Cactus (Director: Jasmine Yuen Carrucan): Questions abound in this low-budget road movie that takes place in the Australian outback. John Kelly (Travis McMahon) is in desperate need of some money so he takes a job which involves the kidnapping of a professional gambler, Eli Jones (David Lyons). John must deliver Eli to someone in the middle of the outback by following meticulous directions and instructions. Along the way a policeman (Bryan Bell) becomes involved and things get more confusing.
Very little back story is revealed which makes the film exciting yet frustrating. By the end of this journey your patience may wear thin. Like an episode of the TV show Lost, you’ll have more questions than answers.
Cactus is Carrucan’s first outing as a writer and director. With little to no budget, she has made a decent film. It’s beautifully shot and the acting is competent. Unfortunately she left me in the outback without a map and I’m still trying to figure out why the film is called Cactus.
Official site of the film
(5/10)
Tagged as:
australia,
road-movie
Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation! (Director: Mark Hartley): This is a fast-paced documentary about Australia’s “Ozploitation” films of the ‘70s and early ‘80s. It’s a celebration of the forgotten action movies, sex comedies and horror films that could never have been made in Hollywood.
Interviews with Quentin Tarantino, Dennis Hopper and Jamie Lee Curtis will pique the curiosity of North American audiences. An endless number of clips accompany the interviews. After 90 minutes you’ll understand why films such as Saw, Wolf Creek and even Death Proof are inspired by some of the Ozploitation films.
The action movies from this era were unbelievable in their quest for realism. There are tales of live ammunition being fired at actors. Dangerous high speed stunts often resulted in broken bones and sometimes even death. High speed automobile chases were routinely filmed without permits on open streets.
In The Man From Hong Kong George Lazenby was set on fire because a stunt double wouldn’t look as convincing. Of course, Lazenby was burned performing this stunt and he became so angry that he punched the director.
While making the horror film Thirst, Henry Silva refused to hang out of real helicopter. The director found a crane and told Silva that they would suspend him only a few feet off the ground and fake the shot. Once filming started the crane was raised 70 feet into the air with Silva hanging on for dear life.
If you love film then I think you’ll find this documentary to be very entertaining. The opening title sequence and production values are top notch and you’ll be amazed at some of the stories that come out of the interviews.
Official site of the film
(8/10)
Tagged as:
australia,
exploitation
Three Blind Mice (Director: Matthew Newton): Three naval officers go on a 24-hour shore-leave in Sydney. Before they ship out for Iraq they plan to have a night on the town. There’s an uneasy tension in each of the officers that grows as the night wears on and the film peels back the layers of their characters. By the end of the night we have a much different understanding of these men and their friendship.
In addition to writing and directing, Matthew Newton plays Harry, one of the three sailors. He’s a chatty, charming version of Vince Vaughn and a lot of fun to watch. The writing is snappy and all of the performances are quite believable.
The film is low-budget and reminded me a lot of Swingers. Forget the fancy crane shots, special effects and sweeping score, this film is all dialogue. So if you enjoy films such as Smoke that rely heavily on writing then you’ll appreciate what Three Blind Mice has to offer from Down Under.
Three Blind Mice screened at TIFF’08 but I was unable to see it then. At the time of this review it still hasn’t found a distributor so I feel lucky to have seen it at OzFlix. If you’re in Scotland you can screen Three Blind Mice on February 16 at the Glasgow Film Festival.
(6/10)
Tagged as:
australia
Sorry for the short notice, but there are two fine film festivals running this weekend, each featuring the cinema of one country.
The 2nd annual Toronto Romanian Film Festival (romaniancinemaNOW) is taking place from tonight through Sunday with screenings at the Bloor Cinema and Innis Town Hall. The programme includes a day of documentary shorts and features co-sponsored by Hot Docs. Tickets at the door are $15 for adults and $10 for students.
And if Australia is more your thing, OzFlix features a full programme of shorts and feature films and runs through Monday, with screenings at the Royal Cinema and the Royal Ontario Museum. Tickets are $10 except the opening night screening (The Black Balloon) at the Royal, which is $20, but includes admission to the opening reception at Bar Italia.
Unfortunately, I’m working on something film-related this weekend which I can’t talk about, so I won’t be able to enjoy any of these, but TSS correspondent Jay Kerr will be attending OzFlix and promises some reviews, so check back early next week.
Tagged as:
australia,
romania
Letters to Ali (Australia, director Clara Law): No, this isn’t about Muhammad Ali. It’s the story of a 15-year old Afghan boy who’s seeking asylum in Australia, and about the Australian family who befriend him. Australia is the only “Western” country that incarcerates all refugee claimants in remote camps, forbidding them to work or go to school until their cases are decided, which often takes years. The filmmaker befriended a remarkable family who had been writing to “Ali” (a pseudonym) for more than 18 months. They had even driven 12,000 km round-trip to visit him. When they decide to visit him a second time, the filmmaker and her cameraman/husband tag along, and this film is the result.
Although she draws attention to a particularly shameful policy, the film is weakened in my opinion by a few things. Since it was filmed on digital video, some of the handheld camera work left me nauseated. There were far too many shots of the admittedly-gorgeous Australian landscape shot from the bouncing vehicle on the unpaved road. Related to this, the film was simply too long and felt too slow-paced. Another issue was that the first ten minutes promise a much more personal film than is ultimately delivered. We hear about the filmmaker’s own experience as a recent immigrant from Hong Kong, but then she kind of fades into the background for much of the rest of the film. “Ali” is described throughout the film and some of his words are used on the innovative captions the film uses instead of voiceover narration, but since filming inside the detention centre wasn’t permitted, there is precious little footage of the boy himself. When, near the end of the film, “Ali” is allowed some degree of freedom outside the camp, we do see him enjoying himself with his new adoptive family, but due to concerns about jeopardizing his refugee case, he’s entirely blurred out, which was at first odd and then just annoying. Not only can’t we see his face, but we don’t know his real name, nor have we heard his voice. We know just enough about him to sympathize, but no more. The fear that has motivated Australia’s repressive policy has also infected the filmmakers and the lawyers representing “Ali,” leaving him almost as faceless as the Australian government would like him to be. As of this screening, his case is still unresolved. He may be sent back to troubled Afghanistan at any time. Let’s hope this film can make a difference, not just for “Ali”, but for the thousands of refugee claimants still imprisoned in Australia.
Film’s Web Site: www.letterstoali.com
(7/10)
Tagged as:
afghanistan,
australia
