Tagged: film

Tom At The Farm – Review

I really wanted to like this film. I think it is the first Xavier Dolan movie that I’ve seen in a cinema and the cinematography in this film really is wonderful. There are beautiful panoramic shots of Canadian farming land, there is brilliant use of the close up and some artistic almost still imagery and there is the brilliant action footage shown above as our hero Tom, played by Xavier Dolan who also directed the film, tries to escape through a razor-sharp cornfield. There is a lot to like as well in the music he has used so well and in the strong cast of actors.

I was, however, left unsatisfied by the film and I’m not sure that I can really put my finger on it. It is a very complex film that attempts to deal with many deep issues including the love and loss of a lover, the grief of a mother for her lost child, loneliness, tension between rural and urban folk, isolation, repressed and ambiguous sexuality, dishonesty in relationships, and homophobia. Maybe there lies the problem in that many of these issues were not fully explored after being introduced. I do enjoy those art house films that leave a lot unsaid; leaving interpretation up to the audience. In Tom At The Farm Xavier Dolan holds back well on the storyline, but I think the development of the characters was somewhat jerky in many areas and that might have been because of the scenes that were edited out, as there were so many complex issues being covered.

Some elements of the plot or story seemed to stick out like sore thumbs and I didn’t think they needed to have been introduced, such as the dead son’s fictional female lover from Montreal. The point had already been made well enough and I think the visit of that character Sarah, to the farm, at the request of Tom, didn’t really add a lot to the story and it was also left just hanging there after a far more significant scene between Tom and a barman.

I was also left a little uncomfortable that we are again seeing a gay character portrayed as very flawed, inconsistent, fairly weak, and effectively persecuted and manipulated by a stronger bigoted homophobe. That tends to reinforce some rather unfortunate stereotypes. And for once I’d just like to see a gay character portrayed on the big screen that I didn’t have to be embarrassed by or feel sorry for.

My score: 3/5.

Greetings from Tim Buckley – Review

I enjoyed this film, but it probably isn’t to everyone’s taste, particularly if they are not fans of either Tim or Jeff Buckley and their music. It is set around a tribute concert given in Brooklyn in 1991 for Tim Buckley, about 16 years after his death from an accidental overdose. Tim’s son Jeff Buckley is somewhat reluctantly encouraged to perform some of his father’s music and the experience becomes a bit of a reconciliation for him about his very limited relationship with his father. After my own father’s recent death, I found this part of the film very touching, and probably quite realistic. The event seems to have been the catalyst that convinced Jeff to follow in his father’s footsteps and three years later he recorded the seminal album Grace. Sadly, Jeff too was to die tragically early in a drowning accident less than six years after the tribute concert.

Jeff is played very convincingly by Penn Badgley and Tim is also played very well (in flash-backs) by Ben Rosenfield. Both parts feature a lot of musical performances. I’ve said this about a lot of the films I saw at Sydney Film Festival this year, but Greetings from Tim Buckley was also very well shot. Some of the scenes are really beautiful and the cinematographer seems to have used some very subtle colouring to distinguish the flash-back scenes.

There is one really intriguing scene between Jeff and Gary Lucas (as played by Tony Award winner Frank Wood) in which Jeff first hears the guitar theme from his single “Grace”, played by Gary who says it is a bit like church bells. Jeff then messes around with it and we hear more of the beginnings of that amazing song. This has all now been confirmed in a comment below by Gary himself. He started Grace as his own solo guitar instrumental and you can see and hear it here:

As I said above, it it is unlikely to be a film for everyone, but I really enjoyed it. 4/5

And a sketch of Jeff by me to finish:

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Prince Avalanche – Review

OK, I didn’t select this film and neither did any of my SFF buddies. We saw it because the secret key to unlock the file for the film It’s All Quiet could not be used in time to run the film. The SFF folks offered refunds or an exchange for this film or the chance to see the original film on Sunday afternoon, but after a while we decided to stay and see the replacement.

Prince Avalanche is about a couple of guys repainting the yellow traffic lines and replacing the reflective posts on the side of the roads in an area of forest in Texas that was devastated by bushfires in 1987. It stars Paul Rudd and Emile Hirsch, who are both excellent in their roles and is billed as a quirky comedy. I think that is a bit dismissive really. The story in the film runs deeper than absurdist comedy.

There are some great moments of humour, but it is all quite subtle or very gentle apart from one sequence towards the end of the film (which is brilliant in so many ways – it almost comes as a release). I think it is more a film about friendships and relationships and the bumpy, complex road they always seem to take. It is also a film about new beginnings.

The music in the film is wonderful and there are many beautiful images, especially those at the very start of the film.

After some reflection I think it is well worth a 4/5

Lasting – Review

Lasting is visually beautiful and set in Spain and Poland. It is easy to see why it won a Cinematography award at Sundance. The two leads, Jakub Gierszal and Magdalena Berus, are good as the two young lovers. Much of their acting is done without any audible dialogue as the film tells a lot of the storyline with some effective imagery. In parts I think it could have done with a little more dialogue, but maybe the Director-Screenwriter Jacek Borcuch wanted viewers to take away what they interpreted for themselves. Lasting is really story-telling as art and thus something we don’t see enough of.
It is a shame that even in Sydney, we need to wait for festivals to see foreign (i.e. non-US/UK) films such as this. They are very different from the run-of-the-mill rubbish that is regularly served up in cinema complexes. 4/5

The Iceman – Review

The Iceman - Review

Sydney Film Festival http://www.sff.org.au/films-container/the-iceman/

My second shoot-em-up of this festival. The star of this film with a strong performance in the leading role is Michael Shannon. He has a lot of bad hair days, but then again so do most of the cast as it is set in the era of bad hair (1960s-1980s). This makes actors like David Schwimmer, Stephen Dorf and Chris Evans barely recognisable. Winona Ryder plays his largely ignorant, but not quite long-suffering wife. Michael’s character Richie is a contract killer and is based on a real-life serial murderer and Mafia hitman, Richard Kuklinski. Kuklinski is said to have executed over 100 individuals. It is a pretty violent journey, set mostly in New Jersey and New York.

Unfortunately the film loses one star for taking far too long to give James Franco any screen time and then it limits it by having him killed after only a couple of minutes, mostly spent on his knees praying in vain. Having a hit put on James Franco is simply unforgivable.

The two other amazing things in this story are: the amount of time it took for the police to catch up with him and that his wife and daughters (in the film) seemed to be completely unaware of his “profession” until the very end.

So, between the bad hair and the Franco fiasco, I can only give this one 3.5/5

What Maisie Knew – Review

This is yet another beautiful film from the Festival. It is very, very well done. A really beautiful portrayal of the impact on children of relationships, like marriage, that simply do not work or have run their time.

I will usually see anything with Julieanne Moore in it and she is brilliant as the terrible mother as you actually feel sorry for her because she keeps adding humanity to her character that makes it real. Onata Aprile is also brilliant as the six year od Maisie. You feel that she really does know what is going on around her and the film skilfully stops short of her character taking control of it all.

The additional attraction is Alexander Skarsgård and I guess I would go and watch any film with him in it, even if he was just playing a chair. He is no hero in this, just someone who also falls in love with Maisie, as well as Maisie’s father’s new wife.

It’s a must-see film if you enjoy stories like this. No special effects, no big star egos getting in the way, no 3D, no stunts or violence, just very enthralling story-telling. 5/5

The Way, Way Back – Review

This film was my third for the festival and the second of two on the second night. I wasn’t expecting it to grab my attention and I wasn’t expecting it to be anywhere near as good as it is. It is a hysterical coming of age story. Very well written with a run of gags from Sam Rockwell that I could not keep up with because they just kept coming and I was laughing too much to hear them all. His delivery is almost unbelieveable.

It presents some lovely observations from a teenager’s perspective on just how hideous many adults really are. The other actors are great, with a stunning performance from Liam James (from The Killing) as our teenage hero Duncan. Allison Janney (The West Wing) is also a scream as the neighbour Betty.

Toni Collette and Steve Carell made a brief appearance on stage at the premier in the State Theatre. Steve plays a convincing dick of a man who is dating Duncan’s mother (Toni Collette). I don’t like the movies in which he plays the awkward funny guy at all, but I guess he is successful here because you do grow to really hate his character in this film.

5/5 because I laughed and laughed.

Outrage Beyond – Review

This was the first film I saw for the Sydney Film Festival this year. I was disappointed. It had much promise, but I think tended to get lost in far too many characters who were not properly established before they were shot. There were also continuity and reality issues, such as the main hero surviving a gunshot to the stomach for some time without bleeding to death, any apparent medical attention or any lasting disability. There seemed to be a lot of random violence and this tended to diminish the effect it could have had if they left it more like a constant threat that someone could lose it and blow your head off in a rage. There were some good moments, but it did not live up to its promise: 3/5.

The East – Review

This is a brilliant film and is bound to win many awards I would think. It does everything well. The story and characters are believable and relevant and it is beautifully shot in many different locations. I loved the way it held back pushing the storyline in your face (just in case you were not keeping up) and how it grabbed your attention from go to whoa. It contains some really beautiful moments, particularly those that illustrate complex relationships between different people and also deals with the ethics behind “eco-terrorism”. The acting is superb, particularly the leads: Brit Marling and Alexander Skarsgård. See it or you’ve really missed out on something very special.

Oh, one more thing, it is almost worth going just to see and hear the short piano piece played by the Dr on an old piano in the hide-out. Superb! 5/5