Sydney Film Festival 2017 - Film Review - Happy End

The Laurent family in Happy End

Austrian film director and screenwriter, Michael Haneke is the master of observing the human condition which has made him a favourite of Cannes with Amour and The White Ribbon. He continues his exploration of a disturbed personal world with the wealthy Laurent family living in Calais in the somewhat aptly titled Happy End.

The Laurents are a relatively wealthy family with three generations living under the one roof (although its a palatial compound with domestic servants to tend to their needs). Their construction company is in financial difficulties however and  the chief executive designate in the youngest generation of the family feels he is unable to do the job.  The thin veneer peels back in the story to reveal each character has his/her own personal difficulties with suicide, illicit affairs, online bullying being a cross section of the deep problems besetting the family.

Haneke revels in the intricacies of dialogue and the French way of life including strategically placed ironic humour - the grandfather's failing memory and repeated, unsuccessful attempts at suicide are more black humour than pathos. A strong cast with Isabelle Hubbert, Jean-Louis Trintignant and Mathieu Kassovitz underpin the film. This is masterful film-making by a consummate professional.

Sydney Film Festival 2017 - Film Review - Blue the film

Marine turtle caught in abandoned fishing net - Blue

Director and screenwriter, Karina Holden has spent two years creating a high visual impact documentary on the severe threats to the oceans through climate change, overfishing, waste, pollution and misuse. The impacts are stark and confronting even if, for the most part, much of the information is already well known. Blue graphically portrays the effects through the eyes of several people: marine biologist Lucas Handley, shark activist Madison Stewart, Far North Queensland ranger Philip Mango, seabird specialist Dr Jennifer Lavers, sustainability promoter Tim Silverwood, Greenpeace South East Asia's Mark Dia and long-time ocean campaigner Valerie Taylor.Each of these people brings their own narrative and explore the critical issues on location where they are engaged.

This is a high production values film best seen on the large cinema screen. Although somewhat 'preachy' and occasionally too misty and lyrical, the film captures the essential information and creates a strong and urgent call to action. At just 70 minutes duration, it's a perfect timeframe.

Click here: Link to Blue the film

Plastic washed ashore - Blue

Sydney Film Festival 2017 - Film Review - My Year with Helen

Administrator of the UN Development Programme, Helen Clark

The 2016 campaign by the former Prime Minister of New Zealand and Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, Helen Clark, to be the next UN Secretary-General is the subject of this insightful documentary by Gaylene Preston.  Over its 72 year history, there have been eight Secretaries-General of the United Nations, yet none have been a woman, nor has the appointment process been public. In 2016, this situation changed and candidates were invited to stand for the role, nominated by member states. At the same time, there was a concerted effort made by a number of related groups to campaign for a woman to be appointed to the top position. Despite being the favoured candidate by UN staff, the media and many member nations of the General Assembly, it became increasingly obvious that Clark had limited traction with the most powerful body of the United Nations, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. The Security Council in effect control the appointment of Secretary-General and can exercise their veto power to block any candidate before the vote is ever taken by the General Assembly.

As Preston's documentary demonstrates, the power of the five is absolute and a number of straw polls were taken of the Security Council members prior to the final decision being made. Clark consistently was placed in the middle of the field of the dozen candidates and no women were in the top rated positions. The end result was that the United States, China and France vetoed Clark's candidacy while Russia and the United Kingdom were neutral which would allow her candidacy to proceed. The winner was the former Prime Minister of Portugal and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees from June 2005 to December 2015, António Guterres. Was Clark the victim of a male dominated institution or very likely was she possibly too good a candidate given her successful reforms of the UN Development program and the risk she would modernise the UN posing a challenge to the power of the five permanent members ? Of note, the US Ambassador to the UN was a woman and yet the US did not vote for Clark. This documentary is a very good low key study of the politics of the UN and the shadow boxing which does occur in the world of diplomacy.

Sydney Film Festival 2017 - Film Review - Australia Day

Jenny Wu and Bryan Brown - Australia Day

Touted as having 'much to say about the present state and potential future of the nation', Australia Day flails around helplessly due to being fragmented, unstructured and somewhat muddled with a narrative with no core focus. Director Kriv Stenders and screenwriter Stephen M Irwin have certainly delivered  a film which has much movement and action - all the characters seems to spend most of their time running - down suburban streets, alleyways, across bridges, out of police stations, hospitals, warehouses and so it goes.

The film is intended to have a series of intertwined stories which touch on a range of social issues, possibly. But just when the viewer may be forgiven for seeing what appears to be some form of a story, it dissipates like a mirage. The intertwined stories, so termed, involve various characters - an Aboriginal girl on the run after a fatal vehicle accident (but it could be an issue of domestic violence and/or murder), an escaped sex slave running to a bankrupt farmer who in turn is planning to commit suicide at a media conference, some Anglo Australian youth assaulting a Muslim youth whom was dating one of their sisters. This young man's brother then assaults the same Anglo youth and so on. Yet nothing is this film actually travels anywhere. 

The production values are high with excellent photography, aerial shots, camera angles supported by a highly effective music score and sound. The acting however is very so so. Bryan Brown (as the farmer) is, as usual, only acting as Bryan Brown with the other cast members appearing to spend most of their time shouting or screaming at each other. If this is the social observation which the film makers wish to convey about modern Australia, it's not very convincing.

Sydney Film Festival 2017 - Film Review - The Party

Patricia Clarkson and Bruno Ganz - The Party

A fancy dinner party which goes horribly wrong is a familiar theme, but it is extremely well executed in this black comedy film by director and screenwriter Sally Potter. With an exceptional, experienced cast of Patricia Clarkson, Cillian Murphy, Timothy Spall, Cherry Jones, Kristin Scott Thomas and Bruno Ganz there are a range of cringe-worthy, farcical moments which will leave the viewer chuckling non stop throughout. Filmed in monochrome and at only 71 minutes, this is a well-paced story with various  revelations coming to light in perfect timing in the dinner party from hell.

The storyline centres on career politician, Janet (Kristin Scott Thomas) who has just been elevated to being a Government Cabinet Minister (the Minister for Health as it transpires). Her dreadful dinner guests arrive including Janet's super cynical best friend April (Patricia Clarkson) to help her celebrate but events soon travel downward as each guest shows they conceal many secrets. Janet's husband, Bill reveals he is terminally ill and thereafter announces he is leaving Janet for another woman, being the estranged wife of one of the other guests. Martha (Cherry Jones) and Jinny (Emily Mortimer) a lesbian couple announce they are expecting triplets (all boys) but Martha has reservations. April drops one liner observations on all the disclosures which further scandalise the proceedings.

This is a film for baby boomers and Generation X rather than Millenials with many references to the political perspectives of older age groups and new age hippies. The film could easily be transferred to a live on-stage theatre production but is equally successful on screen.

Sydney Film Festival 2017 - Film Review - The Untamed

Veronica (Simone Bucio) and Alejandra (Ruth Ramos) in The Untamed

Mexican film director and producer Amat Escalante, won a Venice Silver Lion as best director for this film which he describes as a meld of social realism and erotic science fiction. The film contains equal measure of domestic violence and unworldly lust. Escalante is no Peter Greenaway (The Pillow Book, Prospero's Books) hence his eroticism is closer to soft edge porn than sensuality. The film is also one of the twelve in the official competition at the Sydney Film Festival.

The storyline follows mother-of-two, Alejandra who endures a joyless marriage with her  bogan husband, Angel. Unbeknown to her, Angel is also having an affair with her brother who works in a hospital. Into  her life comes the mysterious Veronica who, having been injured by an unknown animal, is treated by her brother in hospital and is attracted to him. The two women form a closer friendship following a violent assault by an unknown force on Alejandra's brother, the arrest of Angel and the breakdown of the marriage. Veronica introduces Alejandra to her source of eroticism - an alien lifeform living in a cottage in the woods with a scientist. The lifeform is capable of both extreme pleasure and pain and both women enjoy sexual pleasures with the alien (which resembles a large octopus with roving tentacles). 

There are various elements of gratuitous nudity and sex throughout the film including a non too subtle scene involving Angel attempting to urinate while drunk. The principal photography and atmospherics are contextual but often ineffectual and appear overtly contrived. The acting of the cast is acceptable but not exceptional with most attention focused on the two female lead. Overall this film is more for the voyeur.

64th Sydney Film Festival 7-18 June 2017

The 64th Sydney Film Festival has opened with 11 days of screenings (excluding the Opening Night) over 9 venues with films from across the world and many drawn from the other key film festivals of Venice, Cannes, Berlin, Toronto and Sundance. This year there are 12 films submitted for the official competition which is now in its tenth year and provides a cash prize of $60,000. In most years, the selection of the winner by the jury has left most of the audience and other festival attendees more than a little mystified: The award is meant to recognise a film as being 'audacious, cutting-edge and courageous' however some winners have been productions where it's difficult to deduce where this criteria can be applied. It remains to be seen whether the 2017 festival is any different.