australian rozie

On to the 2nd week of the Sydney Film Festival. Unfortunately, during this week of festivities I had a bad case of gastro (as an added bonus to my usual IBS issues), but I managed to drag myself to the movies - such dedication (I just tried to make sure I had an aisle seat).

First up was Tokyo Sonata - A story about an ordinary Japanese family told with the psychic leaps of a Haruki Murakami novel, the compositional playfulness of Jacques Tati and more than a hint of stylistic tribute to 60s Japanese cinema. Although it was up for the Official Competition, I found it to be too abstract and boring by the end. One of those, I hope this movie finishes soon reactions. We didn’t even bother sticking around for the Q&A with the producers at the end.

The Wackness - This smart and funny teen flick centres of the relationship between dope-dealing Luke Shapiro, who peddles his wares from an icecream cart and Dr Squires, his twitchy, pot smoking shrink. Well I don’t know if it was that smart but it was OK. I have decided Ben Kingsley who plays Dr Squires is an awesome actor. I liked the nineties-ness of the film - the young Luke Shapiro still makes mix tapes for people. It had a pretty cool soundtrack of early 90s hip hop and rap as well as a cameo from Mary Kate Olsen. Please note: she isn’t his love interest as it said in the SFF write up about the film.

Australian doco Playing in the Shadows - Ettinger-Epstein’s observational documentary shot over a year traces the adventures of an after-dark basketball team made up of inner-Sydney street kids. This was very well done and inspiring. At first it was shocking to see so many kids out on the street at night just down the road (Woolloomoolloo). It seemed as if they had no parental guidance or supervision (even for 5 year olds). Obviously, some of the people who live there have problems such as financial, health, mental health, addictions etc. The little girl talking about how her mother has died, her father is in and out of hospital and she has to look after herself (and her siblings in a run down house) was heartbreaking. It was inspiring to see the Midnight Basketball competition give these kids something to focus on. I admired the basketball coach and his dedication to the kids, even when they were being a-holes to him. It was really enlightening to hear the stories of these young kids and how hard their life is but also see how tough and/or vulnerable they are. At the end of this first screening of Playing in the Shadows, the director, producer and some of the cast (are they still called cast when it’s a doco?) came on stage and answered questions. It was great to find out that the ratbag foul mouthed boy who I thought was going to end up on the streets and in big trouble has got himself into a good Catholic high school and is doing well.

Straight after Playing in the Shadows we saw In Bruges - Ray and Ken are two mismatched hit men sent to lay low in the medieval Flemish town of Bruges after they botch an execution. Ray emotionally unravels, his conscience tortured by the memory of their recent crime and the pair become entangled in a series of bizarre and distracting local encounters. It had some very violent and gory parts but it was a very enjoyable film. It had a great script with interesting twists and nice cinematography of/in Bruges. We were sitting in the very front row of the State Theatre, the Film festival is probably the only time it’s not good to be in the front row there.