Category Archives: Bechdel pass

The Untamed (2016)

Standard

4.5_orange_sm

Wow! Where has this film been hiding? Thanks goodness for ACMI that keeps showing these unlooked for and unheralded gems. The advertising for this Mexican horror/drama almost put me off; “Sexual desire, social realism and the uncanny converge in this provocative genre splice.” It could’ve been a Neon Demon – and you can click on the link to see how much I loved that ‘genre-splicing, misogyny-satirising’ movie. Happily The Untamed is nothing like it and I loved its deadpan and excoriating look at heteronormative oppression, wound through with a profoundly meaningful and metaphorical motif of horror. Continue reading →

This Beautiful Fantastic (2016)

Standard
thisbeautifulfantastic

Image via imdb.com

3.0_orange_sm

This slightly oddball, feel good film is formulaic in many ways but with idiosyncratic styling that lends it an off-kilter, other-worldliness. Beginning with a fairy tale realism, we see Bella Brown (Jessica Brown Findlay) abandoned as a baby in a park. Watched over by ducks until she is found, she grows up without a family and with a fear and loathing of nature.  Continue reading →

Israfil (2017)

Standard
israfil

Image via iran.britishcouncil.org

3.5_orange_sm

The second feature from Iranian director Ida Panahandeh, Israfil is a quiet exploration of the repercussions of the cultural oppression dealt with much more histrionically in Leila. Unlike Leila, where the thoughts of the protagonists were spelt out to us, Panahandeh lets us watch and feel and imagine. Continue reading →

Leila (1997)

Standard

2.5_orange_sm

Cultural oppression is a battering ram that destroys everything in its path. There are those who help wield it and those who throw their hands up in protest but do nothing. So it is with the lives of Leila (Leila Hatami) and Reza (Ali Mosaffa). Married because of family expectation but finding love and companionship, their problems begin when Leila finds she can’t have children. Continue reading →

Negar (2017)

Standard
negar

Image via filcin.com

4.0_orange_sm

Introduced by the director of the Iranian Film Festival Australia (IFFA) as a rare example of an Iranian action film, I expected a touch of Hollywood and a breakneck pace but Negar was much more. Better described as a subdued psychological thriller, Negar weaves a fragmented but compelling story as the eponymous heroine struggles to understand her father’s apparent suicide. Continue reading →

The Hitman’s Bodyguard (2017)

Standard

3.0_orange_sm

Faced with a choice of only three films that I could see and none of them ones that I would particularly choose (the kind of first world problem you have when your car is being serviced in a country town), I took the advice of the guy selling tickets at the cinema. He warned me off American Made (“It’s crap) and Dunkirk (“It’s boring) so The Hitman’s Bodyguard won the prize. Skimming reviews on IMDb, I expected an illogical but diverting shallow crime caper with two charismatic male leads and a few token women as love interests. And that’s exactly what I got. Continue reading →

Sami Blood (2016)

Standard
SAMI-BLOOD-1

Image via miff.com.au

4.0_orange_sm

The Sámi, or Lapp, people of northern Scandinavia have long been subjected to discrimination in Sweden, Norway and Finland. In Sami Blood we see the story of one 14 year old girl, Elle-Marya (Lene Cecilia Sparrok), whose South Sámi family herd reindeer in rural Sweden. Continue reading →