Film Shapes

Eo is the latest film from legendary Polish director, Jerzy Skolimowski. It's also the name of the lead character, a donkey, and cripes, does this poor fecker go through some shit. He starts out as a circus donkey with a caring handler, Kasandra (Sandra Drzymalska), but is soon 'rescued' by animal liberationists and sent to some sort of equestrian complex. He's just as downtrodden here though, so he runs slightly amok, and is sent off to a donkey sanctuary in the hills. Things seem comfy here until Kasandra visits drunk one night and Eo decides (I guess) to chase her when she leaves.  The film is an extended period in the life of this donkey and how its presence affects the people around it. There are several great overhead shots of the Polish and Italian landscapes and one drone sequence that made me feel slightly woozy (in a good way). The action follows the hapless Eo from situation to situation and shines a light on the varying levels of ugly humanity that he encou...

Emerald Fennell's excoriating follow up to Promising Young Woman skewers class and privilege with louche insouciance. Barry Keoghan plays Oliver, a needy, slightly pathetic scholarship student and he's in stellar form. As a 'Johhny-no-mates' at Oxford University, an opportunity arises to ingratiate himself with the cool folks on campus, led by Felix (a surprisingly excellent Jacob Elordi). The humour in this is just one of many drawcards. It's all played with a rigidly straight bat and there's an uneasy sting to it. The first inkling of this is a perfect outburst at a common room dinner - not so crucial in the wash up, but a great indicator of things to come. Oliver's underprivileged family situation presses Felix to invite him home to his parents' estate for the summer, the evocatively named, Saltburn. Here is where things begin to ramp up. Aside from the folks, Sir James and Elspeth (played with pitch perfect timing by Richard E. Grant and Rosamund Pi...

This first film of the Perth Festival's Lotterywest screenings is a great doco about the Women's Football World Cup in 1971. After the 1970 Men's World Cup in Mexico some bright sparks realised that a similar tournament, using the same facilities and interest levels, but with women players, might turn a handy little profit. Six teams from Europe and the Americas were invited and the reception they received was amazing. As to be expected, the conservative dudes of FIFA tried many tricks to stymie the event, though a general stadium ban only forced the games into two of the largest grounds in Mexico - the Jalisco and the Azteca. Supreme own goal, dickheads. Copa 71 uses a fairly traditional documentary format, blending archival footage with modern day interviews. It balances the sport sequences and the social justice elements really well - not a typical football doco and yet not a polemic as such. The directors have form in this field. It's Rachel Ramsay's first gig ...