No. 48. (2020) LITIGANTE. August 16th.

 

Film No. 48 (2020)  August 16th.  4:30 PM.  Cinema 6  LUNA Leederville.

"No Silvia, you're an incredible person, an incredible mom". (Silvia is reassured of her strengths even though she has doubts).

So rarely does the English speaking world get to view a Colombian film. The chance to peek into the lives of these South American locals, in a naturalistic style, is exciting. And let me tell you there is no greater example of peeking into the life of an ordinary person (Silvia) than is exemplified in  Litigante.

Granted Silvia is a slightly complex person but she has issues of a personal, family and professional nature which might stress most normal functioning adults. So we get to live with her for maybe six to twelve months as she best deals with her challenges. We may even wish to lessen her burden, if it were all possible we could. She's a good person and we like her.

Carolina Sanan, a well known Colombian author and director Lolli's cousin craved the role and got it. Her performance is special considering the pedigree. Silvia is a single mum, battling professional ruin of the reputational type and worst of all her mother is dying (choosing to end treatment) of cancer. Sanan is close to Lolli and the director's mother has recently fought her own cancer battle, so Sanan's emotional investment is obvious.

Litigante is not a feel good family film. It's a film to appeal to critics, hardened film lovers and perhaps the odd student of South American sociology. But director Franco Lolli has achieved perfection in the same way Ken Loach may have in, Sorry We Missed You. It's Lolli's view on a stage of someones life, a life he's been able to share intimately. 9GUMS.      

No. 46. (2020) THE EXTRAORDINARY (Hors normes) August 9th.

 

Film No 46 (2020)  August 9th.  4:00 PM  LUNA PALACE Windsor,  Nedlands .

"The social worker says he's a minor, he'll go into care". (A typical institutional explanation given to Bruno as he readies himself to accept another challenge). 

 

Based on the real-life work of Stephane Benhamou and Daoud Tatou, writers Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano (The Intouchables) have created an entertaining, enlightening and deeply affecting film that comments on the French system of dealing with the marginalized. Those people on the autism spectrum who simply need help to experience life in a society ill equipped to cater for their needs.

While the story is an important one, the genius of this film comes in the casting of Vincent Cassel and Reda Kateb as the fictional Bruno and Malik. Bringing a naturalistic sense to The Extraordinary without slipping into cliches is essential here. Bruno and Malik are saints, but the thoughts about what really good human beings they are only come like a cascading fountain after the titles roll (and for days after).

The real story of Stephane Benhamou and Daoud Tatou meeting at a summer camp convention and going on to form their own institute to help people with autism,give them a life and relieve the massive pressures on families is largely told here with some poetic licence (a touch of The Intouchables). After all, Benhamou was often consulting on-set.

Any journey of this nature takes us to the heart of specific case studies and it's here we get a foothold on the challenges and the dedication and devotion of these men. Bruno's relationship with Joseph (Benjamin Leseur) has all the pathos and humour of a cinema set piece and knowing Leseur really is on the spectrum makes his stunning turn all the more wonderful. 10GUMS.        

  

No. 44. (2020) THE KING OF STATEN ISLAND. August 2nd.

 

Film No. 44 (2020)  Aug 2nd.  3:40 AM.  Cinema 6  LUNA Leederville.

"Don't worry mum, I know your daughter got smart, went to college and abandoned us, but don't worry, I'm still here and I'm going to be here for ever". (The words from Scott to his mum Margie which form the base of his whole family's dilemma).

I'd read so much hype about this slightly overly long biographical excerpt of Pete Davidson's life, I'd gotten to a stage where I wasn't fussed about making the effort. Well, I did, on the big screen, and I'm glad of it. Judd Apatow's (director, co-writer) involvement was the clincher, not Pete D. I really had no idea of the existence of Davidson before this.

 Davidson in real-life had lost his father, a fireman, in the 9/11 attack on New York and The King of Staten takes us into the life of a young man looking for direction in his life. He wrote a screenplay in an effort to capture his muddled thoughts and escapades.  Apatow could quite possibly be the only film artist capable of translating the material. There really aren't the usual spikes and troughs of a social drama, but the film has charisma. 

The characters played by Davidson, Bev Powely (girl friend, Kelsey), Marisa Tomei (mum, Margie), Bill Burr (Margie's friend) and Steve Buscemi (philosophical firefighter) grow on us like a luxuriant lawn, fertilized by sharp, sometime ironic, but mainly humorous dialogue. Most are watching T.K.O.S.I. on the small screen. I'm surprised at the lukewarm reviews, but maybe that's the reason. It's hard to beat the big screen experience. 9GUMS.    

    

No. 45. (2020) A PERSONAL HISTORY OF DAVID COPPERFIELD. August 3rd.

 

Film No. 45 (2020)  August 3rd.  7:10 PM  PALACE  Raine Square, Perth City. 

"You had nothing, then you had something, and now you got nothing again. So sounds to right you'll have something again." (Mrs Micawber tells David how it is, part way through the condensed story).

Do you remember those Reader's Digest condensed versions of well known novels? Any cinema depiction of a Dickens novel is going to need some form of condensing, but this version unabashedly does it as an art form. 

David (Dev Patel) is first seen at a lectern as a thirty something addressing an audience in an intimate setting. He's summarizing his life so far, basically as Dickens coloured it. And what a life it has been. From here, for two hours, we join the festival that is life as David. It is an unconventional but most colourful, riotous, compassionate, with smatterings of unkindness, roller-coaster of a narrative. Patel deals up a performance equal to anything he has done previously. Then there is Peter Capaldi's Micawber, Tilda Swinton's, Joyce Grenfeld, the mean-spirited Uriah Heep played by Ben Whishaw and finally Mr Dick brilliantly captured by Hugh Laurie.  

The unconventional slant these accomplished actors put on their iconic characters is worth the price of a ticket alone. In these dreary times this fun film is the real package. Director Armando Iannucci was at the seat of creating The Death of Stalin, Veep and The Thick of It so the pedigree was always here. He has taken his witty musings to a new level.

 

And if you are not familiar with this Dickens classic then here might be the perfect place to start. Don't go expecting a conventional retell. This is better; much better!  10GUMS.

          

No. 47. (2020) UNHINGED August 10th.

 

Film No. 47 (2020) August 10th.  12:15 PM  EVENT CINEMAS  Innaloo.

"I don't have anything to apologize for" (Mmmmmmm .. Rachel says the words she will regret).

                        

This nasty little (trying for blockbuster tag) drama, masquerading as a film with a life lesson (be careful who you honk while in traffic) is the last thing our society needs. This film has been described by distributors as escapism; what a joke! An overly portly (obese) Russell Crowe (can't remember his character name) trying to look menacing, grunts and all, creates mayhem because he's upset at a mum and son who honk while waiting for him to move at a green-light. There are no new cinematic techniques on show, creating the tension is unoriginal, even immature and the gratuitous violence is simply senseless. We know what the outcome will be, but was the brutality along the way a must? A mate asked me to accompany him to this "tosh". He will remain a mate but I have insisted that I will choose our next shared cinematic experience. I have promised him a film of substance. After Unhinged, it won't be hard to find. 1GUM.

   

No. 43. (2020) HEARTS AND BONES. July 26th.

Film No. 43 (2020)  July 26th.  8:45 PM.  NETFLIX  Living Room  Mt. Hawthorn. W.A. 

"Why is that you find it easier to talk to a stranger than to me?". (Josie, Dan's partner needs an answer to an aspect of their relationship causing her concern).

I saw it written somewhere that Ben Lawrence is Australia's answer to the U.K.'s Ken Loach (I, Daniel Blake). As this is Lawrence's first feature it's too difficult a comparison to make, but if Hearts and Bones is anything to go by, I for one am hoping I can draw the comparison for years to come. This film, like so many of Loach's is an important one.

While the themes are of international interest the story has its roots deeply embedded in the Australian landscape. Dan Fisher (Hugo Weaving) is a world renowned war photographer. He's returned home from a recent assignment to ready himself for a much anticipated  exhibition. Dan himself is ambivalent about the show, but his world shifts when he is alerted by refugee Sebastian (Andrew Luri) that one of the photographs depicts a disturbing event which would quite likely wreck Sebastian's new life, with new family in his newly adopted country. It's a great premise.

Life in secure western society is asked some key questions here. Dan has his partner Josie (Hayley McElhinney) and agent pleading with him to retain the photo. It's his art  and it shouldn't be compromised. Dan has to decide. But the spine of Hearts and Bones comes in the form of relationship building. Australia is still a young growing country, and in a hundred years the cultural mixes in its society will be many and varied. It will be a vastly more tolerant society built on the sorts of stories and issues exposed in this deeply affecting film. Hopefully Ben Lawrence will have gained the same accolades as Loach as a social enforcer in cinema. 10GUMS.