James & Isey: DVD Review

Director Florian Habicht once again embeds himself in the quirks of Northland and its people, with this latest, a look at a mother/son relationship.

The family figures are Isey Cross, who's on the verge of turning 100, and her more-than-dutiful son, James - a not atypical relationship by any stretch of the imagination, but one which Habicht finds himself entangled with after he documents the week leading up to Isey's 100th.

There is no major revelations to be had here in Habicht's latest, no earthshaking wisdom from the central couple, and certainly no feeling of form or narrative or tension leading to the 100th. Simply done, this doco is merely about spending time with James and Isey, and providing a snapshot of a duo and their familial love and story.

Habicht largely uses subtitles on screen to tell the early portions of their story, amid a backdrop of horses on a beach, and water lapping back and forth against seaweed. It's not exactly headline-grabbing stuff, or edge of the seat cinema viewing - it's just a sense of life happening, and documenting the moment throughout.

But as a film of respect, it soars.

From James' respect of the land and Maori traditions, to the respect he gives his mother, and the respect she commands from others as well as the respectful way Habicht draws some information and backstory from his subjects, this is clearly a gentle film of love and little else.

Whether that will be enough for some is debatable (and certainly calling them national treasures without really exploring the why is less than impressive), but its wholesome nature makes a refreshing change, and weirdly, brings tension to the unwrapping of a parcel, the most mundane of daily routines.

However, that's Habicht's MO - his camera has an eye for the banal - from the watching of washing up to capturing people on the street. He has an interest in life in all its daily tedium as has been demonstrated in previous films - and here, he does little but expand on it.

James and Isey may be a gentle film that at times seems at odds with what you may expect from cinema, but in a year when there's more of a push to capture diversity on screen, and to catalogue stories, it's just another delightfully low key entry into Habicht's pursuit of the common people and their way of life.