TV Review: The Tree

When the bough breaks

Sat, June 1. SBS 9.30pm (AEST)

What’s it all about? A young girl believes her late father talks to her through the branches of a giant tree.

The Verdict: Despite an unusual premise, The Tree is thoughtful, quite magical and charming.

4.0/5.0 from me, Margaret.

This charming if unusual Australian French co-production is another in Australia’s cannon of films depicting grief.

Yet, adapted from the novel Our Father Who Art in the Tree by Judy Pascoe, it’s just as much about life, filled with both sunny and somber moments.

After the sudden death of her husband Peter (Aden Young, Mao’s Last Dancer) Dawn (French import Charlotte Gainsbourg, Antichrist) is immobilised by grief, struggling to care for her four children including the wise-beyond-her-years Simone (Morgana Davies, The Hunter).

"A ruminative, universal exploration of grief and the life force that can flow from it."

Inside their rural Queensland house time stands still as domestic mess accrues and flowers of sympathy whither. But outside, something mystical is at play. Simone believes her father watches over them,  that she can hear him whispering through the branches of a giant Moreton Bay Fig tree.

 

I hear dead people



But Dawn is unsure what to believe. Slowly emerging from her cocoon of grief, she begins a romance with local plumber George (Marton Csokas, The Debt) much to the indignation of Simone and the tree simultaneously flourishes, its roots and branches pervading the house.

No doubt a challenge for The Tree’s makers is how to have the audience suspend disbelief and engage with this eponymous, quaint centerpiece of the story as a nurturing if invasive force of nature, a conduit for healing and change. The production’s attention to detail helps no end; from the evocative sound design of screeching inhabitant bats to the luminous cinematography of bull ants scampering up the tree’s branches, amongst the rustic country of Boonah, Queensland.

That’s matched by uniformly impressive performances. Davies is the beating heart of the film, a natural performer (she was only seven at the time of filming) with a wealth of spirit. Gainsbourg is emotionally affecting while Young is a warm presence in his small but crucial role.

Dawn of the dead

French writer/director Julie Bertuccelli (Since Otar Left) unquestionably brings an intimate understanding of grief and single motherhood having lost her husband in 2006. But as she says, The Tree becomes more about living than death. It contrasts Dawn’s initial stricken state with the determined positivity of Simone.  “You have a choice to be happy or sad,” Simone says. “And I chose to be happy.”

There is an earthy sense of humour too amongst the sadness and charming  moments of childhood joy; from riding in the back of a ute wind blowing in hair  to sucking on ice blocks on a sticky day.

The Tree is a ponderous film and may not be to everyone’s taste but it avoids the ‘kitchen sink drama’ tag through its original premise. It’s a ruminative, universal exploration of grief and the life force that can flow from it.

Quite literally, life taking over.

First published on Trespass Magazine, September 2010.

Movie News: The Great Gatsby

Success is sweet revenge for Baz



Baz mimes his desire to put the critics' cajones in a vice 

If success is the best revenge then Baz Luhrmann’s is proving particularly sweet.

Despite some scathing reviews, his adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby has well exceeded expectations raking it in at the international box office; it’s already made $130 million of its $180 million budget back since its release, first in the US on May 10 and has given the likes of Star Trek: Into Darkness and Iron Man 3 some stiff competition.

Who’d have thought a lavish 3D adaptation of an American literary classic could do that hey Baz?

"We’ve got a bona fide literary blockbuster on our hands," Luhrmann told news.com.au today with good reason to crow after the cutting critiques.

"When does that happen?

“It ain't over till it's over, but the numbers are way above expectations."

"It was an extraordinarily big gamble.”

News.com.au reports that Gatsby is Lurhmann’s most successful film released in the US to date having taken $90 million already – Moulin Rouge is his second, it made $57 million stateside.

"I could not be happier......No one saw it coming. Everyone said we were dead. Everyone said we would flop."

In Cannes where Gatsby opened the world's premier film festival in the coveted opening slot last week, Luhrmann took a pragmatic approach to the vicious criticism his films attract.

"The critical fallout is pretty much identical for all my films," he told The Guardian. "It's not just mild disappointment. It's like I've committed a violent, heinous crime against a personal family member."



Lurhmann with his Gatsby cast on the Croisette in Cannes

 And he revealed to The Sydney Morning Herald that the barbs and arrows do hurt when you’re taking a massive gamble like Gatsby.

"I worried for the life of the film," Lurhmann said. "It's like having a child go off to school and the kids are beating them up.

"I feel very responsible for leading everyone from our lead actors to every person in the crew and our financiers down a road and, when the reviews are negative, I worry for those who believed in the project.

"I don't want to see them derided or feel like they've backed the wrong horse."

"Did I worry about the reviews? Yes. Because I thought the child might be beaten to death before it got a chance even to get into the schoolyard."

As he prepares to walk the red carpet tomorrow night alongside stars Carey Mulligan and Tobey Maguire - Leonardo DiCaprio has pulled out, reportedly to party in Cannes - at Hoyts Entertainment Quarter in Sydney, just a stone’s through from Fox Studios where the film was shot, Lurhmann is clearly basking in proving the critics wrong.

"I could not be happier," he told the SMH. "No one saw it coming. Everyone said we were dead. Everyone said we would flop."

The Great Gatsby opens on May 30. Take a squiz at the trailer below featuring music from Beyonce and Florence Welch.

TV Review - House Husbands

Family drama uses the dark side

House Husbands, Sundays 8.30pm (AEST)

What’s it all about? The domestic ups and downs of a quartet of house husbands and their partners.

The Verdict: A predominately bright and breezy formula looks set for a shakeup as tragedy strikes. 3.5/5.0

Just when you think things are starting to feel a bit mundane for the House Husbands of suburban Melbourne - top loaders vs front loaders, petty male ego spats etc - the show’s writers throw an emotional grenade into the mix. The climax of last week’s episode, while a little clumsily handled was devastating none the less and marked an emotional depth for a show that sits closer to the bright-and-breezy end of the dramatic scale.

The boys are back

It’s been a mostly winning formula with a mix of contemporary domestic drama and lightheartedness – buoyed by cast standouts Rhys Muldoon and Julia Morris - if you can look past the cutesy kids and some over reliance on contrivance and happy endings.

That is, until now. As one of the house husbands faces unthinkable grief as series two hits the home stretch it’ll be interesting to see how the tragedy and comedy balances out. One thing’s a certainty; a box of tissues would best be kept handy.

Film News: The Great Gatsby Baz Luhrmann

Great Scott! Baz Luhrmann divides the

critics….. Again.

“You can’t repeat the past,” warned Nick Carraway in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel The Great Gatsby. Ah, yes you can Nick.

If there’s one guarantee when it comes to the films of Baz Luhrmann – from Romeo and Juliet to Moulin Rouge and Australia - it’s that they’ll be big, bombastic and spectacular and the critics’ knives will be out to slice and dice the result. There aren’t many directors quite so polarizing as our Baz.

And so history repeats itself with Luhrmann’s glitzy 3D adaptation of Gatsby opening this week stateside (and the coveted opener next week at Cannes Film Festival) and some cutting reviews – some wallowing in the vitriolic – preceding it. At issue once again is the director’s flamboyant, over the top approach (said to have cost $180 million) to the notoriously difficult to adapt story of the American dream in decline, love unquenched and dripping excess.

 “When it comes to Baz Luhrmann and his style, it’s hard not to have such a strong opinion…… He seems to freely embrace the fact that he’s a polarising director. Clearly he’s decided that this is his niche.”

Kenneth Turan of the LA Times writes that the film is Luhrmann’s “excuse to display his frantic, frenetic personal style. A filmmaker who has increasingly made a fetish of excess and a religion of artificiality, Luhrmann and his team pile on the spectacle and the glitter until we are gasping for air.”



On the set of The Great Gatsby



Salon.com brands this Gatsby “debauchery in Disneyland”, its critic Andrew O’Hehir suggesting it could “go down in history as a legendary flop.” Rolling Stone’s Peter Travers gives the film just one star lamenting a “crushing disappointment” that would have F. Scott Fitzgerald turning in his grave.

Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly labeled Luhrmann “the caffeinated conductor” lamenting a perceived preference for style over substance;

“He'd rather blast your retinas into sugar-shock submission.”

Meanwhile The New York Observer’s Rex Reed was baying for blood;

“You don’t realize just how much misguided damage can be done to a great novel until it is vaporized by a pretentious hack like boneheaded Australian director Baz Luhrmann,” he said.

And The New Yorker’s David Denby who describes Luhrmann’s Gatsby as “a flimsy phantasmagoria” wasn’t much kinder;

 “Luhrmann’s vulgarity is designed to win over the young audience, and it suggests that he’s less a filmmaker than a music-video director with endless resources and a stunning absence of taste,” he wrote.



Does style trump substance?



Speaking about the Luhrmann polarizing effect, The Week’s entertainment editor Scott Meslow told The Daily Beast;

 “When it comes to Baz Luhrmann and his style, it’s hard not to have such a strong opinion…… He seems to freely embrace the fact that he’s a polarising director. Clearly he’s decided that this is his niche.”

Back in 2008, when Luhrmann’s Australia was facing the wrath of the critics he was circumspect telling Reuters;

“When you do what I do, you expect to be covered in mud.”

But Luhrmann wasn’t about to take the barbs lying down either firing back at his critics.

"They hate me, and they think I'm the black hole of cinema,” he said. “They say, 'He shouldn't have made it, and he should die."'

TV Review: House of Cards

It’s good to be bad

What’s it all about? A political aspirant scorned plots his way to power on Capitol Hill.

The Verdict: A class act as self assured, knowing and provocative as its protagonist.

4.5/5.0

Kevin Spacey is no stranger to playing the bad boy but if in doubt of his Machiavellian credentials look no further than the opening of this intriguing political drama. Snuffing out an ailing dog’s life - unbeknownst to its owners - he looks into the camera and tells us that he’s a man willing to get blood on his hands, a man who’ll do the necessary when no one else will.

"Make no mistake, this is Spacey’s show. His cutthroat power broker is up there with some of Shakespeare’s most memorable villains."

 

Kevin Spacey gets his villain on

In House of Cards, Spacey is Frank Underwood, a “lowly” House Majority Whip in the US Congress with much greater aspirations especially after being sideswiped for the role of Secretary of State.

Like a wily predator he’ll get his revenge, striking when the time is right with acute precision. The character is based on Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Richard III so it’s no surprise that Frank is a master manipulator with no qualms about backstabbing, blackmailing or berating his way to the top. He’s arrogant, sardonic with a southern drawl and self assured. And he’s got quite the God complex.

Based on the 90’s British mini-series of the same name, this is a bracing introduction to what’s sure to be one of the best new shows of the year. We’re introduced at a good clip to the major players including Claire (Robin Wright) Frank’s chic wife and strident supporter in political ascendency; and young gun Washington reporter Zoe (Kate Mara, American Gothic) who secures a deal that will see her career trajectory tied to that of Frank’s.

The Ultimate Power Couple: Spacey and Wright

House of Cards is as self assured, knowing and provocative as its protagonist with classy direction from David Fincher (The Social Network) and a sharp script by writer Beau Willimon (The Ides of March) that’s much more accessible than the rapid-fire, sometimes smug dialogue of The West Wing. 

If there’s one element that takes some getting used to, it’s Frank’s “direct addresses” to the audience reminding us he’s the puppet master but it’s a play straight out of Shakespeare’s own playbook so here it’s fitting.

Spacey, who doubles as executive producer is formidable as is Wright.  But make no mistake, this is Spacey’s show. His cutthroat power broker is up there with some of Shakespeare’s most memorable villains. The Bard would be proud.

The first three episodes of House of Cards air May 7 on Showcase at 8.30pm. All 13 episodes of Series 1 are available on Foxtel Go and Foxtel On Demand.

Film Review: Iron Man 3

Superhero sequels abound but Iron Man has still got it.

Genre: Action

Rated: M

What’s It All About? This time around Iron Man has more than ever to contend with; domestic discord, anxiety attacks and count ‘em, two villains hell bent on destruction.

The Verdict: Still witty, still visually spectacular, the Iron Man franchise hasn’t lost its mojo.

3.5/5.0 from me, Margaret.

Superhero films are a dime a dozen and this year is no exception. So when a third entry in a superhero franchise (the fourth if you count last year’s The Avengers) hits the screens you can’t be blamed for expecting the quality to decrease along with the creativity.

"Iron Man 3 doesn’t shake its successful formula up too much but what it does it still does with panache; exhilarating action, plenty of humour and a terrific leading man in Downey Jr."

 

Thankfully, Iron Man mostly avoids those pitfalls to deliver another bout of exciting popcorn entertainment.



Downey Jr was less than impressed with his new bodyguard



We meet Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) a.k.a Iron Man again in the aftermath of The Avenger’s epic alien battle that wounded New York and Stark himself. He’s been rattled by the showdown with anxiety attacks and domestic discord with his Stark Industries CEO squeeze Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) the result.

But an easy distraction is his tinkering and this time around Stark has developed more mechanised suits than ever. He’s going to need them if he’s got any chance against two villains hell bent on destruction; Osama Bin Laden-esque The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) and the slick, dastardly inventor Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce), one of whom isn’t what they seem.



Double Trouble

Iron Man 3 doesn’t shake its successful formula up too much but what it does it still does with panache; exhilarating action, plenty of humour and a terrific leading man in Downey Jr who imbues Iron Man with a still irresistible charisma, still capable of a withering putdown - even to a child.



Damned if I'm a damsel in distress

 The support cast are all good; Paltrow gets a much bigger piece of the action this time round, Pearce who proved so chilling as the villain in last year’s Lawless again revels in being the bad boy and Kingsley shows a comic side we too rarely see.

With this instalment having raked in over $600 million and counting and an Avengers sequel on the way, we haven’t seen the last of Iron Man yet. Luckily there’s still fuel in the tank.

 

TV Review: The Social Network

Despite an unlikeable protagonist, this is

one movie to Like.

It’s hardly surprising that Hollywood would want to grab a piece of the Facebook pie, given its influence, global domination and ubiquitous infiltration of our lives.

The Social Network takes us back to 2003, to a weathered dorm in hallowed Harvard, as a baby faced loner hopped up on Redbull feverishly hacks and codes to create the template for a phenomenon. A budding anarchist, the vision of Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg, Zombieland) was to create a network of virtual social voyeurism.

"Wherever the truth lies, The Social Network is an innately compelling, beautifully crafted insight into the emergence of a global phenomenon."

His only real friend, Eduardo Saverin (a brilliant Andrew Garfield, Spiderman) finances the venture but in Facebook’s rise from college to global domination – apparently under the guidance of Napster founder, the nerd turned hedonistic hipster Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake bringing a swag of charisma) – Saverin alleges he was sidelined. He sued Zuckerberg as did Ivy Leaguers the Winklevoss twins (Mirror Mirror’s Armie Hammer and Gangster Squad’s Josh Pence assisted by some digital trickery) and their associate Divya Narendra (Max Minghella, Agora) who claimed Zuckerberg stole their idea.



Scientists would recoin social ineptitude as 'Dart in Mouth' disease 



But the truth proves to be a tricky mistress. West Wing scribe Aaron Sorkin weaves, Rashomon style, all three differing accounts into the film. He wants the audience to decide and debate just who is the truth teller mining a grand and rich vein of drama and pathos, a hotbed of conflict and betrayal. From the beginning, anyone remotely familiar with The West Wing will know they’re in Sorkin territory – namely, dialogue that’s thick and fast in a witty, frequently funny screenplay.

Director David Fincher (Fight Club), better known for his visual prowess and masterful storytelling than word-fests such as this, delivers all of the above with precision and evocatively summons the heady atmosphere of this recent time expertly.



Making billions was no laughing matter.



Portrayed as socially inept, ruthlessly ambitious and acid-tongued, Zuckerberg is hardly painted with a flattering brush, in fact it’s a pretty defamatory one; “You are going to go through the rest of your life thinking girls don’t like you because you’re a nerd,” says his soon to be ex-girlfriend (Rooney Mara, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) in the film’s opening scene. “I want you to know it’s because you’re an asshole.”

Likeable he may not be but Zuckerberg, with much debt to Eisenberg’s tour de force performance, is compelling. Who’d have thought this indignant savant and financially disinterested social misfit would create the ultimate global social network? None the less, as presented here, the world’s youngest billionaire with hundreds of millions of friends and counting, has paid a high price for his success. At the film’s end, he’s a pitiful sight, a lone geek amongst a sea of detractors.

Wherever the truth lies, The Social Network is an innately compelling, beautifully crafted insight into the emergence of a global phenomenon and the disintegration of a rare friendship.

The Social Network screens on GO tonight at 8.50pm (AEST).

This review was originally published on Trespass Magazine, October 2010.