Berlin Film Festival) for this "small gem" but he couldn't accept the award personally as he is unable to leave Iran. 

Taxi (as it is better known worldwide) provides a lighter-hearted view by Panahi as he further reveals the way censorship acts as a suffocating blanket. He does this by presenting a range of his native citizens in the best vehicle possible, a taxi. It is such a great idea, told as a piece of fiction but in such real terms.

I have heard and read so much of the legend of Panahi. To drive with him through the streets of Tehran gave a film lover like myself a chance to meet and observe this humble and understated man. We watch him quietly solve the dilemma of stranded goldfish for two self centred women. Then we listen in silence with him as an ex neighbour describes how he was mugged but was loath to do anything about it because of the possible execution which would befall the perpetrator. Every character presents a conundrum caused by the repression so omnipresent in their society.

And all of this vision was taken on a couple of High Definition security cameras mounted within the taxi. It's fitting that the most personal vignette of the film takes place in the last 20 minutes. Panahi's niece (his actual niece) brings the most basic digital camera to his side as she attempts to make her own film; part of a school assignment. It is a special sequence, not to be missed. My understanding is that this intelligent young lady collected The Golden Bear for her uncle in Berlin in February. Very fitting, I say!  10GUMS.  

  



         

Film No. 49 (2015) The Look of Silence. July 12th.

Film No. 49 (2015) July 12th.  2.00 PM LUNA SX Fremantle. 

"If you keep making an issue of the past, it will definitely happen again". (The view of an ex murderer as Adi presses him for information about what happened to his brother in 1965)

 

The Look of Silence.


We sometimes go to the cinema to escape from reality and know that when watching Arnie in his latest blockbuster we are hooking up with a contrived hero. To watch Adi quietly wander through the horrific maze left behind after the 1965 massacres in Indonesia as he tries to make sense of the motives of fellow villagers who knifed his brother to death, is to hook up with a real hero. The gentle manner Adi displays reminded me of Ghandi and the effect he had on the antagonists of his time. A peaceful manner is such an effective way to send a message. 

Adi is our hero but perhaps Joshua Oppenheimer is our modern day Ghandi. After the horror he depicted in his first documentary of the 1965 massacres, The Act of Killing, Oppenheimer has done something far more dangerous. After giving the killers an opportunity to show the world the senselessness of their deeds via The Act, this time he gives a gentleman (Adi) the chance to bring those killers to account. I say dangerous because Adi and his family have surely risked their lives by participating in this brilliant film.

The title of this film says it all. The silence comes from close up after close up of Adi, his beautiful but tortured mother, his crippled father, the killers and their families. The camera rolls as the faces, in silence, reveal more than any words can portray. Adi sadly watches the TV as recordings of killers talk of their deeds in lighthearted terms; then there are the killers, in the now, who become uncomfortable after they reveal awful truths never before heard by their sons and daughters. The silence comes from the way Oppenheimer edits this mini masterpiece.

Something very bad happened in Indonesia in 1965. Something very bad indeed. Try imagining that people in your suburb or district had been recruited by the government (military in nature) to cull fellow citizens because they had been given information (propaganda) that specific people were communists. The issue is that this is still happening on a smaller scale in Indonesia today. Oppenheimer is alerting the rest of the world to this reality. Adi's sad eyes will haunt us for a time but the radiant beauty he reflects when watching the uncomplicated antics of his daughter will help to heal the wounds. Film is such an important window to the world!  11GUMS      

     

Film No. 48 (2015) What Lola Wants. July 6th.

Film No. 48 (2015) July 6th. 8:00 PM LUNA SX Fremantle.

 

"You tell me why a Beverley Hills princess fakes her own kidnapping? (Comes the question from Marlo, the grifter so smitten by Lola)

 

What Lola Wants.

There are so many influences reflected in Rupert Glasson's wonderful What Lola Wants. It has shades of the mesmerizing dialogue of Tarantino, the dreamlike aura of Lynch and the twisted charm of The Cohen Brothers. The key however is, Glasson doesn't copy, he just uses the essence of these masters and creates his own original work of art.

Lola (Sophie Lowe) fakes her own kidnapping. She comes from a family of influence so there is no doubt the authorities will be hot on her heels. We meet her at the quintessential, Easy Stop diner in the Californian desert where only dust and tumbleweed interrupts the low angle long-shot. Enter Marlo (Beau Knapp), a young man looking for trouble and Lola is definitely the trouble he's seeking.

So while there is mystery to all the unhinged characters who appear on screen we are in no hurry to learn of their past, we just want to know what comes next. Lola controls Marlo. The reward money is put up by Lola's parents; parents described by Lola as evil. But then there is Mama (Dale Dickey), a wild middle aged road warrior keen to teach her son Marlo, a lesson.

The story is as mindless as the characters, the fun of Lola is the brilliance of the sound, the visuals and the sharp dialogue all bundled into an 81 minute package. This showing was part of The Revelation Film Festival, the annual West Australian binge on original local and international films. As I type, Lola has failed to find a distributor. I'm staggered, but maybe I shouldn't be.  10GUMS  

      

Film No. 47 (2015) Last Cab to Darwin. July 2nd.

Film No. 47 (2015) July 2nd.  7.00 PM LUNA Leederville. 

"You should try driven' two thousand k's with the bastard", (Tilly talks about his time in the cab with Rex).

 

Last Cab to Darwin.


Jeremy Sims (director) and Reg Cribb (writer) came upon a news article about Rex Bell a cab driver from Broken Hill back in the early 2000's. Rex had been diagnosed with terminal stomach cancer and his prognosis was not good. Rex subsequently heard of the new Euthanasia Bill being passed in The Northern Territory which, under strict supervision, gave a patient the right to end their life. Rex, wanting a painless exit, jumped in his cab and headed for Darwin.

Cribb first retold the story as a play of the same name in 2003. Sims has been by his side throughout the retelling of Rex's legendary story and so it was inevitable Last Cab would become a feature film. And a very fine feature film it is.

Michael Caton, so revered as the likable, knock about Aussie battler underplays Rex beautifully. From the time we jump in the cab with Rex we have to believe in him and Caton doesn't let us down. Polly and Tilly, so exquisitely played by Ningali Lawford and Mark Coles Smith give insightful observations of real issues in Australian culture. The combined abilities of Lawford and Smith give Rex an ability to think more clearly about his future when most needed.

I'm a sucker for this type of Australian film which depicts our raw environment in such compassionate terms. Sure the narrative is perhaps 10 minutes too long and maybe Jacki Weaver was not the right fit for the Darwin doctor but these are minor quibbles. Last Cab is told with good humour and the right amount of pathos. It's a film for the world to enjoy but the nationalist in me is hoping we of the Australian breed will flock to the screens and luxuriate in a unique story of our own.   9GUMS.

  

Film No. 46 (2015) Ruben Guthrie 1st July.

Film No. 46 (2015) July 1st.  6.45 PM HOYTS Carousel Cannington. 

"Your father and I have decided, enough of these meetings, we want our son back". (Ruben's mother being as supportive as she knows how to assist her son through his problems, the meetings are his AA meetings).

 

Ruben Guthrie

I read Ruben Guthrie, the play, last summer and had it play out
in my head, as if it was staged on an intimate space, with a captivated audience. I imagined it to be a strong example of contemporary theatre in the vein of a David Williamson play at the height of his powers through the 70's and 80's. This film version, while really competently shot, unraveled like many of Williamson's conversions to film did. There just wasn't the same raw power.

Ruben Guthrie (Patrick Brammall) has it all. A dream house, a gorgeous, sensible fiance and a career where he sets the agenda, an award winning agenda. So what can go wrong? His inability to understand that to really enjoy all that he has, alcohol can't dominate his existence. Ruben, it would seem has addictive behaviour issues. While we don't really get time to be convinced of Ruben and Zoya's (Abbey Lee) commitment to one another, Zoya walks out and gives our man 12 months to abstain or lose her.

And so we spend 350 odd days with Ruben as he changes his behaviours while making new friends and disgarding old ones. The process of Ruben "growing a heart" while mixing with more common folk has traction. Jack Thompson and Robin Nevin work well as the supportive/ unsupportive parents.  Finally he's forced into an inevitable corner.

In the intimacy of a live theatre space an audience can become enthralled with a larger than life character like Ruben. A cinema audience is looking for more than just the one trick pony Ruben offered so successfully on stage. Given this, the film is tightly adapted for screen, well performed by all and fantastically shot. Cowell is a good writer, perhaps the next Williamson. Brammall is making his mark after achieving great success on the smaller screen. Ruben is worth a look. 7GUMS