No. 43 (2023) AMANDA. June 10th.

 

Film No. 43  (2023)  June 10th.  3:15 PM  CURZON,  Cine 3, Canterbury U.K.

 

"Amanda you are twenty five. You should spend your time with other people" (Amanda's mother explains the reason she asked the maid to no longer respond to Amanda's every need).

NOMINEE: Audience Award (Carolina Cavalli) Venice Film Festival; Directors Award (Carolina Cavalli) Cleveland International Film Festival. WINNER: Best Film (Carolina Cavalli) du Film Italien de Villerupt Awards, 2023.

Sometimes a film comes along that simply refreshes ones senses. AMANDA is one such film; a coming of age social drama highlights this unique script. Benedetta Porcaroli brings an original vibrancy to the lead role. It's her film. And given all of this, AMANDA represents Carolina Cavalli's first feature as a director. A feature film worth seeing.

The story of Amanda, a young lady possessing a personality that has no filter, where her best friend is a black maid who attends to her every need, is promoted as a comedy/drama. I'm of the opinion that there are some comic moments but ultimately it's drama. The fact Porcaroli gives us a young woman with so many issues to navigate, meant there were times that I was concerned for her mental health. It was hard to laugh while considering those themes! But we are always "glass half-full" with Amanda.

As the title suggest, Amanda is our focus. She lives a fragile life. She has no friends. She is rude and takes delight in antagonising her family. More importantly, she is safely home to her entitled life after studying in Paris.  And so begins this coming of age tale as she sets her sights on achieving priorities one and two; rekindling her friendship (school buddy) with Rebecca (Galatea Belluggi) and finding a boyfriend. She's determined to adopt the life of a teenager. A time when she was at her happiest, perhaps!

Cavalli has created a bright, original film here. The script is tight and full of surprises. No one was more surprised than she, in collecting the Jury Prize for best film at the prestigious  du Film Italien de Villerupt awards. But more importantly, her creation, Amanda, is a character who will grow on you. She is attractive, but annoyingly precocious, when first we meet her. By films end she has a radiating beauty with a vulnerable core, the type you would happily build a friendship with. I had a good time with AMANDA.  10GUMS.   

 

No. 45 (2023) REALITY. June 20th.

 

Film No. 45  (2023)  June 20th.  1:15 PM  PHEONIX Picture House,  Cine 1, Oxford, U.K.

 

"Reality, what if I put it to you, that you printed out classified information?" (Agent Garrick does indeed put a pointed, incriminating, question to Reality Winner).

NOMINEE: Best Feature Award (Tina Satter) Panorama Audience Award.

Reality Winner does not nearly have the profile of the likes of Ed Snowden or Julian Assange when it comes to whistleblowing amongst the thicket of U.S. political lies and deceit, in contemporary times. Winner was a bit-player when it comes to her misdemeanour. But the consequence's she suffered shocked most who looked on. This very unique film from Tina Satter (her first feature film) had me totally engaged for its entire 83 minute running time, which incidentally, was the duration of  the transcript of Winner's actual arrest on June 3, 2017.

It's hard to believe this is Satter's first feature, directing debut. The film is a spin off from the play she created from the transcripts recorded by the FBI of the 80 minutes of  Winner's arrest. It is littered with outtakes of the actual recordings, sound waves and all. See, you are already wondering how a feature film could engage an audience with such a thin premise. It does, let me tell you.  

The stage play, Is This A Room (2021), created such a buzz, that Satter decided it was worth the risk (with studio backing) of adapting it for the screen. Choosing Sydney Sweeney as the lead has justified that gamble. The film, and more specifically Sweeney's performance, has a mesmerising quality. "Sorry, I have a resting bitch face" is a line Reality uses during her interview and it sums up every nuance Sutter captures with every frame Sweeney fills. This vulnerable girl is in trouble. Has she an inkling of how mush trouble? Is she simply shocked? Is she innocent? When will reality (no pun intended) dawn on her? Sweeney has us in the palm of her hand. 

I only had a vague recollection of a young lady being arrested, in the U.S., for leaking a document for public consumption 6 years ago. I knew little of the play or the screen adaptation. I was attracted to the title and the poster. I was overseas (U.K.), and there had been no promotion of the film in Australia. I had a great time with REALITY. And if the reaction of 3 twenty something students who watched the same session as me is anything to go by, the film will stir emotions!  10GUMS.

      

  

No. 42 (2023) YOU HURT MY FEELINGS. June 3rd.

 

Film No. 42  (2023)  June 3rd.  11:00 AM  LUNA LEEDERVILLE,  Cine 1, Leederville.

 

"Well I just get a little bit, right here. You know I can still move my eyebrows. Look!" (Beth presents her case for how little Botox has impacted on her face, the scene creates a laugh out loud moment).

NOMINATIONS: Nil (Pending, due to early release. 2023 awards lists not complete).

Julia Louise-Dreyfus has a silliness, a quirkiness but most of all an intelligence when it comes to her screen roles. She rarely disappoints. YOU HURT MY FEELINGS reinforces all that I'm saying. Her Beth, a moderately successful author, loving wife to Don (Tobias Menzies), loyal sister to Sarah (Arian Moayed) and caring mum to Eliot (Owen Teague) takes us on a delightful journey where the social drama on show, rings true with us all.

Ten years on from their collaboration on ENOUGH SAID, writer/director Nicole Holofcener and Dreyfus team up again. Their collaboration on ENOUGH SAID was a delight. Holofcener has a good ear/eye for what resonates with a thoughtful audience. She relies on her audience to have experienced romantic love, and while having been married is not an essential prerequisite, it helps.  Her style is unique because, whilst themes of distrust and vanity are on show, she never creates characters who take themselves too seriously. We admire their courage to admit fault and move on. The lightness with which she writes is seriously amusing.

At 93 minutes (you remember those films?) FEELINGS never outstays its welcome. Issues relating to: people and their therapy, telling white lies, enjoying friendship and family, and always being there for your children punctuate scenes which meld to create a good film. Not a film that lingers in the mind for days or weeks, but one to keep you smiling for days afterwards.

 Dreyfus is fun to be around for the hour and a half. She does get a run for her money though. Don (Menzies) quietly steals a couple of very funny in-therapy scenes and Sarah (Moayed) has some of the best lines as she tries to impress her indulged clients while consulting as a designer. VEEP and SEINFELD devotees will all enjoy Dreyfus, no matter.  9GUMS.        

    

  

No. 41 (2023) JOHN FARNHAM: FINDING THE VOICE. May 31st.

 

Film No. 41  (2023)  May 31st.  10:45 AM  LUNA SX,  Cine 1,  Fremantle.

"There was something about his voice that was so appealing. People just worshipped him" (Jimmy Barnes pays tribute to his friend John Farnham with whole-hearted honesty).

SUBMISSION : Best Documentary (Poppy Stockell) AFI Awards 2023.

John Farnham is a legend of Australian Rock n Roll. His story is captivating, and Poppy Stockell (SCRUM) has captured, with great heart, the reason for his legendary status. I hope FINDING THE VOICE finds an international market. I wasn't aware how popular he became in Scandinavia with his Whispering Jack album. 

I'm an Australian who is embarrassed to say I knew little about Farnham and the stories behind his music career. I did own a 45 RPM of his first smash hit, Sadie, in 1967. It was one of the first singles I ever bought. I was ten. Other than that I remember being surprised he became the lead singer of The Little River Band in 1982. It was big news at the time, but I didn't pay much attention and wasn't surprised when both Farnham and the band lost their gloss. Deep down I always felt Sadie pigeonholed him as a One Hit Wonder. How wrong I was.

But enough of my confession to being ignorant as to the worthiness of John Farnham's status as an icon, because Stockell has rectified all of that. FINDING THE VOICE is not just a riveting documentation of how a boy with unique vocal qualities, from a loving, working class family, created his own history, always fighting on no matter how many times he failed. It's a wonderfully entertaining feature, full of the tension that goes with an artist who loses faith in himself, but then gets back up to continue his pursuit of fame.  His friendship with Glenn Wheatley is key to John's story. Stockell cleverly uses Wheatley's wife Gaynor here to add the sometimes tension laden facts to Farnham's tale. 

Because I wasn't a great fan of Farnham's music or career, this film was never on my "must see" list. I was at a loose end, a cinema was close by, and this film fitted my time schedule. You know how, sometimes, those film going moments happen and the film is so much better than you thought it might be? Thank you Poppy Stackell, you have created a good film about an Australian worth celebrating. I cannot get You're The Voice out of my head. I've listened to it so many times since your, my Spotify account has set up a John Farnham mix!! I'm currently listening to the mix daily.  10GUMS.