Dead Letter Office

 Seen at the Star Cinema, Eaglehawk, VIC

Bea says: I left Australia originally in 1995, just around the cusp of the buzz around Death in Brunswick, and completely missed Dead Letter Office's release in 1998.

We saw this at the Star in Eaglehawk as well, as part of the Australian Film Festival weekend and it was enhanced by a Q&A with the director.

It is a charming film, with the office of the title being a subdivision of the post office service which tries to track down impossible addresses and addresees. Our heroine Alice (Miranda Otto) is compelled to work there in order to track down her absent father, who she has written to since she was a child - and her letters have been going to the Dead Letter Office.

It was a lovely, nostalgic step back to the simpler 1990s. People were lonely, sad, and down on their luck, but were also kind, funny, thoughtful and warm.  Absolute standout performance from George DelHoyo as Frank Lopez. The ending made me so happy. Highly recommended if you see it anywhere.
****

 Cecil says: Dead Letter Office brought back so many memories of past lives.

I too, worked in a postal sorting office in 1986. It was the kind of old-fashioned place that probably changed enormously in the years after that: it was not just the manual labour of lugging sacks of parcels off conveyor belts onto vans to delivery but the whole culture of the workplace then, with its men in brown coats supervising things, the canteen where I went for meals, including custard with my fruit pies (no canteen in this film, mind), and the slightly awkward relationships between colleagues whose only connection really is the workplace.

The ‘Dead Letter Office’ also reminded me of all the filing I used to do in my first office job, starting in 1987. And just like in this film, which was made in 1998, but has much more the feel of a late 80s atmosphere, I imagine at some point the equivalent of the JCB Bob-Cat moved in to shovel away to the tip all those carefully filed sheets and copies made for the seven years I did that job (computers were just starting to appear as I left that office in 1994).

And then the whole Chilean connection resonated so strongly for me. I worked with many Chileans in the late 80s and early 90s, mainly in London, but the atmosphere of the social gatherings in suburban Melbourne could just as easily have been the places I went to in Peckham or Finsbury Park.

The star of this film is George DelHoyo, who plays Frank, the head of department for the Dead Letter Office, who can snap into action and trace lost people in a matter of minutes if he decides to, but is also languishing in the tragic memories of his past in Chile. We were lucky enough to have a Q&A with the Director (John Ruane), who revealed they had tracked DelHoyo down via the small ads of a local Latino newspaper in LA, and had to deal with DelHoyo being 6’1” and therefore much taller than any Chilean any of them had ever met. But his acting was superb and he held the film together single-handedly.

Miranda Otto (who later played the Elfine Queen Eowyn in Lord of the Rings) was OK as the young woman desperately looking for her father, and using the Dead Letter Office as a means to track him down. She was endearing, if slightly wooden, or was that just the awkwardness of young adulthood?

Her accommodation reminded me so much of friends’ house shares in Brighton in the 1980s also, so that was very genuine, and her flatmates also came across as the types I moved around in my university days (and those unemployed times after uni).

So, as a drop back into my lives that are now long gone, this was a delightful film. We didn’t really get the impression the Director really had much connection to the film, though I guess he has probably done a lot in the subsequent 23 years, so who can blame him. I enjoyed it, though.

Oh, and spot the Dad from Strictly Ballroom, a few years older than when he danced in that classic, but very recognisable…

***

 

 

Wild Mountain Thyme

 Seen at the Star Cinema in Eaglehawk, VIC

Cecil says: Bea and I have been discussing options for where we should live in the long term, given our aversion for all things Brexit and for the current trends in Australian society, which seem little better than Britain in the current climate. New Zealand has been mooted if we decide to stay South, but Ireland is also a possibility, should we wish to stay nearer folk in Europe.

The opening scenes of Wild Mountain Thyme almost made my mind up for me: the beautiful, rugged, ocean coast of the west of Ireland, and I’ve never even been there yet (mind you, nor have I ever visited New Zealand yet..).

Rather as with Kiwis, I will have to get used to the accent, though, and I did struggle for a few scenes of this film (that might have been due to the sound system which isn’t always crystal clear in the Star, Eaglehawk). I couldn’t help wondering, though, if my problem with understanding also might have come from the fact that two of the lead actors – Emily Blunt and Christopher Walken – are not natural Irish brogue speakers.

The film also reminded me of just how important family is in Ireland – who marries who; who leaves what to who taking up more importance in a lot of people’s lives than the more global political issues I usually cast my vote on. And with absolutely no family ties to Ireland, we might have to choose carefully a part of Ireland which might be willing to accept two wandering cinema buffs looking for a safe haven.

This is basically a charming love story, although it was always only heading in one direction, but that didn’t matter, because the way it got there kept us entertained along the way. They even managed to have Don Draper from Mad Men (actor: John Hamm) playing the American cousin who almost got the inheritance himself after a father/son spat early on.

And it did take me back to past trips to Ireland, where an awful lot of time seemed to be spent in little pubs drinking Guinness and listening to folk music on a fiddle, so we might also have to get used to that unless we opt for one of Ireland’s metropolises like Dublin or Cork (but even there, I reckon the pub figures quite high in the list of recreational activities).

Actually my favourite part of the film was the brief dancing scene: not the little girl’s attempts at ballet, but Emily Blunt’s adult leap into ballet moves, outside her cottage wearing farming boots and sinking into the gravel. There was an elegance to those scenes which beat any other for me in this film.

***    

Bea says: Rather nice Irish pastoral love story of two young people growing up on adjacent farms in rural Ireland who slowly find each other. The title is taken from the traditional song of the same name, and naturally the course of true love does not run smoothly but all is ultimately well. Much beautiful scenery and some nice music too, including performances of the title track. A lovely few hours of pure escape, particularly as we saw this on the sofas of the wonderful Star cinema in Eaglehawk, on a Sunday afternoon, cup of tea in hand.
***1/2

 

Leave no Trace

Seen at the Star Cinema in Eaglehawk VIC. And seen by Cecil alone as Bea is away :-(

Cecil says: I really liked this film about a father and daughter who live outside mainstream society, first in Oregon and then in Washington State. It’s actually a coming-of-age film, though not in the usual Hollywood way.

Tom, really well played by Thomasin McKenzie (did they give the character that name only after casting, I wonder?), is a resourceful teenager who is learning how to cover her tracks in the woods, how to pick and cook mushrooms and how to survive in the wild of the woods (though the film makes it seem far from wild, and actually extremely serene).

But as the film develops, you realise that she is in fact just following her Dad wherever he goes, and he is the more restless one. There’s a vague reference to the loss of his wife (she barely remembers her Mum), and lots of hints that Will (Ben Foster) has come back from some tour of duty with the armed services and suffers nightmares and probably PTSD as a result.

Tom actually quite likes some of the places they briefly stop in. She enjoys community, meeting others, and quickly settles before her dad wants to move on again.

The film is made with Tom as the central character. We learn more about her than about her Dad, and as they move on yet again, we as viewers share Tom’s frustration at her Dad’s need for constant movement.

I loved the shack community in Washington State, with the wonderful woman who keeps bees, and the older couple who sing lovely harmonies by the campfire.

It’s the side to America Bea and I loved when we lived there, even though we didn’t actually meet such marginal communities ourselves, but it showed that sense of community and togetherness that we did see a lot of, and it felt a million miles away from the America of Trump supporters we see more of on the TV usually.

I won’t spoil the ending for those who haven’t seen the film yet, but there’s something very mature about Tom in the final scenes, as she allows herself to feel emotions but takes a decision that goes with her heart.  

I found it very thought-provoking and atmospheric, peaceful and insightful. Not a rip-roaring tale, but a film very suited to my mood that sunny Sunday in October.

***.5

Phantom Thread

Seen at the Star Cinema, Eaglehawk

Cecil says: Phantom Thread is supposedly Daniel Day-Lewis's last film, so it felt like a time to reflect a bit on him as an actor. And what's funny is that, although he was amazingly good again in this film, where he's the control freakery tailor designing dresses for the uber rich of the 1950s, neither of us could remember other films we'd seen him in, except for Room with a View, where Cecil remains one of our most loved characters on film.

The thing about Day-Lewis is that he is a method actor, getting totally into role, living the life of his character before filming begins. I remember an article about him preparing to play the role of a boxer and sparring with a professional boxing champ to get into the experience. I never saw that film, and as I say I can't remember other films he's been in, but maybe that's because he becomes the character rather than staying in the mind as Daniel Day-Lewis. And if Cecil in Room with a View is the exception to that, maybe Cecil IS Daniel Day-Lewis, or vice-versa…I guess we'll never know.

So to Phantom Thread. This is all about the relationship between Reynolds (DDL) and Alma (Vicky Krieps, an actress I didn't know before, but who did a great job as counterweight to Reynolds) Neither character is especially likeable and both seem very driven, so it feels as if it can't possibly end well really, especially with Cyril (Lesley Manville), who I just learnt in writing this review is Reynolds' sister, gatekeeping and mentoring all in one.

The dress-making is superb, though the Society crowd they are designing for are an unattractive lot. And deep down, Reynolds cares nothing for them. His reaction to one monied lady who collapses drunk in one of his finest dresses is pretty horrible, though. As are many of his reactions to things Alma does and noises Alma makes etc. But then Alma too is somehow troubled and controlling. She works behind the scenes to get what she wants out of the relationship, even while saying to her confessor that she has given herself totally to Reynolds.

I'm glad we saw Phantom Thread before it left the cinema circuit. We watched it in the amazing Star Cinema in Eaglehawk, which is set up with sofas and armchairs only in an old town hall building. That set-up gives a real lounge room feel, which can work both ways, as the couple next to us at first clearly chatter their way through films at home, and continued to do so in the Star. We moved a few seats away to get ourselves out of earshot.

***

Bea says: Highly disturbing.  I like Day-Lewis, history, and I am a keen crafter, so thought I would love this period film about sewing and couture.  And I liked some aspects of it, but I didn’t like any of the characters very much, and that made it hard to invest in the film.  Reynolds is cold and controlling, Vicky is bordering on psychopathic, and Cyril is remote and unpredictable.  It was well done – beautifully made, exquisite costuming (although I thought I saw some puckers that wouldn’t be in such a bespoke garment?  Maybe I imagined them), fantastic performances and well written.  But it left me cold; cold, clinical and too perfect is how I would describe this film, to its detriment, unless that was the aim (and I suspect it was).

***1/2

The Man Who Invented Christmas

Seen at the wonderful Star Cinema in Eaglehawk near Bendigo.  This cinema is struggling financially, so we participated in their “bums on seats” campaign, bringing ourselves and a friend.

Bea says: This was a great insight into Dickens, who, I realised I knew very little about despite having studied his works exhaustively in my days as a student of English literature. 

I didn’t know that A Christmas Carol was written in only 6 weeks, under tremendous financial pressure following several flops, and that the concern in all his books about the working conditions of children in the Victorian era stemmed from his own childhood in a boot-blacking factory after his family fell on hard times.  I knew that Christmas trees were something of a transplant from Germany, brought over by Prince Albert, but not that Christmas as we know it today didn’t really exist prior to this era.

A Christmas Carol is rather overdone these days in terms of faithful reproductions of the story; this was a fresh new take as it showed the story developing and growing and Dickens' always wonderful characters coming to be – a small exchange in the film also shows how Dickens apparently got some of his characters’ names.

Above all – and we saw this on the 23^rd December – it was an uplifting reminder to (and no apologies for sounding cliched here) follow one’s own dreams and path, and do good by others where and when you can.  A great message to take into 2018 in these somewhat dark times.

****

Cecil says: Like Bea, I was bowled over as much by the setting as the film itself, with it being so close to Christmas and in an old hall that has been converted into one of those cinemas with only sofas to sit in.

I also hadn’t realised that Dickens went through such a tough patch, but had that almost Mozartian tendency to live above his means, only to turn out another classic and get things back on an even keel – only Dickens, we learnt, didn’t always produce best sellers and he was short of a bob or two while writing a Christmas Carol.

I also enjoyed seeing how he picked up names for characters along the way, though I already knew that from my tour of UK cathedrals, where Portsmouth and Southwark gave him a few good names.

I kind of enjoyed the Thackeray character, who keeps popping up like a bad penny to gloat over Dickens’ failings, having had lots of success himself in America. I can’t help wondering if he was thrown in mainly for an American audience since he is so much more popular and well-known over there. It’d be nice to know what made the film producers bring him in – were there diary entries they sourced from either Thackeray or Dickens himself?

I can’t quite give this film the four stars Bea has, though the occasion overall – close to Christmas and in an independent cinema we hadn’t been to before – is worth four. But for me, it’s

***.5