Shayda

Shayda is Noora Niasari's first feature and almost certainly won't be her last. It tells the frustrating story of an Iranian mother struggling for custody of her daughter in Melbourne, in the face of abuse and ostracism. Zar Amir Ebrahim plays Shayda with such intensity and warmth that it's near impossible to take your eyes off her. She recently won the best actress award at Cannes for Holy Spider and it's not hard to see why. Her chemistry with Selina Zahednia, who plays her daughter, Mona, is fantastic - I even had to check they weren't actually related.

The semi-autobiographical story is presented methodically and with no little style. Niasari eschews the wides, focussing on the interiors, mostly of the women's shelter run by Joyce (Leah Purcell) that Shayda and Mona find themselves in. The harrowing elements are balanced by the sense of community and support that comes from the shelter and the people therein. 

Shayda's husband, Hossein (Osamah Sami) provides the harrowing stuff, whether it's a phone call with an interpreter about a traumatic incident or when he unexpectedly obtains part time access to Mona. There's a tangible feeling of dread when this fucker's about. Shayda slowly begins to find a life beyond the grimness - there may even be a blossoming romance with fellow Iranian ex-pat, Farhad (Mojean Aria) but the gnawing threats of hubby and Iranian social strictures are never far away.

This is a strong debut, but for my tuppence worth, there's a slight problem with the pacing. There are too many long shots that need trimming and one or two scenes that could perhaps have been jettisoned. Overall, though, Shayda is a bleak but ultimately hopeful modern culture skirmish, with realistic performances throughout. Well worth a look and it's a great indicator of things to come from Niasari.

Shayda is showing at Luna and Palace cinemas from Oct 5th. There's also a special Iranian-themed afternoon tea screening at Luna Leederville on Oct 1st.

See also:

This may seem obvious but the ending (not to mention the Iranian language) put me in mind of Asghar Farhadi's excellent A Separation (2011). I haven't seen Ali Abbasi's Holy Spider (2022) yet, but it's on my radar.

Like Sheep Among Wolves

Here's a taut Roman police thriller from director, Lyda Patitucci, her feature debut. Isabella Ragonese stars as Vera, a damaged undercover cop embedded within a Serbian gang. We're introduced to her as she drives her 'colleagues' to a meeting where a nasty piece of business occurs, followed later that night by a confrontation with an ex-lover and a drunken tryst with a barman. Frantic, destructive events like these seem to be about par for Vera.

Her stint with the gang comes under threat when a couple of extra bodies join for an armoured car job and one of them turns out to be her younger brother, Bruno (Andrea Arcangeli). Cue a confrontation at their objectionable father's place and a plan of sorts is arranged to keep them both safe. Unfortunately, Bruno has struggles of his own in that his angelic young daughter, Marta (Carolina Michelangeli) needs extracting from her dangerously alcoholic mother, so cash is required to ferry her away. 

This is quite a brutal film, epitomised by a shocking scene around halfway in. It's packed with horrible dudes that have clearly affected the lives of the women and girls around them. The Serb gangsters, Bruno and his mate, the father, even the male police officer, are all maladjusted, the former crew to the point of psychopathy. These toxic personalities go a long way to explaining the plight of the women in the film - not just Vera, but her brother's ex-partner and Marta as well. As one female officer says to Vera, "He's worried about you but he's a man, so he can't express himself." Simple backhander for the point.

Ragonese, channelling Noomi Rapace in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, is really convincing - her scarred, pierced face says more than the dialogue needs to give us. The juggling act of her double life is laid out in the narrowing of her eyes and her weary intakes of breath. It's a very physical performance and it improves the somewhat rudimentary story going on around her.

Simple the plot may be but there's very little wastage - even the section with the dog pays off. Vera is surrounded by people that can't or won't look after themselves or others in their care (Marta in particular, but the neighbour's dog falls under this umbrella too - they're the nominal sheep of the title).

The bleakness of proceedings appears to lighten a bit towards the end and there's a touching moment where Marta gives Vera a friendly nudge on her arm, causing Vera to stop the car and chase away a panic attack. In one earlier scene with Bruno she says, "I'm only happy when I'm working." As Marta reaches for Vera's hand, we see that maybe this innocent act of affection has caused a reassessment of that dictum. 

Like Sheep Among Wolves is screening as part of the ST. ALi Italian Film Festival around Australia from September 19 - October 25.

See also:

These films showing at the festival look promising:

• Caravaggio's Shadow (2022)
• The Last Night of Amore (2023)
• The Circle (2022)
• La Chimera (2023)
• Kidnapped (2023)

Scrapper

This debut feature from Charlotte Regan is a low-key, yet ambitious drama about a 12-year-old girl, Georgie (played by Lola Campbell) raising herself on a London housing estate. It becomes clear that she has lost her mother recently but is making a fair fist of it by half-inching bikes with her mate, Ali (Alin Uzun) and selling them to a local fence (apologies for the geezer language, but the film has that effect). Soon enough, the kids spot a wide boy jumping over the back fence who turns out to be Jason, Georgie's absent-until-now father (Harris Dickinson, last seen as the twatty model in Triangle of Sadness).

The central relationship is the focus of the film, along with Georgie's method of working through her grief, and this is all sweetly done. It has slight hints of another father/daughter film from this year, the superior Aftersun. I've been attempting to work out why I didn't really gel with Scrapper since seeing it a few days ago and I think it may be the tone. It's not anywhere near a bad film but I felt there was a looseness to the direction and it didn't quite live up to my more dismal sensibilities - I was expecting, maybe even hoping for, more Ken Loach and less Wes Anderson. Put bluntly, it's too chipper, too sanguine for me.

I thought the performances were naturalistic, especially Campbell and Dickinson, but there was a falseness there as well. Cockneys all around and not ONE single 'shite' or 'bollocks' uttered, never mind a 'fuck', and perish the thought of a 'cunt'. Throw me a Winstone-shaped bone, thanks. Also, the fourth wall breaking 'interviews' were twee and took me out of the film, and the emotional payoff at the end wasn't entirely earned, though it was played nicely by the leads.

I really wanted to like this more - the kid gets around in a football top for most of the film and I love the accents - unfortunately, it missed the mark for me. Maybe hopeful endearment just isn't my bag. Incidentally, I'm a bit puzzled as to the time frame of the film. It looks modern day (say, 2020 onwards), but the West Ham shirt Georgie wears is from between 1992 and 1999, when Dagenham Motors were the shirt sponsor for the club. I guess it scans that Jason said he gave her the shirt, which he may have used as a sprog, though it looks pretty new still. Minor issue, I'll admit.

See also:

Certainly, Aftersun (2022), directed by Charlotte Wells, and have a look at Ken Loach's working-class classic Kes (1969), if you haven't already. Plenty of dirty kitchen sinks in that one:)