Not Rubens

Samson and Delilah is a Northern Territory movie that has made it to this year's 'Un Certain Regard' selection at Cannes. I am just coming out from a screening session and it left me with a strange feeling. It justly depicts the sad reality of the parrallel life many aboriginals unfortunately live in this country. There is no denying that despite the National Pardon the scars remain deep in this part of the world. If your view of Australia is one of kangaroos, koalas and exotism, do not forget that there is also another side that is not that visible to the average tourist but that is a reality you cannot escape from. The way this movie is filmed is simply exceptional and filled with sensitivity and realism. I can't promise you two hours of fun but you will certainly come out of this screening with a better understanding of the Aboriginal suffering. The actors are extraordinary and the music is unforgettable. I sincerely hope it can win a prize at Cannes in order to bring it to a wider audience. An absolute must see!

Mary and Max

I suppose you all have seen Wallace and Gromit. Let's cut a long story short... even if Mary and Max is an animation movie with characters made out of clay, it has nothing to do with Wallace and Gromit. This production is purely Australian, out of Melbourne, and is as dark as the film poster or the preview suggest. Very bleak indeed. I cannot say that there is much to laugh about. After viewing this movie, that I was expecting to be quite funny, I came out with a strange impression. I am still not sure if I liked it or not though.

Vas-y Jean-Claude!

That is a real Darwin institution and the sign that the dry season is now officially here to stay. We were pleased to enjoy the seasonal reopening of this great outdoor event called the 'Deckchair Cinema' and the movie played was a real surprise. JCVD. Who would have thought I would one day see a Jean-Claude Van Damme movie! But it was an hilarious and sometimes touching experience. Wether you are a fan of the actor or not I could only recommend this incredible piece of cinema. It has to be seen to be believed. The muscles from Brussels. Aware!

Flix in the Wet – The Final

Yesterday evening was the last screening of the indoor Flix in the Wet festival. Now that we are entering the ‘Dry’, the festival will be back to its original location, outdoors, screening movies for mobs of aficionados from the comfort of their deckchair under the Down Under starry sky. This last movie had to be one of the best I have seen coming out of Italy in years. Having shared an office with an Italian guy for over a year I was very familiar with the main actor, Antonio Albanese, but I was surprised to see this comedian (‘Chiu pilu per tutti’) playing a rather ‘dramatic’ role. Meanwhile, the main actress, Margherita Buy, was seen before in another excellent italian movie called ‘Le Fate Ignoranti’ (His Secret Life) and she turned out to be fantastically charming once more in this one.

Grow Your Own

Flix in the Wet continue to amaze me with their program. It has to be the first time ever that I have heard about only one movie out of the whole selection. The person(s) selecting the films went to great length to dig deep into the best of the recent world production without being too indie neither. Yesterday evening brought another fine couple of alternatively moving and funny hours. Grow Your Own was touching for its depiction of real suburban characters perturbed by the influence of foreigners on the little piece of England they call the Allotment somewhere around Liverpool. But you quickly realise they all have their own past and present personal stories, some of them very tragic, others quite touching. Not highly philosophical but not dumb neither. Just a sweet, genuine and warming comedy. Oh and I forgot to mention it was out on Warp films, the movie division of the ever groundbreaking Warp Records.

Flix in the Wet

Since the traditional outdoor and deckchair cinema cannot continue to screen its movies during the wet season and we will have to wait until the rains disappear entirely in April, they take the opportunity of slow Mondays to rent a screening room within the Darwin Cinema to run private (but public) sessions. Yesterday I went to see the impressive anime entitled 'Waltz With Bashir' which is an obsolute must see. The unexpected insertion of real footage from the Sabra and Chatillah massacre right before the closing edits is a moment difficult to digest but leaves you with food for thought for hours and days and weeks.

Australia

We finally made it to Australia - The Movie! It has been out for a few weeks now and I had those free tickets that were given as a freebie in R.M. Williams but I was waiting for the opportunity. And when it arose, I learnt while at the ticket counter, that the free tickets were only valid at Hoyst cinemas and there are none in Darwin! Ah! Ah! Irony! Anyway, Baz Luhrmann's vision of Australia is a bit distorted by strange filming techniques and colours but I was still thrilled on a few occasions by all the references to Darwin. Actually what touched me the most were the two sentences about the Aboriginal rights and Kevin Rudd's National Pardon at the end of the 2 hours 30 minutes long movie. It will certainly be a bit lost in translation when it is out in France on the 24th of December since I do not really see how they can translate those very Australian 'bloody' expressions and accents. I was expecting to complain the movie would be inundated with Australian cliches but in the end I found it was lacking them!

Burn After Reading

Definitely not the best movie ever made and definitely not usually my cup of tea but I have to admit I had a pleasant time watching this new flick from the Coen brothers (O' Brother, Big Lebowski, Fargo, Barton Fink, etc...). It is good to have at least a few directors that do not necessarily fit in your typical Hollywood mould. It is also good to see this great skewer of actors playing offbeat roles. I would certainly recommend this movie if you want to spend a quality popcorn hour and a half (but do not overdose on the popcorns though).

And now for something completely different...

I am only using the famous Monthy Python quote to describe this incredible project called "Tokyo!". I had the opportunity to see it for the first time today and it is at the image of this incredible city: gritty, unique, different, difficult to describe and better experienced. It is composed of three shorts directed by the ever offbeat Michel Gondry (Interior Design) a simple and normal story inspired from a comics that suddenly goes awry, the too rare Leo Carax (Merde) starring the extraordinary Denis Lavant in a role that could not suit him better and an insight on one of the many japanese phenomenons (in that case, the hikikomori) as seen by Joon-Ho Boon (Shaking Tokyo).

Black Balloon (at Nova Cinema)

It is interesting how small things can turn a little movie into a great one. I just saw the Australian flick called ‘Black Balloon’ and it was very funny and heart-warming. A coming of age story about fitting in, discovering teenage love and accepting your family. The choice of actors, the choice of filming angles, the set-up, everything made this movie extremely touching. The whole project could also have turned sour because of the subject – the main character being autistic – but you can’t keep bearing a smile all through (to the exception of a few tears here and there). Highly recommended.

The Long March

I like to take the opportunity of living in the area to try and learn a bit about the Asian history. When I saw advertised the screening of a movie about the Red Army long march I did not hesitate and immediately booked my tickets. I did not regret it. The Long March was a huge military retreat undertaken by the Red Armies of the Communist Party of China, the forerunner of the People's Liberation Army, to evade the pursuit of the Kuomintang army. It helped Mao Zedong rise to power. It was very emotional to be hearing all these women recounting their personal stories and souvenirs about that event. It is also very important to record / capture those memories before it is too late. Touching.

The movie was screened at the Picturehouse in the Cathay Cineplex. Interestingly, The Cathay was Singapore first skyscraper when it opened in 1939 and the tallest in Southeast Asia for a while but also the first airconditioned cinema. It has now been entirely redone in 2003 and reopened in 2006. While most of the building is now a modern construction the facade remains and is protected under Singapore's heritage decree.