Film Shapes

Well, this was a tough watch. Jonathan Glazer's fourth feature is loosely based on the Martin Amis novel of the same name and deals with the life of Rudolph Höss and his wife, Hedwig. On the surface, the story is a prosaic suburban tale of family life, scattered with the mundanity of visits from family and friends, birthday parties, gardening and troubles at work. The crucial difference is that Höss's work is as camp commandant at Auschwitz, their family home located just over the wall. Rudolph and Hedwig are played with cold nonchalance by Christian Friedel and Sandra Hüller. To all outward appearances, these two are a somewhat dull couple, with a brood of kids doing kid things, but their 'secret' isn't hidden at all. One early scene shows a bag of appropriated clothes being divvied up between the house staff. It's clear this booty had been taken from Jewish prisoners. There's a discussion between Hedwig and her friends about how one of them found a diamond...

This delicacy, directed by Tran Ahn Hung, is France's entry for best foreign language film for this year's Oscars. And it has a good shot at winning too. Disregard the awful English title - it's called La Passion de Dodin Bouffant in French - and prepare yourself for some of the most lovingly presented images imaginable.  There's an amazing extended opening that captures activity in a rustic 19th century kitchen. Eugénie (the ageless Juliette Binoche) and Dodin (Benoît Magimel) are cook and gourmet of the manor. He's smitten, has been for 20 years, but it seems Eugénie wants to keep things professional. Clearly, without her skills to complement his, he wouldn't be known as 'the Napoleon of Gastronomy'. This is only Tran's fourth film in 23 years, since he hit his peak in 2000 with The Vertical Ray of the Sun . Like that work of art, The Taste of Things is incredibly lush and evocative. Cinematographer Jonathan Ricquebourg's camera hovers throug...

Oh, Hi Mark. And goodbye to 2023 - a good year for film, not so good in other fields of human endeavour. My film count was a bit down on last year - I saw 90 in total, including 82 new viewings and 59 trips to the cinema (just under half at the Luna in Leederville). Anyway, here are my favourite 10 films that I saw in 2023, with a podcast at the bottom of the words. [Click on the titles for links to full reviews] 10. Cairo Conspiracy (2022) A terrifically tense religio-political thriller about a first year university student dealing with events above his station in Cairo. Stellar performances in this rare glimpse into Egyptian culture. 9. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023) James Gunn polishes off his Guardians trilogy with aplomb, centring the dramatic story on Rocket while allowing the rest of the crew to bring the chuckles and action stylings. Nobody quite hits the nails with the musical beats like Gunn. 8. Talk to Me (2022) Best Aussie film of the year is also probably the cre...

Aki Kaurismäki's latest film is an oddly affecting story of two ordinary people looking for something. I say ordinary but nothing in Kaurismäki's world is quite that, more like ordinary-adjacent, everything is a touch askew. Ansa (Alma Pöysti) lives alone and has a shite job in a supermarket. Holappa (Jussi Vatanen) lives in what looks like a shipping container. He's also a secret alcoholic who works on a building site, AND he's the spitting image of Ooh-Ahh Glenn McGrath. These two lonely folk meet one night, barely, at a depressing karaoke night run by a local pub. The rest of the film is pretty much the two of them meeting, or failing to meet one another. This sounds dull but there's something about Kaurismäki's style that allows the viewer's face to maintain a wry grin throughout. He's the deadest of pans, the straightest of bats, the most functional of directors. For example, Ansa sees an internet ad for a job at a bar. Cut to the sign of said bar t...