The Truth: NZIFF Review

Resting largely on a haughty performance from Catherine Deneuve, Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Paris-set follow-up to Palme d’Or winner Shoplifters is a meandering film that's about the conflict between mother and daughter.

A relaxed Juliette Binoche stars as Lumir, who returns to Paris with her actor husband (Ethan Hawke) and daughter in tow. Summoned home for the launch of the memoirs of her mother Fabienne (Deneuve), Lumir's incensed to discover her mother's made up portions of her memoir, sugarcoating it for her own image.

But while Lumir rages, Fabienne is filming a science fiction film about a mother reconnecting with her daughter after years of absences - and as Lumir sticks around, it becomes clearer that her ageing mother is in a reflective mood.

A brittle Deneuve simmers in her dismissiveness throughout Kore-eda's The Truth, a film that's as much about atmosphere as it is familial issues.

Genial to the n-th degree, The Truth wafts along on the breeze as much as the leaves do in the Paris courtyards that Kore-eda's film opens with.

It may lack the punch of a Shoplifters, but there's a pensive atmosphere throughout the Truth, and while it may feel inconsequential in the wash, the careful and precise examination of tensions throughout the years yields some impressive results.

Unhinged: Film Review

Cast: Russell Crowe, Caren Pistorius, Jimmi Simpson, Gabriel Bateman

Director: Derrick Borte

Unhinged is peak 2020, a grubby would-be B movie of a sustained campaign of terror against a woman.

A heavy set Russell Crowe is The Man, a man so far over the edge he's committed double murder and arson before the five minute mark of the film's even hit. Pistorius is Rachel, a woman on the edge, after waking up late, a messy divorce and a school run all collide.

When Rachel repeatedly beeps her horn at The Man at a junction, her day gets immeasurably worse when he takes affront, and starts pursuing her and her loved ones in a vendetta of road-rage induced revenge.

Unhinged really is the kind of low rent film that would have made it straight to DVD back in the 80s.

Shorn of any real background other than cursory exposition from the cops, Crowe needs do nothing more than look menacing and threatening throughout. And to be fair, when he fixes the screen with a dead-eyed stare, the threat levels reach a crescendo.

But Unhinged requires nothing more of any of its actors.

Certainly the script, loaded as it is with coincidence and nothing more, treats all those involved at the dumbest level possible, with Rachel's character behaving improbably and The Man's escalating rage attracting no attention anywhere else other than inside Rachel's world.

Perhaps that's the most frightening thing about Unhinged - that it gives oxygen to such brutal treatment of a woman and the women in its film. Beaten, stabbed, terrorised - the majority of the victims are female, and the camera appears to relish the horrors visited down on them.

Coupled with clumsy dialogue, and the buzzwording of things like "Fortnite scenario" that are thrown in purely to appeal to the kidz, Unhinged makes no case for subtlety or smarts. Repeated shots of objects show they will become important in just a few frames' time and leave no room for doubt within the script.

But Unhinged's worst crime is how it uses its victim. Even in the final frames, she's robbed of any power or sense of victory in the story, and it's shocking to say the least. The loss of agency and the fact she will forever be a victim is a morally reprehensible message, no matter how dumb the rest of the film is.

Ultimately, Unhinged is a film that deserves to be forgotten - the predictable formulaic action lacks any real redeeming points, and its long term message is enough to leave you needing a shower after you've experienced it.

Where'd You Go, Bernadette?: Film Review

Cast: Cate Blanchett, Kristen Wiig, Judy Greer, Billy Crudup, Emma Nelson

Director: Richard Linklater

With a haughty Cate Blanchett and a meandering script, Where'd You Go, Bernadette? feels like an opportunity weirdly squandered.

Blanchett is former superstar architect Bernadette Fox, who disappeared after having potential to turn the designing world upside down. Settled in with her husband Elgin, (Crudup, amiable and occasionally over-looked) and their daughter Bee (Nelson in a standout performance for a newcomer), Bernadette is overwhelmed when her daughter requests a trip to Antarctica as a reward.

Already brittle and disinterested in any connection with neighbours or friends, Bernadette is disaffected by the "banality of life". With a work-obsessed husband and a fussing daughter, things reach a crescendo and she disappears when the FBI shows up after she inadvertently floods a neighbour's house with mud....

Where'd You Go, Bernadette is a film that would be nothing without Blanchett's penchant for haughtiness. She's the best thing in the somewhat muddled narrative that veers through indifference to everyone's condition to a screwball farce that clearly aims to bring down some of the more WASPish neighbours and concerns.

There are moments of humour as Blanchett's growing weariness with everyone becomes acerbic and fraught, but Linklater's meandering approach to the story means the audience becomes as disaffected as Bernadette herself.

Equally, a series of cameos from a YouTube video should have been left on the cutting room floor, or beefed up to be more amusing and ludicrous as Bernadette rediscovers her passion.

Unable to decide upon a tone, and stuck with an indifference in the plot, Where'd Do You Go, Bernadette? really only thrives on Blanchett and her alone - other characters have little to no resolution in their arcs as the plot goes toward lunacy and relatively unearned heartwarming sentiment.

True History of the Kelly Gang: NZIFF Review

"Nothing you're about to see is true."

The opening lines of Justin Kurzel's True History of the Kelly Gang sets the stall out early on, with a disclaimer of what transpires for one of Australia's most prolific criminals.

There's a punkish vibe throughout True History of the Kelly Gang, but at times, its disparate approach to the Ned Kelly story feels less rounded than it should.

1917's George MacKay makes a ferocious Ned Kelly count when he should, but he also delivers a softer approach when it's necessary. Kurzel, who delivered a fantastic Snowtown and subsequent on-the-streets Q&A after a fire alarm necessitated an evacuation, has an eye for the details here, but a rambunctious almost ramshackle script nearly foils him,

There are some wonderful visuals helmed by Kurzel, including the final shoot out where Ned and his gang find themselves surrounded by apparent torch-bearing law-abiding citizens wanting to bring him down. One moment in the showdown alone is worth the price of admission.

But to get there is somewhat of a slog.

Characters have no end to their arcs, rendering some of their actions inconsequential and feeling like non-sequiturs in their own story. Granted, the film is of the Kelly gang, but given how much time is spent setting up proceedings and weighting some heft to incidental supports, it feels bereft to leave them wanting. It feels particularly cruel to Thomasin MacKenzie and Nicholas Hoult's characters who are pivotal early on, but tossed aside in the final furlong.

In among it all is MacKay, who delivers a softer Kelly than perhaps you'd expect, but never shies away from channeling moments of pure ferocity. From the indignant scenes of bare-knuckle fighting to a Reservoir Dogs moment, MacKay never holds back from summoning up the anger that Kelly clearly felt.

There is beauty in the wide shots that Kurzel's helmed here showing the rough countryside and the growing divide within the Kelly family, but True History of the Kelly Gang lacks the cohesive feel it needs to feel truly great.

Exile: NZIFF Review

Excruciating, excoriating and excellent, Exile is one of the NZIFF's best.

This German slow cooker film showcases more of a similar vibe as previous fest entrant Toni Erdmann, but with a slightly more uncomfortable feel, and an edge of nastiness.

That mix is a potent concoction though, giving Exil an unshakeable edge in the final wash.

Visar Morina's masterclass in discomfort is the tale of Albanian Xhafer, a chemical engineer from Kosovo, who's moved to Germany for work. Heading home one day to his wife (Erdmann's Sandra Huller) and family, Xhafer discovers a rat tied to his gate.

Whirling round his cul-de-sac in suspicion, Xhafer's at a loss as to who has done this and why. Things only get worse for Xhafer - at work, he appears to have been missed off emails, not told of meeting room changes and can't get the information he needs from a colleague, despite repeated promises it will come.

This "series of oversights" sets off a chain leading to a meltdown within Xhafer as suspicions abound, tensions arise and the pressure cooker begins to boil up.

Where Exile excels is in the slow burn.

As the discrimination and apparent bullying grows, Morina's screenplay dallies with who's right and who's wrong. Revealing gradual flaws within Xhafer is a masterstroke, giving the viewer an uncertainty that he's the victim here - the shades of grey flood the screen and make the experience all the more queasy for it.

There's much to unpack here - from ethnic tensions, racial exclusions and persecutions to frail male ego; Morina throws a lot into the script, bathing many of the more subtle elements in uncertainty and insecurity. A sense of foreboding is greatly exacerbated by Morina's desire to shoot his lead from behind. With a constantly sweaty head and a POV from the protagonist, the tensions rise and the sense of dread never really lets up.

But Xhafer's predicament is also about the reaction of others to his behaviour - and it's here Huller comes into her own. A force of initial restraint and bubbling indignation and resentment delivers more than a verbal blast of character exposition could - and Huller's performance grounds the film in a dose of reality.

Don't expect answers at the end of Exile - perhaps that'll be a source of frustration to many, but it adds to the sense of what's transpired. The deeply flawed protagonist with his life in tatters makes for a queasy bedfellow and delivers one of the festival's most complex and unlikeable characters. Morina deserves plaudits for how allegiances switch as the film plays out.

The orchestrated campaign may target Xhafer on screen, but watching this sustained nightmare unfold, audience members could be forgiven for feeling they've been targeted too, thanks to this immensely uncomfortable and compelling German drama - simply put, it's unmissable.

Ellie & Abbie (& Ellie's Dead Aunt Too): NZIFF Review

Perfectly charming and sweetly told, Ellie & Abbie (& Ellie's Dead Aunt Too) is a high school romance set within the walls of LGBTQI world.

Ellie (Sophie Hawkshaw) is an awkward teen finding her way through high school and trying to find the words to tell her crush Abbie (Zoe Terakes) how she feels about her. When she tells her mother that she's gay, her mother goes into a tailspin, but Ellie's world is changed when the revelation brings back her dead aunt into her life.

Ellie & Abbie (& Ellie's Dead Aunt Too) is a film that's as breezy as they come.

But that's not to damn it with feint praise.

Bursting with life and with a pace that's rewarding to the narrative, Ellie & Abbie (& Ellie's Dead Aunt Too) benefits from its leads, as well as Julia Billington as dead aunt Tara. While the film does veer dangerously close to sentimentality in parts, it's to be forgiven, simply because it avoids the usual bullying tropes in these kind of coming of age films.

It's heartwarming but slight in many ways, enjoyable but largely forgettable - it's the very definition of sweet and cute, but as a festival palate cleanser, it has a heart that's hard to deny.

Dinner in America: NZIFF Review

There is a moment of pure beauty among all the ugliness of Dinner in America - but it doesn't come until 10 minutes before the end.

Holed up in a basement, mismatched losers Simon (a snivelling Kyle Gallner) and Patty (Emily Skeggs) take a few moments to write a song. After Simon's delivered the chords, Patty offers lyrics to the song - and it's truly beautiful, an earworm that sings with joy and stays with you long after the film's done.

It's a shame, because most of the rest of Dinner in America is unfortunately forgettable fare.

After a full on pre-credits opening sequence that delivers energy and a middle finger to the status quo, Dinner in America settles into a format that's more familiar than anything, and less original than it wants to be.

It's the story of punk rocker Simon meeting oddball Patty and their subsequent on the lam adventures.

Natural Born Killers this is not, nor is it Sid and Nancy. Somewhere in the midst of the mid-western anarchy it purports to proffer lies the beating heart of a told too many times story, slathered in trashy and low-rent vibes throughout.

Dubbed as a punk romcom, it's obviously about two losers finding each other, their place in the world etc - these are not new themes.

But thankfully, in Gallner as Simon, the film's found its anti-hero who's all fire and brimstone early on and misplaced anger. However in one scene late in the film, Simon falls to pieces, revealing a much needed emotional edge.

Skeggs is mainly awkward as Patty, all grimaces, pauses and lip-chewing. But there's a feeling of a butterfly emerging from the chrysalis of the writing, as Dinner in America progresses. 

However, the anarchy feels questionable at best, and while scenes of Simon with his peers reek of veracity thanks to the spitting dialogue angrily delivered by some lost in life, the film's overall feeling of nihilism is misplaced.

"Take it down a notch" various family members are told throughout - and in truth, maybe the filmmakers would have been wise to listen to their own bon mot. 

A touch less need for exuberance could have greatly lifted Dinner in America; its warped comedy is nowhere near as fresh as it assumes it is, and were it not for its two leads and their obvious star power, the overly smug and self-righteous Dinner in America would rightly have been dead in the water.