40TH MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
Film reviews by Marcus Brazil
Copyright 1991 Marcus Brazil
This is a brief review of some of the films featured at this year's Melbourne film festival. I have followed my comments on each of the feature films with a rating out of 10. The ratings are only meant to give a comparative guide to my estimation of the quality of the various films, and should, like all ratings, be taken with a grain of salt. The festival also has a tradition of showing a large number of short films, and I have included some comments on the best of these at the end.
THE FIELD (Ireland). D: Jim Sheridan. Richard Harris, John Hurt,
Tom Berenger.
This new film from the director of MY LEFT FOOT is a dramatic tragedy based on a play by John Keane. It concerns the bitter struggle of a tenant farmer faced with the loss of his land. The film contains much to admire: it explores powerful themes to do with tradition and birthright, and is impressively photographed. But it suffers from being too close to its stage origins; many of the scenes are self-consciously theatrical in a way that works against the film's cinematic naturalism. The almost melodramatic tragic ending to the film feels like a poor man's KING LEAR. The acting is generally good apart from a flat and characterless performance from Tom Berenger as the American. Rating: 6.
FIVE FEMINIST MINUTES (Canada). D: Various.
To celebrate its 15th anniversary, the women's film unit Studio D commissioned 16 short 5 to 10 minute films from female film makers. The result is this wonderfully varied compilation film showing the breadth of feminist experience and film-making techniques. These short films cover almost every genre and some are very good indeed. Highlights include: "No Choice," a confronting documentary about poverty; "The Escapades of One Particular Mr. Noodle," amusing, tongue-in-cheek autobiography; "Family Secrets," a subtle film about incest and the traps of memory; "New Shoes," an amazing true account of an attempted murder/suicide; and "We're Talking Vulva," a hilarious all-singing vagina! Rating: 7.
HALFAOUINE - CHILD OF THE TERRACES (France/Tunisia). D: Ferid Boughedir. Selim Boughedir, Mustapha Adouani, Rabia Ben Abdallah.
It is surprising to see a film set in an Arab city presenting such a frank and relaxed view of female sexuality as found in this film. The film is about a 12-year-old boy caught between two worlds, the world of women, who look after the young children and act in a fairly uninhibited way around them, and the far more repressive world of men, which he must soon join. A warm and spirited film, which is also pleasantly erotic. Rating: 7.
LIFE IS SWEET (U.K.). D: Mike Leigh. Alison Steadman, Jim Broadbent,
Timothy Spall.
A wonderful domestic comedy/drama, every bit as good as his previous film, HIGH HOPES. Leigh affectionately, but unsentimentally, dissects the social dynamics of a lower middle class British family, undergoing fairly ordinary everyday family traumas. This include getting involved in their appalling friend Aubrey's latest project, the opening of a French restaurant called "The Regret Rien." Leigh's skill lies in being able to make the banalities of life seem intriguing and fresh. He achieves this through careful observation, warm humour, and the creation of convincing, interesting characters. The ensemble acting is first class. A delightful film. Rating: 9.
MARCH COMES IN LIKE A LION (Japan). D: Hitoshi Yazaki. Yoshiko Yuro,
Bank-ho Cho, Koen Okumura.
This film begins with an interesting premise. A young man loses his memory. A woman, who is in reality his sister, takes him home, claiming to be his lover. They live together as lovers, but then his memory begins to return.... Although this seems to be a situation full of dramatic possibilities, Yazaki seems more interested in a poetic, contemplative cinema that deliberately avoids narrative drama and tension. The film has very little dialogue and long takes in which almost nothing usually seems to happen. The ending of the film seems to mix reality and fantasy in an ambiguous way. I found this a bizarre and rather unsatisfying film. It may well rely on an intimate understanding of Japanese culture to appreciate. Rating: 4.
PARIS IS BURNING (U.S.A.). D: Jennie Livingston.
Glimpses of unusual cultures are always interesting. This film examines the Black and Latino gay subculture in New York revolving around the Harlem drag balls. This is a world with its own perspective on the "normal" white society, and its own customs and jargon. The film is carefully structured around the vocabulary and customs of this subculture, which give us a clear insight into how these people cope with their marginalised position in the wider society. A fascinating documentary on an unusual subject. Rating: 7.
POISON (U.S.A.). D: Todd Haynes. Edith Meeks, Larry Maxwell,
Scott Renderer.
One of the pleasures of film festivals is seeing exciting independent films such as this one which experiment with and push beyond the normal conventions of mainstream film. POISON is in fact three films in one, each in completely different styles: one a mock documentary about a mysterious boy who kills his father then flies away, the second a beautifully done parody of a 50's B-grade horror film about a scientist who creates and becomes infected by a revolting disease, and the third an intense homo-erotic drama set in a male prison. The film constantly intercuts between these three stories, challenging the audience to interpret the way their themes resonate against one another. Watching this film is an intellectually exhausting and rather harrowing experience, but also a highly pleasurable one for those who enjoy adventurous cinema. Rating: 8.
PROOF (Australia). D: Jocelyn Moorhouse. Hugo Weaving, Genevieve Picot,
Russell Crowe.
This was my favourite film of the festival, an intriguing, electrifying film about a blind man who is also a photographer. The film explores the three-way relationship between the blind man Martin, his friend Andy, and his housekeeper Celia. Obsession is one of the films major themes, with Celia being romantically obsessed with Martin, and the Martin being obsessed with truth, his photographs being a way of proving to himself that the outside world is as others describe it. This is a beautiful, thought-provoking film with moments of marvelous humour. It caused quite a stir at Cannes, and will have world-wide distribution. Definitely one to see. (The film also won the festival audience poll for best feature.) Rating: 9.
RESIDENT ALIEN (U.S.A.). D: Jonathan Nossiter. Quentin Crisp, John Hurt,
Sting.
Although it's rather too long, and needs to be more tightly edited, this is nevertheless a lively and engaging documentary on the author/personality Quentin Crisp in New York. The film focuses not only on the camp, flamboyant and mannered Crisp, whose persona appears to be almost entirely a public one, but also on the attention-seekers who surround him each vying for their fifteen minutes of fame. The showmanship and superficiality of much of New York society is nicely captured in this film. Rating: 7.
RUBY AND RATA (New Zealand). D: Gaylene Preston. Yvonne Lawley,
Vanessa Rare, Lee Bete-Kingi.
This is a delightful and sharply comic film about the relationship between an extremely stubborn elderly woman and her equally fiercely independent young female tenant. Both resort to various schemes and deceptions to try to gain dominance over the other in a series of confrontations in which sparks really fly, but gradually a reluctant mutual respect begins to emerge. This is a theme that has been echoed in a number of recent films (such as "Driving Miss Daisy" and especially "Tatie Danielle" [Aunt Danielle]) but here it is explored without a hint of sentimentality. The film is cleverly scripted and features a marvelous central performance from Yvonne Lawley. Rating: 8.
THE STATION (Italy). D: Sergio Rubini. Sergio Rubini, Margherita Buy,
Ennio Fantastichini.
This is a film whose theatrical origins don't work against it. It begins as a light comedy-romance as we watch an interesting relationship develop between an upper-class society girl and a rather dull station-master, then gradually changes gears and becomes a tense thriller. Almost all the film is set within the confines of a small country railway station, which helps build up a suitably claustrophobic atmosphere. A good film, strongly directed with a fine sense of timing. Rating: 8.
TRUST (U.S.A.). D: Hal Hartley. Adrienne Shelly, Martin Donovan,
Merritt Nelson.
A new film by the director a THE UNBELIEVABLE TRUTH, this is a very black comedy on romantic and family relationships and the games-playing and manipulation that lie behind them. Hartley's direction is tight and his dialogue razor sharp. The story is full of unexpected twists and revelations that keep the audience guessing until the very end. A provocative, potent and very satisfying film. Rating: 8.
TURBULENCE (U.K.) D: Adam Kossoff. Kelly Marcell, Cathy Tyson,
Clive Arrindell.
The moral of this film is to beware of "message" movies. This is about a teenage girl being disturbed by memories of incest. Well-meaning, but slow-moving and painfully dreary. Rating: 4.
WAITING (Australia) D: Jackie McKimmie. Noni Hazelhurst,
Deborra-Lee Furness, Helen Jones.
WAITING is an ironic comedy that examines issues concerning motherhood, surrogacy, personal privacy and female friendships. At the center of the film is the artist Clare, very pregnant and expecting her baby very soon, around whom her closest friends gather, each of them seeming to have some personal stake in the coming birth. This is a delightful film which skillfully treads a line between caricature and seriousness. It was the closing film of the festival and marked a satisfying end to an extremely successful event. Rating: 8.
_SHORTS_ Of the shorts I saw the most impressive was a British short called "Body Beautiful," a sensitive and sensuous film about the cult of the body in our society and how those with damaged bodies learn to cope. Also enjoyable was a 55-minute Australian film called "The Last Crop," a cheerful adaptation of a short story by Elizabeth Jolley. There were also a number of excellent animated shorts at the festival, the best of which were:
-"Creature Comforts" (U.K.), a hilarious mock documentary interviewing animals at a zoo (winner of an academy award this year);
-"Door" (U.K.), a wonderfully bizarre story about doors and keys featuring an astonishingly inventive mixture of animation techniques.
-"From Flores" (Canada), a moving adaptation of a Canadian short story;
-"At One View" and "A Fortified City" (Netherlands), two very unusual, playful pixilated films about film and film theory.
.....Marcus Brazil..... .
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