No. 59 (2021) WILDLAND (KOD & bLOD) Palace; Scandinavian Film Festival JULY 21st.

 

Film No. 59 (2021)  July 21st.  2:15 PM  PALACE Cinema 3,  Raine Square,  Perth City. 

"Why do you think your mum avoided them? They're insane."(David's girlfriend Anna asks Ida a question to help answer some fears Ida has about her new existence).

Drama on the big screen with strong social comment is all about actors moving a script with perfect rhythm. The silences are more impactful than the dialogue and the close-ups have us hooked with each stark image or character stare. Welcome to KOD and BlOD (WILDLAND).

Pretty, innocent 17 year old Ida (Sandra Guldberg Kampp) is suddenly an orphan. Her mother and soul-mate is killed in a car accident. The state decrees she must now live with her aunt, Bodil (Sidse Babett Knudsen) and while Ida has been slightly connected to Bodil and her boys, there is a reason her mother has kept family at arms length.

Australian director David Michod created ANIMAL KINGDOM in 2009. Many of the themes of that award winning drama are explored here by Jeanette Nordahl. When comparing the narcissistic matriarchs who rule their families with iron fists,(Bodil(Wildlands)and Smurf Cody (Animal Kingdom) the phrase, "You reap what you sow" is what comes to mind. Both films, however, should be measured separately. Wildlands is a story seen through the eyes of a young girl we hope will escape her torment (adopted family) and fulfil her own full life.

Kampp is superb as Ida. She says little but we trust what she is thinking as the camera lingers on her innocent face. She occupies nearly every scene. Jonus (Joachim Fjelstrup), David (Elliott Crosset Hove) and Mads (Besir Zeciri) have key, creepy scenes with Ida, each showing Nordahi to be a director with a cutting edge. Anna (Carla Philip Roder) David's partner gradually becomes key to the cycle of this dysfunctional family's behaviour, behaviour Bodil controls. This first feature debut means I'm very much looking forward to Nordahl's next.  10GUMS.          

  

No. 58 (2021) THE TOLL July 20th.

 

Film No. 58 (2021)  July 20th.  6:30 PM  Cinema 1   LUNA,  Leederville. 

"Most people's lives could be considered unremarkable aside from one or two defining moments where people find out who they really are." (Toll Gate Man gives a short monologue, in voice over, introducing the film).

A Welsh contemporary, Spaghetti Western at your service here. A totally tongue in cheek high quality "student" experimental film about a quiet but violent toll gate officer whose past comes back to haunt him. Does he take flight or fight? Yep you guessed it!

When our hero is an un-named man it's the first sign that Clint Eastwood of A FIST FULL OF DOLLARS or PALE RIDER is at the forefront of director Ryan Andrew Hopper's mind. Toll-Gate-Man (Michael Smiley) lives a quiet life reading a book (hard-back) with no title. He has an alliance with police officer Catrin (Annes Elwy) and the story begins with her arrival, late at night, at the Toll Gate where TGM has a story to tell her. The film becomes the retelling of the story (flashback) behind the scene Catrin has walked through just prior to opening the door of The Toll Booth.

Is the key to this film's effectiveness wrapped in the little we know about the backstories behind the relationships the characters bring to the story? Maybe, but remember Hopper is pulling off a contemporary man-with-no-name western. Toll-Gate-Man is the antithesis of Eastwood's PALE RIDER, seeing as he's operated the toll for years. Where people are going or even why they are paying good money to do so is anyone's guess. It's all just a part of the parody. 

If you like your comedy dark, full of quirky regional U.K. humour with the odd laugh out loud moment, then THE TOLL will suit. This is not blockbuster parody, it's made on a shoestring. It's gaining traction because critics have warmed to it. And you'll warm to the triplets. A gang of sisters creating mayhem in a blitz of petty crime. A ballsy Gwyneth Keyworth plays all three sisters. Fresh, that is another description for THE TOLL. 9GUMS.  

              

  

No. 57 (2021) ANY DAY NOW (ENSILUMI) Palace Scandinavian Film Festival 2021 July 17th.

 

Film No. 57 (2021)  July 17th.  11:00 AM  Cinema 5   LUNA,  Leederville. 

"Here's the secret: you don't need to say anything. Just look into their eyes and smile." (Ramin listens intently to his father's response to his question, "How do I talk to a girl?).

This heartfelt drama from Finland, told through the eyes of Iranian born director Hany Ramezan, (LISTEN) gives the impression that it is a very personal tale. And while his handling of some of the story is clunky, he shows nothing but care when it comes to the tenderness we are meant to feel for this family, the Mehdipours.

We can assume Ramezan is basing his story on first hand experience. He fled Iran, going with his family to Finland, as a teen in 1979. So in a similar vein to the way Lee Isaac Chung handled MINARI, Ramezan creates a world in a new country through his innocent eyes. Thirteen year old Ramin leads us gently through a few months of his life in the arms of his family and new friends, but in the hands of Finnish authorities (state controlled temporary housing). 

A coming of age drama is how ENSILUMI is being promoted since debuting at the 2021 Berlin Film Festival. And it's true but not entirely. It's moments around family, their complete love for each other and the respect their newly adopted community has for them, that makes ENSILUMI memorable. The opening scene where mother, Mahtab (Shabnam Ghorbani) caringly wakes husband Bahman (Shahab Hosseini) and then their children with a unique and quiet tenderness is impactful. Then the final scene repeats the dose, circumstances have changed, but her care for family has not wavered.  

Ramin and his family live with the anxiety of waiting to be approved as citizens in their new country. You'd hardly know it. They conduct themselves with such decorum and playfulness, hoping that ANY DAY NOW they will be accepted; but will they? This is a thought provoking tender film.  10GUMS.

      

          

    

No. 56 (2021) THE HITMAN'S WIFE'S BODYGUARD July 10th.

 

Film No. 56 (2021) July 10th.  5:30 PM  FENWICK CINEMAS Cine 2,  Esperance.

"We need guns. We need boats and we need them!". (Bryce recites the dialogue in answer to a question he knows not what the answer is).

I have not seen the first in this franchise (THE HITMAN'S BODYGUARD 2017). I didn't realise this film was indeed preceded by another. May I reinforce the fact that there is no need to catch the 2017 model to appreciate this offering. That is of course if "appreciate" is the key word here.

Ryan Reynolds is Michael Bryce, a bodyguard of note. We meet him in the opening scenes, inside  his mind, in play back mode. He's accepted an international award as an AAA bodyguard. Academy Award style. His dream comes due to the baggage he carries from the the F**k Ups from his previous exploits. So the film proceeds to give us its chaotic explanation. With a bit of Deadpool (dialogue) and Wick (death by choreography).

On the positive side, Reynolds, Hayek and Jackson are genuinely funny in the odd scene; in a Three Stooges type of way. Banderas laughed all the way to the bank for his wooden effort, but that's not his fault. Boy, did director Hughes (RED HILL) waste his talent! 

HWB is all about keeping the masses interested in coming to the cinema, where the popcorn, ice-cream and fizzy drink are the products that keeps the multiplexes profitable. HWB has recouped its budget and did it in a couple of months. That's got to be good. And best of all, for so many filmgoers, they know what they are getting here.  7GUMS.      

   

 

 

      

No. 55 (2021) PERCY Vs GOLIATH July 4th.

 

Film No. 55 (2021) July 4th.  4:55 PM  FENWICK CINEMAS Cine 2,  Esperance.

"Some guys buy their seeds from the big guys every year to plant. Me, I save my own. I'm a seed saver". (Percy's voice-over to set the scene for the "main course").

Percy Schmeiser (click link after viewing PERCY), Canadian canola farmer extraordinaire, gained international notoriety, along with his wife Louise when multinational, agrochemical company Monsanto sued them for "stealing" their technology (genetically modified canola seed) to grow their crops. A story worth telling, you'd think, and you would be right. Director Clark Johnson (JUANITA) has created a wonderful tribute story, so North American and Canadian farmers in particular can salute his deeds.

In a nut-shell, Percy was a seed saver, he saved seed from the previous years crop to use, rather than buying it from multinationals like Monsanto. Monsanto accused Percy of stealing their technology because testing they did on his fields showed Monsanto seeds were present. Why? They had blown in from passing trucks and adjacent fields. So, was Percy Schmeiser a thief?

For the next 100 minutes, sitting comfortably in the hands of Johnson and his writers Garfield Miller and Hilary Prior we learn the answer to Monsanto's accusation. And yes, there is a touch of the ERIN BROCKOVICH'S about PERCY V GOLIATH but for me there is a whole lot less audience manipulation and more silent contemplation in key moments. A tribute to Christopher Walken's interpretation of the man that was Percy Schmeiser.

The talented Zach Braff (GARDEN STATE, SCRUBS) legitimises the role of Percy's lawyer Jackson Weaver. Rebecca Salcau is a devised character played by Christina Ricci (THE ADDAMS FAMILY), in what is possibly her best big screen performance in years. I say devised because she is a hybrid of many environmentalists who spent time supporting Percy as he continued his fight. The cast has a chemistry which gives the story gravitas. The story goes that before he died, the real Percy got to watch Walken (a giant of his craft) depict who he was.  

There are many North American and Canadian farmers who still regard Percy as a thief. It's not surprising, a vast majority of farmers world wide are GMO farmers. But after reading more about the realities of their fight I discovered that Percy and Louise bore no grudge, they simply fought to farm their way and of course, for their right not to be bullied. 10GUMS.     

 

    

No. 54 (2021) FROM THE VINE July 3rd.

 

Film No. 54 (2021) July 3rd.  12:50 PM  FENWICK CINEMAS Cine 3,  Esperance.

"The answer lies in service, in something other than yourself" (Mark goes to confession in his old home town and receives some advice from the resident priest).

Here is a nice film. There is not a lot of drama (the family arguments are merely fluff), every character is likeable and the the punchline is predictable and pleasing enough. I'm just not sure FROM THE VINE adds up to much. Actually, I know it doesn't, but like a $15 bottle of red, the blend is smooth enough but along with its label, soon forgotten!

Director Sean Cisterna has the reputation for telling heartfelt stories based on real events (FULL OUT, KISS AND CRY). He's reviewed well but rarely seen on big screens other than in his native Canada.  FROM THE VINE is also a small story but this time with an international flavour. Successful CEO, Mark Gentile (Joe Pantoliano) trades his corporate life for the simplicity of Italian grape country, his birth place.

The mix of English and subtitles gives the film a genuine feel, but the innocuous way Mark uproots himself from family and firm (engaging in light conversation with wife Marina (Wendy Crewson)and daughter Laura (Paula Brancati) who unconvincingly act shocked) doesn't gel. It's hard for an audience to buy their antics. Meanwhile Mark stands amongst his singing, talking vines (yes, another obscure film tangent) becoming more and more convinced his future life is right there in rural Italy. 

So the family joins him. There is a shouting match or two as Marina and Laura plead for him to snap out of his mid-life crisis. But sure enough there is an hypnotic appeal to this postcard village. The locals begin to rely on Mark's entrepreneurial endeavours in bringing his family vineyard back to life. Mark and family are embraced. Western city life fades... you know the rest. It's all very nice and cosy, but nothing too memorable. Made in 2019; pre COVID. Maybe this is the reason it is striking so many chords with audiences world wide. 7GUMS.

 

 

No. 53 (2021) NINE DAYS JUNE 26th.

 

Film No. 53 (2021)  June 26th.  11:00 AM  Cinema 1   LUNA,  Leederville. 

"You are being considered for the amazing opportunity of life." (Will's opening address to all candidates who have applied for the opportunity of life on Earth).

It's always hard to recommend "high concept" films. These are films that take us into a new realm of thinking. They often teeter on the bounds of the ridiculous but with ordinary humans as the central characters. NINE DAYS is all of this, but has a deep meaning and asks a question of us all. What does this thing called life really mean?

Writer/director Edson Oda has etched a reputation as a thought provoking short film maker. A good grounding it would seem. NINE DAYS is a smart, thought provoking first feature about what a gift life would be, if one could fulfil the criteria to be accepted.

Will (Winston Duke) lives in a timber hut on a dystopian prairie. He has sidekick, Kyo (Benedict Wong). We meet them at the beginning of a cycle of new intakes. This intake are the next applicants wishing to be born into life on Earth. But as with all processes there can be complications, Will, being a man of compassion and commitment, wants to improve on his decisions and choices from the past and seeks to do so with this new intake. Can you believe we are let into the world of his past choices via recordings on VHS cassettes? Recordings of life through the eyes of his current choices living their lives on Earth in real time. 

That previous paragraph will either confuse you or spark your enthusiasm for exploring a new concept in film-making. We meet Erika Vasquez as Luiza and Bill Skarsgard playing Kane, bright new stars vying for selection. They cause Will to grapple with his understanding of his own shortcomings, particularly Luiza who gradually seeps into all our hearts. 

Every year there is a film that stays with me for days. Did it mean this or was it a metaphor for that? NINE DAYS is this film for me so far in 2021. My thought for the moment (8 days on) is; Was the hut a metaphor for the egg, and the applicants the sperm vying to be chosen as the one who fertilizes the egg? Could be I suppose, until I think of a new meaning for NINE DAYS.  10GUMS.