New (& fairly recent) Oz films

Just watched The Proposition & I'm not quite sure what I think at this point. Apart from the fact that it is very Nick Cave, in mood & substance. There were quite a few violent moments but they were definitely in context. Yes, it was haunting. Very. And I loved that hard, Australian landscape! But what a godless place, Nick Cave depicts :Oz in the 1880s!:

The Proposition
By Philippa Hawker
February 22, 2006/the AGE

John Hillcoat's violent and visceral bushranger story is mythic and haunting .



Guy Pearce in The Proposition.


GenreCrime, Drama Run Time104 minutesRatedMA 15+CountryAustraliaYear2005DirectorJohn HillcoatActorsGuy Pearce, Richard Wilson, Ray Winstone, Emily Watson, David Wenham, David Gulpilil, Leah PurcellDVD Release22 February 2006DVD

Ratingstars-4

VIDEO: Trailer - The Proposition

Mythic, haunting and spare, John Hillcoat's The Proposition, from a script by Nick Cave, is a violent and visceral bushranger narrative, a Cain and Abel story, an Australian revenge tragedy with a bleak and unsettling moral vision.

Set in the 1880s, it explores and imagines a bloody story of Australian origins drenched in blood and brutality.

Cave's script revolves around a bargain struck by a police officer (Ray Winstone) and an outlaw (Guy Pearce) that involves trading a life for a life. This is the proposition of the title, and rather than put an end to violence, as the officer intends, it unleashes more.

The central performances, which include Emily Watson as the police officer's wife, and Danny Huston as a psychotic outlaw, are strikingly good and are played out within a carefully composed, grim yet beautiful landscape.

I found it on DVD today, Mr S. Like you, I'm disappointed. The plot seemed very thin, the acting often seemed stilted, and .........
Yep, the best thing about it was the Hawkesbury! I just couldn't get involved in the story, nor I find most of the characters convincing or engaging at all. THEN I read all these rave reviews online & wondered if I'd been watching the same film!
(Oh, & you're right: the "horizontal folk-dancing" didn't add much to it at all. Bummer! )

I saw The Caterpillar Wish today. There was a lot about it I really liked, like the visuals of the small town, a good cast (new-comer Victoria Thaine was very convincing, as was Susie Porter), the atmosphere of the film ... ... But, but .... there was so much going on, with so many different characters! There was probably the potential for a few different stories to be told in more depth, in separate films. There was just too much going on, with each separate story not explored in enough depth. And I was disappointed in the ending. It seemed very sudden, with the story rather too neatly & not quite convincingly resolved. A shame. It had a lot of really good things going for it.

triple j review:

Seventeen year-old Emily (Victoria Thaine) lives in a small country town and has a fairly close relationship with her mum Susan (Susie Porter), a woman who was a bit of a 'tearaway' in her youth, preferring to put her past well behind her. But a mystery is eating Emily alive. For reasons only known to her mum, Susan won't reveal the identity of Emily's dad. The key seems lie with Susan's parents (Emily's grandparents), but they have moved away and are no longer on talking terms with their daughter. This consumes and frustrates Emily who takes matters into her own hands by becoming her own detective. While trying to hook her mum up with local fisherman and widower Steve (Robert Mammone), Emily sets about taking secret photos of every adult male in town, trying to solve the riddle of who her dad might be. The results are complicated and compelling.

The Caterpillar Wish rises above the melodrama of its plot by being beautifully made and performed, with a lovely naturalistic style. Sandra Sciberras gets the most out of her cast who deliver very genuine and emotionally raw performances, especially the marvellous Susie Porter who's just amazing to watch in action. This may not be a perfect film - some of the story is kind of obvious, and so much more could have been made of the dramatic climax given just how much of the film is devoted to the big mystery behind the identity of Emily's father.

But The Caterpillar Wish is achingly authentic, surprisingly funny at times, and better; solid Australian drama.



http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/review/film/s1659151.htm

I can't wait to see Jindabyne! Directed by Ray Lawrence, who made just about my favourite Oz film, ever, Lantana. I've seen the shorts at the cinema & it looks wonderful. Here's a synopsis:

Jindabyne:

... "The story of a murder and a marriage. A powerful and original film about the things that haunt us. On an annual fishing trip, in isolated high country, Stewart, Carl, Rocco and Billy ('the Kid') find a girl's body in the river. It's too late in the day for them to hike back to the road and report their tragic find. Next morning, instead of making the long trek back, they spend the day fishing. Their decision to stay on at the river is a little mysterious - almost as if the place itself is exerting some kind of magic over them. When the men finally return home to Jindabyne, and report finding the body, all hell breaks loose. Their wives can't understand how they could have gone fishing with the dead girl right there in the water - she needed their help. The men are confused - the girl was already dead, there was nothing they could do for her. Stewart's wife Claire is the last to know. As details filter out, and Stewart resists talking about what has happened, she is unnerved. There is a callousness about all of this which disturbs her deeply. Stewart is not convinced that he has done anything wrong. Claire's faith in her relationship with her husband is shaken to the core. The fishermen, their wives and their children are suddenly haunted by their own bad spirits. As public opinion builds against the actions of the men, their certainty about themselves and the decision they made at the river is challenged. They cannot undo what they have done. Only Claire understands that something fundamental is not being addressed. She wants to understand and tries to make things right. In her determination Claire sets herself not only against her own family and friends but also those of the dead girl. Her marriage is taken to the brink and her peaceful life with Stewart and their young son hangs in the balance."

~

Jindabyne cast, credits, trailer, etc.:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0382765/combined

I'm really pleased with myself. I've just booked a couple of tickets to the opening night of Jindabyne at the Nova (Carlton) in a couple of weeks time. Ray Lawrence will be there to introduce his film. Now for the bad news: only a few seats left, so the best I could manage was row C. I should've been quicker off the mark!

I saw Ten Canoes on the weekend.

Have you seen it Msolga?


I really liked it, but was disappointed also.

I suppose with all that hype, it is hard to live up to all of it....


I really issed getting any real sense of the women, for instance.


It is very much a men's film, although much of the occasion for the film is about women....

No, I haven't seen Ten Canoes yet, Deb. Though the trailers have been very lively & interesting! It's definitely not a lack of interest, though. More a case of too many good films right now (not all Australian, of course!) & simply not enough time to see them all before they vanish off the big screens. And they vanish so quickly!!

Am looking forward to 10 canoes. I must say I am not a movie goer at all but will make an effort for this one.

Be VERY interested in your take, and that of Mumpad, if you will tell us about it!

Lots in that film.

you may be aiting a while D'lowan we do have a cinema in my small town at present but it will close sometime soon to be bulldozed for a supermarket.

Our star theatre hosted the world premiere of The Man From Snowy River.
Anyhow it would be months before we get it up here.

Which brings up an interesting point for Msolga, If you miss seeing a movie in "town" see if its still playing at a smaller country venue and make a weekend away.

Swanpool cinema is a good example This is a themed 1950s style cinema and kinda fun for one night. They show old glass advertising slides pre movie.

go to the link and click on "Admit one"

you may be aiting a while D'lowan we do have a cinema in my small town at present but it will close sometime soon to be bulldozed for a supermarket.

Our star theatre hosted the world premiere of The Man From Snowy River.
Anyhow it would be months before we get it up here.

Which brings up an interesting point for Msolga, If you miss seeing a movie in "town" see if its still playing at a smaller country venue and make a weekend away.

Swanpool cinema is a good example This is a themed 1950s style cinema and kinda fun for one night. They show old glass advertising slides pre movie.

go to the link and click on "Admit one"

http://www.swanpoolcinema.com.au/

What an excellent idea, dadpad!

And I just checked out what's showing at Swanpool. A terrific line-up! If that's your "local", you're lucky!

It reminds me <sigh> of when most reasonably sized country towns had their own "picture theatre". I grew up in the country & a visit to the pictures was what everyone did on Saturday night. Now, of course, most of those old cinemas are long gone. I gather Swanpool is somebody's labour of love? I hope they're managing to make ends meet!

I'm so disappointed. Ray Lawrence (director) cancelled his appearance at the (Melbourne) premier of Jindabyne last night. (In fact it looks as though he's cancelled all his promotional appearances for the film.) The folk at the Nova seemed quite embarrassed & gave us all complimentary tickets to another film they'll be showing soon & also offered to refund the cost of last night's viewing to anyone who wanted it. I decided to leave & come back for another viewing soon. Partly because I wasn't thrilled with row C (Too close to the screen, but the best seats available at the time I booked. I was willing to put up with this to hear Ray Lawrence's talk) & also because my friend A had come down with the flu & was unable to attend last night. So we'll get to see it soon.

Hmmm...I might see that tonight...struggling to cjoose between Tristram Shandy and Jindabyne and my exhaustion....

I'm hoping to see it some time this weekend, too, Deb. It'd be good to compare our impressions.

Yay! Just booked two (far better) seats for tonight!

Oy.

Got back a while ago.


Not the BEST film to see when I am bloody depressed for some reason unknown to me.

WHAT was that Native American looking funeral scene doing there? I mean, I KNOW what it was doing there....but why did they have to make it look like that? I know smoking and all that, but that wicker man looking thing....


Such bleached colour...


I liked it, quite a lot, actually...lovely imagery and symbolism..

I was wondering about that episode, too, Deb.

A & I stood in Lygon Street for half an hour after the film, comparing notes:

There seemed to be a lot of quite devastating reactions to death in the film. Not accepting it, reacting inappropriately to it, or plain not coping as a result of it. What then, is an appropriate reaction? I think the ceremony was supposed to be it, but it seemed oddly out of context with the rest of the story. I guess for the white folk from Jindabyne who attended, it brought about a sort of peace, acceptance or resolution to the agony they'd been living through? (Apart from the Chris Hayward character, of course. He wasn't changing one bit!)

Why did the men keep fishing after finding the body of the young woman?: my feeling was that they were so haunted & depressed by the one good (escapist?) ritual in their driven working lives that they couldn't function with this "intrusion" of the body. The fishing seemed an attempt to cope, to regain some control. They didn't seem to understand why they did it themselves.

What did you make of that very last scene? Where Chris Heyward swipes (& apparently kills) the wasp(?)?

I loved the landscape! The beautiful mysterious Australian landscape! Some scenes reminded me of Picnic at Hanging Rock. Wonderful sense of atmosphere!

Lots of excellent aspects to the film & also some that seemed rather confused, self-indulgent, or could have done with a good edit.

I liked it a lot, too, Deb, but in my opinion, not as good as Lantana. But then, that's one of my favourites. Hard act to follow.

I'm sorry you were feeling a bit down, Deb. The film wouldn't have helped much in that respect!