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Reviews
Spencer (2020)
Beautifully directed.
This is the second film I have seen by this director, the first being iSOLATE, which was brilliant, so I was hoping that this wouldn't disappoint, and it didn't.
Spencer is beautifully shot, obviously on a low budget but, it doesn't suffer from this at all, in fact, it is enhanced by the simple and beautiful aesthetic. The music score is superb, and the Melbourne locations plays a big role, especially for someone who lives there and has lived through the covid lockdowns and all that came along with that. Without going into spoilers, Spencer is a simple love story, but one that is told though the eyes of a bisexual man, and not a bisexual (LGBT) man that is struggling with his identity (which was very refreshing) but just a young man navigating the difficulties of relationships.
All the roles are well cast and performed, particularly the lead Adam Noviello, but the two standouts for me were Cleonie Morgan-Wootton in the role of Margret, and Natasha Maymon in the role of Ruby, these two ladies are truly magnificent on a global scale.
This movie is equal parts joy, and sadness, and I loved it.
Highly recommended.
Isolate (2012)
Captivatingly Haunting
Isolate is mesmerising. The landscape in the film is exquisite - a really stunningly captured depiction of the Australian countryside - both beautiful, then at times, frighteningly isolating.
It is the story of a woman who is searching for her dad. It seems straightforward. We think he has perhaps killed himself and there are story events that suggests that has happened, but without wanting to create the need for a spoiler alert, the narrative is much more complicated than it first appears.
The film is a slow burn drama, but it is far more menacing than that. At times it is really unnerving. The landscape, beautiful by day, becomes threatening at night as the protagonist, who is alone, is confronted with having to deal with what might be in the darkness and what might be in the blackness of her thoughts.
It reminds me of a certain style of Italian films of the last century, which deal with the search for something or someone lost, where we think we are watching a particular narrative, but are taken on a journey unexpected.
In a way, the protagonist has a child-like innocence to her. She holds strong to complex grey-scale issues with the vehemence of black and white simplicity, and this leads to her stance being severely tested in the film. This difficult and painful dichotomy is portrayed with absolute honesty by the lead actress and it is the sincerity of her performance that elevates this film beyond the humble and simple, to the sublime.
Overall, there's something very familiar and beautiful about this style of storytelling, it taps into a tradition of storytelling gone by, while creating a new Australian filmmaking perspective.
It is a gut-wrenching film. It left me feeling so extraordinarily sad for all the people involved.
I think it's really something worth watching – a unique stance, not something I would think of as a typically Australian film.
Toomelah (2011)
Tragically Hopeful
As demonstrated with his first feature Beneath Clouds, Ivan Sen is an exceptional filmmaker and Toomelah is another illustration of how complex and entrancing a seemingly simple story of his telling can be.
Daniel, a quiet spoken Aboriginal boy is on a meandering quest that sees him ditching school, getting drawn into a stoush over a girl, sent on errands for mum to score a stick or show aunty (a silent returned-war-vet like, stolen generation victim) round town. His biggest test ultimately comes, however, when he wanders into the company of local drug-dealer, Linden.
When word of this gets around, his elders attempt intervention, but as their actions, with alcohol dependence (dad), drug-use (mum) shows, navigating the "right" path proves difficult. Rather than return to school, Daniel's involvement with Linden and co. evolves from silent but curious witness to informing, and eventually escalating, the turn of narrative events when ex-con, Bruce, returns to town and challenges Linden's local drug-distribution business.
What's immediately arresting about Toomelah, is that while it is Australian, set on an Aboriginal mission in northern NSW and in English, it is (necessarily) sub-titled and as such watching it, is as if watching a foreign film.
The young protagonist played by Daniel Connors is captivating on screen and continues in a long line of similarly extremely watchable child-led journeys (such as Edmund in Rossellini's Germany Year Zero and Hushpuppy in Beast of the Southern Wild) that all tackle with innocence lost. In the instance of Toomelah, informed by issues Daniel's elders, and those many other indigenous people, face: lost language, loss of place, substance abuse, incarceration; the hero's journey is navigating through these obstacles. As a result, the narrative is at times sad, dangerous, and penultimately tragic, but the film is hopeful upon conclusion and ultimately, for my money, a must watch.
Snowtown (2011)
Dark and Moody
Struck by the poster and trailer preceding its release, I was compelled to watch this film. And while it is a hard watch, particularly in light of the true events on which it's based, I was immensely taken by the deft hand with which I thought it was made.
It captures a microcosm of poverty-stricken/skewed domestic life that is at once repulsive and made fascinating by the nature in which the characters have been scripted, portrayed and captured on screen.
It is a Monster of sorts, and other films besides, where the real events inform the telling, but where no prior knowledge of the lead characters' crime is necessary for the impact of the story on screen to be felt.
From the quiet compliant younger boy to his violent and vile mentor, and some of the suburban cameos writ large, these characters share the Australian accent and landscape, but it is only through the camera lens that their world, is possible to attempt to fathom. We are a third party in the room, present but not of the action, and with some of the more graphic scenes, even given permission to look away, as the camera deflects focus from the gore at hand.
This is one of two films released at around a similar time with similar themes, a window into Australian suburbia – the other, Animal Kingdom – an operatic version of domestic crime-driven mayhem, celebrated internationally and rightfully catapulting some of its stars, such as Ben Mendelsohn, into long-awaited international careers. While Snowtown does not herald the bigger name Aussie actors, both films share narrative notes, leading an impressionable lead male teen down a destructive dark path of familial influence, with as much aplomb.
South Solitary (2010)
Quietly enjoyable.
If you don't mind watching a film populated with flawed but easy to identify with characters, then I urge you to check out South Solitary. I enjoyed this film very much, particularly the performance of Miranda Otto as Meredith, as it would be very easy to find this character unlikeable if it had not been handled as beautifully and sympathetically as Miranda does. It was also interesting to see the inner workings of an operational light house from that period as I new very little of the life of a light house keeper going into the screening. The sound design is also brilliantly weaved throughout helping to add a lot of emotion within the probably smallish budget. I found South Solitary both wryly funny and human in just the right proportion and for the right audience it will be a pleasant surprise.
Somersault (2004)
Beautifully realised dreamscape.
Somersault would have to be one of the most feminine films I can remember viewing and a refreshing change from all the plot and logic heavy films that seem to dominate the cinema. Abbie Cornish and the director Cate Shortland have created a wonderful and sympathetic, if not a little frustrating character in Heidi, and watching her naive and romantic meanderings was an emotional treat.
All the technical elements worked for me but in particular the score by Decoder Ring as it played within the emotional mood with a perfect harmony. Anyone who would like to spend some time inside the mind and mood of a confused and volatile young woman should take a look at this simple but beautiful film.
Noise (2007)
Greater than the sum of its parts
This is a small film, it could very well have been quality television in the vein of "The Surgeon" or "Blue Murder" as opposed to a cinematic piece as I viewed it (Dendy Newtown). The technical aspects - cinematography, score, sound design, production design etc... are all at a high level and what we (Australians), have come to expect from a film of this genre and budget , but no more. The performances are across the board solid, dry and accessible, and it is a pleasant change to see some newish faces as opposed to the usual subjects.. The script/story is nothing particularly outstanding or original and this style of social comment/genre pic subject matter has been covered by many and various other films over the past years.
But! And this is a big but. In the hands of this filmmaker, writer/director Matthew Saville, all these ingredients mold and mesh into something that elevates every element to serve a singular and defining purpose, that purpose being the film in its entirety, its meanings and commentary that lie in the cracks of all these artists' work and their complementary and beautifully orchestrated synergy .
Having seen the film twice in as many days; Noise is a brilliant film and I highly recommend it to anyone who has a love of silent cinematic exploration.