Image via MIFF
This Melbourne Queer Film Festival screening was my third attempt to see this film; booked at MIFF but sacrificed for tiredness, waiting for half an hour at Cinema Nova yesterday before it was cancelled due to a technical hitch and then rescheduled today. I’m glad I hung in there; it was a beautiful film that pulled me into a world both foreign and familiar. Continue reading
The French title of this lovely family film is Jamais Contente, which I think translates as ‘never satisfied’ and this seems an apt description of both the affliction of the central character, 13-year-old Aurore, and the attitude of the adults around her. Aurore is repeating year 7, has a younger sister who always gets good grades and an older one who seems to do what she likes. Aurore feels misunderstood by all and disenfranchised from her family. Continue reading
The Unknown Girl is a film that will have an unknown ending for me as I walked out on it. It’s by the Dardennes brothers and I was really looking forward to it but I just couldn’t engage with the storyline. Jenny is a young doctor in her last days at a general practice for low-income patients before she moves on to a better job. One night after closing time, the clinic bell rings and she doesn’t answer it. It turns out to have been a young girl who was then murdered. Feeling responsible, Jenny tries to find out who she is. Continue reading
Aaagh. I think this movie is well-made crap but I’m not sure. Okay, I need to admit my bias. It is directed by Paul Verhoeven who also directed Starship Troopers, the favourite film of a person very dear to me who I won’t name to save him embarrassment although anyone who knows him well will know who I’m talking about. And I think Starship Troopers is a heap of well-made misogynist crap. But believe me, I went into this movie with high (though slightly nervous) hopes. Continue reading
The name of this film helps me understand better what the theme of it was. It’s a slow-moving observational film, centred around Felix who is at the cusp of puberty and trying to make sense of the motives and expectations of the people around him. The ‘demons’ come in many forms, none literal, and they seem to be the fears and compulsions that we can’t resist. Continue reading
A MIFF lesson – if you’ve booked a film, give it a go. I thought of staying in bed this morning and missing My Life as a Courgette and this French coming of age drama. I’m so glad I didn’t. They were both wonderful, sad, poignant and heartwarming. Tales of the value of the friendships we make, the pain of making ourselves vulnerable and the way this opens us up to the love of others. Continue reading
What a lovely antidote to the yuckiness of The Neon Demon. My Life as a Courgette is a French stop-motion animation about a little boy, Icare but Courgette to his deadbeat mother. When she dies, he is sent to an orphanage where he must contend with Simon, the resident bully. Continue reading
This is one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen. Its colour palette, location and aesthetic are exquisite. It is also enigmatic, to the point of being unsatisfying. We see a small, austere, island community of women and boys. The women are pale eyebrowed, dressed in colours of skin and earth. The boys are prepubescent, unsmiling. They live in bare, white houses amongst black sand, rock and crashing waves. There is little dialogue and no context for this odd world. Continue reading
Holy moly, this was a cracker of a film. Not to be watched by anyone who wants an easy ride – take this as a warning. Directed by Michael Haneke, who makes challenging films like The White Ribbon and Caché, The Piano Teacher also has powerhouse performances, themes that make you decidedly uncomfortable and no neat resolution. With all of the Haneke films I have seen so far, as the end credits roll there is a moment of incredulity and exasperation but then the characters and subtext worm their way into your brain and refuse to leave. Continue reading
Or why sometimes it is better to cut and run. Pierre and Manon are married. They are documentarians who struggle to make ends meet. Pierre is silent and dour, Manon sparkles and pleases. Pierre meets a younger women, Elizabeth, and begins an affair. One day Elizabeth spies Manon in the arms of another man and must decide if she should tell Pierre. Continue reading
