Film No. 67 (2015) September 19th. 10.45 AM LUNA Leederville.
"If you are listening to this without my permission then stop right now, just stop" (Minnie talks into the microphone of her 70's style cassette recorder as she documents her coming of age story).
The Diary of a Teenage Girl is a seriously well made film. Bel Powley captures the screen in a Christina Ricci type manner, it's hard to peel your eyes from her doe eyed, square cut fringed features as she pours out her confronting dialogue describing one sexual awakening experience after another. The subject matter will be confronting for some, "I had sex today. Holy Shit" opens the film as Minnie begins her awakening with us.
So while it is a seriously well made film I didn't really have a great time with it. I'm still not sure why, so maybe it is one of those films which needs to catch you in the right mood. There are many quirky coming of age films released over recent years which dabble in animated sequences and display unique characters and Teenage is never clunky. I just didn't connect.
Monroe (Alex Skarsgard) is the boyfriend of Minnie's mother Charlotte (Kirsten Wiig). Minnie is keen to experiment sexually as she follows her body's urges. After Charlotte heads to bed early one evening Minnie throws herself into the arms of Monroe who cannot resist her advances even though she's a minor. The strength of the film is that there is no sleaze and while Monroe could have made a more mature decision, he is gentle and he genuinely cares for Minnie. It's San Fransisco in the 70's and the era is captured brilliantly.
Teenage is based on a semi-auto biographical (not sure exactly what that means) novel by Pheobie Gloeckner. The novel is graphic and the film meets the novel's intentions very well indeed, mixing black humour with issues many of an older generation might find distasteful. Minnie embarks on a journey she very much controls and comes out the sort of person one might expect to have a very interesting life. The film has few flaws, I just didn't connect with Minnie. 7GUMS
Film No. 66 (2015) September 17th. 6.30 PM LUNA Paradiso, Northbridge.
"All full of scorpions is my mind" (Macbeth explains his state of mind to his wife at the height of his powers).
I have to admit to being skeptical about the transporting of Shakespeare's work to film when there are two script writers involved. I'm thinking, hasn't this already been written by the great man himself?
A director who decides they want to fiddle faddle around with some of the greatest prose ever, is asking for the sort of trouble our brave King of Scotland is seeking when he decides to kill off the reigning king based on the advice of three witches. Australian director Justin Kurzel (Snowtown) however provides us with a solid re-telling of this famous tragic tale and it is not just the performances of Fassbender (Macbeth) and Cotillard (Lady Macbeth) that pave the way, he has employed some gritty methods.
Making films based on Shakespearian classics is all important due to Shakespeare's prominence in school curriculums throughout the world. Therefore the technique for telling a story like Macbeth's needs to be concise and visually engaging. Although maybe a little too Readers Digesteque for my liking from a text POV the visual feast is sumptuous. The fiercely cold windswept backdrop pricks our senses as effectively as any theatre production could.
Then there is the casting. The electricity between Macbeth and his good lady cannot be faked when retelling this story. Get the two leads wrong and disaster looms. Cotillard is magnificent and Fassbender is very good. Perhaps I'm being hard on Michael but he does hog the screen in his unnerving way, so the calm, calculating persona of Marion ignites the story. Young scholars will lap this version up, which is important to the continued retelling of such treasured prose. 9GUMS
Film No. 65 (2015) September 12th. 10.45 AM LUNA Leederville.
"How much do you owe him?" (Paula asks her lover, Sparra, the untimate question).
I'm not sure that there is any better way to promote Cut Snake than via the trailer currently in circulation but it may be that it either makes or breaks the film. My first impressions of this love story with a twist were mixed and I was in two minds as to my enthusiasm for the film. Because I was lucky enough to secure a preview pass (free) I accepted the challenge presented by Cut Snake and I'm glad I did.
Director Tony Ayres is a talented and versatile film maker with directorial and production credits including The Turning and The Slap respectively. He is a discerning artist, he usually takes on quality writing and in this case Blake Ayshford (The Devil's Playground) has presented him with a quality script. Both Ayres and Ayshford have spent much of their time working on television dramas where the written word is all important.
We meet Sparra (Alex Russell) and Paula (Jessica De Gouw) a beautiful young couple, in love and with all of life's challenges before them. That's how taut thrillers often begin. Enter Pommie (Sullivan Stapleton), a major player from Sparra's previous life, a life he has kept to himself. As you can guess, Pommie is larger than life and madder than a cut snake.
Pommie forces his way into the lives of Sparra and Paula, performing small acts of kindness with an undertone of menace, we gradually learn more of intimate facets of Sparra's past life. Pommie creates circumstances which draws a reluctant Sparra back to his former persona. As the film progresses and the menace grows we find that both Sparra and his relationship with Pommie are not what they seem. Other than the clunky, cleched ladened final shot, Ayres creats a taut, tense conclusion. Oh and the array of cars on display to represent Australia in the sixties is stunning. 8GUMS.
Film No. 64 (2015) September 8th. 6.30 PM GREATER UNION Innaloo
"1 in 4 people who summit Mount Everest die". (The amazing statistic which flashes in bold white letters immediately prior to the opening of this film).
Into Thin Air written by Jon Krakauer is one of the most riveting non fiction adventure stories I have ever read. A brilliant journalist who wrote exclusively for Outdoor magazine, Krakauer was in the infamous party lead by one of Everest's most successful conquerors, Rob Hall in 1996; the expedition which saw 8 people die on the slopes. Rob Hall was one of those eight. Everest is the film of that expedition.
On seeing the poster and knowing that this film was to bring that expedition to life I was immediately skeptical. There is a Hollywood blockbuster disaster look to the marketing of Everest. This approach would never do justice to Krakauer's story so luckily, despite the marketing, it's not the approach they have used. Everest is a moving and fitting tribute to those who never returned and to their families who continue to struggle with their loss. In particular those who knew the much loved Rob Hall.
In the late eighties and nineties Everest had become the ultimate challenge for mere mortals who weren't necessarily climbers but who were of the A type personality, neededing a challenge. The fact that 1 in 4 died, usually on the descent, meant an organized approach was needed. Rob Hall (NZ) and Scott Fischer (US) became guides, setting up competing businesses, whereby for a fee of around $65,000 climbers could be escorted up and down the mountain. Their aim was to continue to pursue their passion and ultimately improve safety for climbers. This tragic account depicts events which lead to Hall and Fischer's demise.
In the hands of the talented Kormaker (Birdman and Gravity) this film soars. His actors respond with real performances; in particular Jason Clarke (Hall), Emily Watson (Wilton) and Kiera Knightley (Hall's Wife) as authentic New Zealanders. The depiction of Everest and the bleak surrounds (with the assistance of 3D glasses) kept the audience on edge. This expedition was shrouded in controversy based on Krakauer's account of events. To it's credit the film doesn't take sides. It is simply a gripping adventure based on a true event. 9GUMS.
Film No. 63 (2015) September 4th. 5.45 PM BACKLOT West Perth.
"There's an awkwardness, something very pure, I can't figure it" (Photographer Dennis Stock describes his subject James Dean to his agent in the hope he might secure a paid assignment creating a photo essay on Dean).
Talk about risk taking in film making. Life depicts James Dean just prior to his rapid rise to fame and subsequent death. Trying to depict a legend of the screen has been tried with varying degrees of success previously so how does Life fare in that maze of films best described as of the bio pic variety? Well, it fares well, very well indeed.
Director Anton Corbijn is a very thorough film maker and his success (Control, The American) quite simply is replicated often because he never over complicates his subjects. With the help of writer Australian novelist Luke Davies (Candy), Cobijn brings to life the a friendship, the unlikely friendship of freelance photographer Dennis Stock and James Dean. Put simply Dean, sees something in a young man (Dean) which separates him from the pack (actors), he want's to be the first to capture the unique Dean in a photo essay he might sell to the most famous magazine of the time, LIFE.
Robert Pattinson as Stock plays the lead to perfection. Stock is a brooding, ambitious man with few redeeming features. Dean (Dane Dehaan) however is solemn, single minded and impulsive in a charismatic way. Dehaan steels the screen with his relaxed performance. Stock and Dean build a friendship of real substance as they discuss life and at the same time frame the images which have become so famous as part of a March 1955 edition.
Part of the majesty of the film is the narrative leading to the backstory as to how and why some of the now famous shots came into being. The famous Time Square shot of a sodden Dean walking the wet streets with a smoke in his mouth and hands deep in his coat pockets occurs as so many great shots do; Stock shot it on a whim. I, like so many, was not born when Dean died tragically but Life allowed me to feel something of the pain so many people must have felt those 60 years ago. Corbijn's film took me to another time and place and I was both entertained and moved. 10GUMS.
Film No. 62 (2015) August 31st. 6.30 PM LUNA Paradiso, Northbridge.
"No, life sucks because my wife left me for an off Broadway Monologist" (Will discusses his current state of mind with his college students).
Jermain Clement, a New Zealander by birth, has a huge following in the U.S. due to his underwhelming but zany portrayal as himself in Flight of the Conchords. In fact he is followed Worldwide but it's in the U.S. market that he is thriving. So it must have been a bit of a risk exploring a character faced with more serious domestic issues (divorce) in People, Places, Things. I'm thinking that even the title from a marketing POV might be a little risky.
I needn't have been concerned, PPT is a perfect fit for Clement. He takes his brilliantly dry style of delivery into a tried and tested genre and offers a new dimension to the Romantic Comedy. I say new dimension because when it comes to films with themes supporting marriage breakdown with our hero seemingly blameless and kids in the mix, there are characters often shaped for us to hate; not in People, Places, Things. There is no one to dislike.
Jermaine Clement plays out a unique character using his original style in a film with a narrative which has no original appeal. Man catches wife out with another man, she wants a new life taking the kids with her. And so begins our journey with Will; a deep thinking new age bloke who works a teaching job to maintain his under paid passion as a comic book artist. Is Will's heart taken unexpectedly while he bemoans what he had? Nothing new indeed.
Hopefully my review is testing your patience with regard to my "you won't hate anyone in this film" observation. That's why the film is worth a look, especially if you are a devout fan of this genre. We are gently folded into the emotional revelations of each of the characters via witty and sometimes unexpected interplay. Therein lies the charm of this film. People Places Things will please many even if the title may not attract the audience it should. 9GUMS.
Film No. 61 (2015) August 29th. 4.30 PM LUNA Paradiso, Northbridge.
"The night they disappeared, they were walking home" (the precursor to the mystery to be solved by detectives Juan and Pedro, detectives seconded to the marshlands).
Nominated for 70 Awards, this atmospheric Spanish pot boiler was just the film I needed on the dreary Saturday afternoon I saw it. After the first season of True Detective there was much to compare when analyzing Marshland. Aerial shots which make the landscape below an elaborate art mosaic, detectives of contrasting styles and suspects with unnerving smiles and dodgy alibis.
Juan (Javier Gutierrez) and Pedro (Raul Arevaio) are seconded to the steamy Andalucian marshlands of Spain from Madrid to solve the puzzle of the disappearance of two teenage sisters. The first of the mysteries is why these two contrasting police bloodhounds and the second conundrum is how come they've never worked with one another before? As the mystery continues we realize the appointment is partially political and slightly convenient for a Warner Bros distributed brand of film.
My Warner Bros theory is not a criticism because sometimes when a tried and tested B Grade formula is executed with such dexterity, as Marshlands is, the result is an A grade film. 10 Goya Awards set new levels for the Spanish film industry in 2015. And while the pot boiling feature of this film is the bubbling chemistry of our true detectives Juan and Pedro, it's their varied techniques for extracting information from characters as diverse as a psychic fisherwoman and a sweet smelling businessman wearing a cowboy hat and with a handshake of soft vice like qualities.
The ending is not laden with the twists one first imagines but this is not a let down. Marshland is a hot, steamy journey which appeals to all our senses without over complicating characterization and story line. It has the odd visual of the squeamish variety but this is never over done. For those who still shy away from a sub-titled film this is the film to iron out your trepidation. The letters at the bottom of the screen never intrude; there is a slick rhythm to Marshland. 10GUMS.
