Should you blog angry? Probably not. I hated this film. When I read the synopsis, I saw that it was directed by the same guy who made Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer in 1992. In fact that screened at MIFF in 1992 and that’s probably where I saw it. I remember being fascinated with Aileen Wuornos and having arguments in the uni cafe about her with fellow students. What I had unfortunately forgotten was that I really disliked the filmmaker and his approach to documentary and his subject. It was only as the lights dimmed in the Comedy Theatre and he appeared on screen that I thought, “Shut the front door, it’s Nick Broomfield, I can’t stand Nick Broomfield.” Continue reading
Category Archives: Reviews
Documentary Shorts
StandardI added a shorts package to my repertoire to broaden my horizons. Shorts packages are a bit of a lucky dip. I didn’t read up on what they were, preferring to be surprised. It was an 11am session on a Sunday and today’s a four film day so I knew it was going to be a full day. And I didn’t get time to grab a coffee beforehand. Can you see where I’m going with this? Continue reading
Sworn Virgin (Vergine giurata) (2015)
StandardSworn Virgin is another of those multinational coproductions but I’m going to call it an Albanian film. The thread of the story is about gender roles in rural Albania, and although it is set equally in Italy, it is Albanian life and culture that we experience. The story is set in two time periods, we see Mark traveling from Albania to Italy and reuniting with his sister and her family after 14 years. We can tell that Mark is actually a woman and we know that Lila, his sister, knows but everyone else is oblivious. We then flash back to Lila and Mark’s teenage years in Albania and we discover the story. Continue reading
The Ground We Won (2015)
StandardI admit that I booked this film because it was filmed in black and white and from New Zealand. I knew it was about rugby in a rural town but that was about all. When it began I thought, “Oh Lordy, what have I done. I’m watching a film about sport.” I’m so glad I booked it. Continue reading
Flapping in the Middle of Nowhere (Dap cánh giua không trung) (2014)
StandardThis quiet Vietnamese film tells the story of Huyen, a young girl, maybe 17 years old, who is pregnant and living alone in a small apartment in Hanoi. She can’t tell her parents, her boyfriend is a bit of an idiot, and she doesn’t have the money for an abortion. She’s afraid – of the pain of labour, of dying whilst pregnant, of the pain of an abortion, of telling her parents. She drifts from day to day, knowing she must make a decision but seemingly paralyzed in her doubt and immaturity. Her boyfriend’s idea of helping her is to fight his rooster in cock fights run by thugs and so win the money they need. This doesn’t go so well and he runs out on her. Continue reading
Trainwreck (2015)
StandardTrainwreck screening at MIFF? Surely not. Doesn’t it feature that loud, gauche comedienne Amy Schumer? Isn’t it true that the hardest thing in Hollywood is to find a beautiful, funny women (so said former Disney CEO Michael Eisner)? The fun fact to learn from this, gentle readers, is that Michael Eisner, other than being a bit of an idiot, obviously doesn’t get out much. There are mainstream movies at MIFF, with well-known, funny, beautiful bankable stars, some with vaginas, and destined to be appearing at a cinema near you (well, not near me but I live in the country). I just haven’t booked many of them. Sleeping with Other People is mainstream. I saw that. Results is mainstream, it stars Guy Pearce after all, and that is the very movie that I blew off in order to go see Trainwreck with my dear friend Jo. Continue reading
The Witch (2015)
StandardI didn’t really like this film but I was with some people who did so it has made me ruminate on horror films and why this one didn’t work for me. I don’t mind a horror film every now and then. I prefer them to be suspenseful, to imply rather than to show, to build tension and have me hiding my head behind a pillow when it gets really scary. There still needs to be a believable story and good characters that you care about. And when the violence comes, ideally it shouldn’t make you laugh. Continue reading
The Silences (2015)
StandardOh, Margot, I so wanted to like this documentary. I like Margot Nash. She’s a Melbourne filmmaker who was a bolshie anarchist feminist in the 70s and has made or written several films, such as Vacant Possession in the 90s, which I remember enjoying. Continue reading
Being 14 (2015)
StandardI really enjoyed this French drama that follows three 14 year old girls, Sarah, Louise and Jade, through a year where they fall in and out of friendship, fight with parents and teachers and try to find their way. Continue reading
Phoenix (2014)
StandardI quite enjoyed this German drama about a woman, Nelly, disfigured in a concentration camp whose facial reconstruction surgery alters her so much her husband fails to recognise her. She has been physically and emotionally shattered by her experiences, all her family have perished but her husband has survived. She is desperate to find him only to discover that he was the reason she was arrested. Sensing her similarity to his wife, who he believes is dead, he persuades her to pretend to be his wife and so he can inherit her fortune. Continue reading
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