Mad Bastards film review

Directed by Brendan Fletcher, Mad Bastards draws inspiration from true life testimonies of Indigenous people of the Kimberly region in northern Western Australia. TJ (Dean Daley-Jones) is an Aboriginal man who admits he carries 'a man with an axe' inside him. He's unexpectedly graphically violent, needing only a minor trigger to set off an explosive reaction that is unleashed on those around him. With obvious disregard to authority,  a brother in prison, and a mother who wants nothing to do with him, his anger builds. Perth city life holds nothing for him, almost spontaneously deciding to hitch-hike his way the tiny town of Five Rivers in the Kimberly. In search for his now 13-year-old estranged son Bullet (Lucas Yeeda), he encounters many fellow mad bastards along the way.

Bullet isn't without his own problems though. Having no positive role models in his life, including a mother that drinks constantly, he wanders the streets in gangs at night causing havoc. Ultimately landing himself in jail, Texas (Greg Tait) the local police officer, has sympathy for him and sends him on a trek through the outback with an Aboriginal elder to help straighten him out.

 

When TJ arrives in Five Rivers he is warned by equally mad Texas that he won't stand for trouble. After a rocky start TJ meets up with Bullet, though both are at a loss of how to begin a father/son relationship. This not helped any by his ex-partner Nella (Ngaire Pigram). It seems to Bullet he can't escape the violence that surrounds him and his town. Inevitably Texas steps in to run TJ out of town in yet another bloody battle.

The highlights of this film are the distinctively beautiful landscapes dueted by the music of the Pigram Brothers and multi-ARIA Award winner Alex Lloyd. Lucas Yeeda has alluring screen presence, of which I'm certain we will see more of in the future.

 

Mad Bastards in currently showing nationally.

 

Oranges & Sushine film review

Oranges and Sunshine is based on the true story of Margaret Humphreys, a social worker from Nottingham UK, and is a film that is long overdue. Margaret (Emily Watson) initially dismissing a young Australian woman's search for her estranged British family after being deported at 4 years old, chances upon a similar account from one of her weekly group counseling sessions. Intrigued and disturbed by these stories she begins an exhaustive quest to uncover the dual British and Australian governments of the day organised deportation of children from the UK to Australia from the 1940s til 1970s. 

 

An estimated 130,000 children of varying ages were told they be going to a land of endless sunshine, where you could pick oranges for breakfast on the way to school... their parents, however, were told the children would be placed in "nice" homes. What resulted was three generations of displaced people with only sketchy identities that were subjected to inhumane conditions at the hands of new authorities.

Directed by Jim Loach (King's Speech), the story mainly follows the case studies of two male Australians played by Hugo Weaving and David Wenham as Margaret tirelessly searches to reunite families, and ultimately brings worldwide attention to this extraordinary miscarriage of justice.

Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, after intense lobbying, finally acknowledged the British Stolen Generation along with the Stolen Indigenous Generation in his first term of office in 2007. Both policies occurred simultaneously in the same decades.  It's ironic to note the government's aim was to populate Australia, while presently the government is trying to keep immigrants out.

While such an important film in historical context, it only skims the surface of these people's trauma and the ludicrous secret polices of those in power.

Here I Am film review

Here I Am, the first feature film by Beck Cole... proudly sponsored by Horizon Blue 30s (though also comes in 10s and 20s so the nasty shopkeeper in film says), is a snapshot about the plight of the 2%ers. No, I'm not talking about smokers but the Indigenous population of Australia.

Set in Adelaide South Australia, we first meet Karen (Shai Pittman) as she is paroled from prison. Armed with only a shoebox full of belongings and little life skills she begins a journey with a goal to put her past behind her, reconnect with her estranged mother Lois (Prof Marcia Langton), and create a home with her 4 year old daughter she hasn't seen for nearly 3 years.

Not an easy ask. Homeless, jobless, skill-less, she arrives at a half-way house in Port Adelaide. Red, the house supervisor does her best to offer a nurturing environment to Karen and the other women who themselves all harbor tragic life stories. Initially complacent about Red's help Karen finally admits she can't change her situation alone. Drawing on the support of the other women, the resources of Red, and ultimately her own inner determination Karen stumbles forward in her quest.

The next Samson & Delilah ?... um not quite. The cinematography is well done, but the seemingly (over or under, not sure which) rehearsed stilted scenes detract from the overall flow of the film.

Here I Am opens in cinemas 2 June 2011.

My Afternoons with Margueritte film rating

If you feel that the world's in chaos and love is unobtainable Germaine and Margueritte will move your spirit to think again the most beautiful of ways. Hilariously funny, extraordinarily crafted, joyfully and emotionally uniting, this French film starring Gerard Depardieu visibly touched the hearts each and every person in the cinema. Gisele Casadesus as Margueritte plays a 95 year old, 40 years older than Germaine and seemingly hundreds of years apart in life experience, though through their afternoon meetings their connections become timeless.

This film speaks to all of us, gently reminding us that we are a part of all creation. Beauty and love surround us, all we need do is reach out and feel it. My Afternoons with Margueritte is so refreshingly uplifting to rate seems like rating a relationship with your grandmother...

I urge you all to experience it for yourself... Surely we couldn't all be subjects of a wet Sunday evening at the Dendy.