Sydney Film Festival 2017 - Film Review - The Other Side of Hope

Wikstrom (Sakari Kuosmanen) with his staff - The Other Side of Hope

Finnish director Aki Kaurismaki is the master of deadpan drollery and the art of the ridiculous which somehow delivers a finely balanced comedy and no more so than with The Other Side of Hope which he also wrote and produced. The film has an element of absurdism but never falls into being either cynical or overly sentimental while providing a sensitive look at the controversial topic of asylum seekers from the Middle East.

The film's plot essentially has two related stories which intersect providing both the essential drama and the humane comedy. Wikstrom (Sakari Kuosmanen), a travelling shirt salesman decides to cash-in his business after his marriage falls apart and after a winning streak in a local casino, buys a local restaurant complete with its existing staff.  While taking out the garbage one night he runs across Khaled (Sherwan Haji) a young mechanic from Syria who has arrived in Finland almost by chance after stowing aboard a coal ship. Khaled had sought asylum in Finland but having been unsuccessful managed to escape from the refugee reception centre just prior to his deportation back to Syria. Wikstrom offers him a job working in the restaurant as he and the staff look at new themes to entice more patronage. Their efforts at masquerading as a Japanese restaurant serving sushi are one of the more hilarious moments in the film.

This is a pleasant enough film touching on an emotive social issue but probably more of a DVD than cinema experience.

Sydney Film Festival 2017 - Film Review - I Am Not Your Negro

James Baldwin - I Am Not Your Negro

Raoul Peck's documentary takes a different look at the era of the Civil Rights movement  in the United States and three of its key figures, Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr through the eyes of writer, poet, playwright  James Baldwin and his unfinished manuscript, Remember this House. Baldwin knew all three men and had himself returned to the US in 1957 from France where he had been living when the civil rights legislation was being debated in Congress. He later returned to France in 1970 remaining there writing until his death in 1987.

The film itself is anchored in Baldwin's personal reminiscences of the civil rights leaders, his own experiences including archival footage of interviews and his observations and analysis of American history. Baldwin takes a more layered and in-depth examination of race relations in the United States examining in particular the importance of economic standing and poverty as major factor of influence.
The film was produced with the assistance of the Baldwin estate and attracted a nomination for Best Documentary Feature at the 89th Academy Awards.

VERDICT
Rating out of 10	7
DVD or download ?	Download
Worth a cinema ticket ?	No
Collectible Yes or No	No

Sydney Film Festival 2017 - Film Review - Madame

(Lto R) Rossy de Palma and Toni Collete  - Madame

Toni Collete fans will no doubt enjoy this comedy-drama film directed by Amanda Sthers. Set in Paris, an American couple Anne, (Toni Collette) and Bob (Harvey Keitel) host a dinner party inviting ten of their friends. When their writer son Bob, unexpectedly arrives, Anne is disarray as it means there will be 13 people at the table and being superstitious, she invites her maid, Maria, to attend in the guise of being a wealthy Spanish friend . Bob however mischievously interferes in order to disrupt their plans and create a potential story for his writing. He sets up a family friend and antique dealer, David, with Maria on the basis that she is a woman of wealth setting the scene for a love affair between the two. This is not a fairy-tale with a happy ending however and it all falls apart when Maria's true identity is revealed.

This is a dark comedy and drama story with elements of emotional sleeve tugging but nonetheless, its easy viewing. Toni Collete and Harvey Keitel are well cast as Anne and Bob however the real star is Rossy de Palma. Its also a film for those who also love Paris.

Sydney Film Festival - Film Review - The Beguiled

The Beguiled

Sophia Coppola's latest film, The Beguiled has attracted considerable attention, no less for the subject matter than for the well known cast which includes Nicole Kidman, Kirsten Dunst, Elle Fanning and Colin Farrell. The film is based on the novel by Thomas P Cullinan, written in 1966 and described as being Southern Gothic in genre. Coppola's film is something of a remake as this story has already been placed on the big screen in a 1971 film starring Clint Eastwood with the same title. Coppola had viewed the 1971 film and felt she could approach the story from another perspective.

The storyline is set three years into the American Civil War and a wounded Union soldier (Colin Farrell) lost behind Confederate lines in Virginia is found and given shelter in a secluded girls college. The girl's school is run by Ms Martha Farnsworth (Nicole Kidman) assisted by Edwina (Kirsten Dunst). The rest of the film focuses on the sexual and social tension amongst all of  the young women at the school as they seek to foster attention from the Union soldier. In some respects they are also caught in an internal conflict for, as an enemy combatant, they are meant to hand him over to Confederate army patrols. The rivalries between the young women and girls is the focus for Coppola as she has sought to portray the story from a female rather than male perspective.  In a somewhat predictable end game the soldier becomes a liability when he starts to engage in more than flirtations with the women, ending with his quiet assassination by poison.

As producer, director and screenwriter for this film, Sophia Coppola has not quite succeeded in  reaching the emotional levels that such a story would suggest. Her characters are mainly wooden, one dimensional and artificial. This film certainly is a lesser result than her other clever work such as Lost in Translation. The cinematography captures the story setting perfectly with a grand Southern mansion, reminiscent of the cotton plantations, surrounded by forest and enveloped by  mist. Verdict: this is a DVD rather than cinema ticket film.

VERDICT
Rating out of 10	6.5
DVD or download ?	Yes
Worth a cinema ticket ?	No
Collectible Yes or No	No

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.