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

 

Penguin Bloom

 Seen at the Capitol Cinema, Warrnambool, VIC

Bea says: One positive about the corona virus situation is that it might have helped more Australian film make it to major release in the absence of larger international studio releases through 2020-21. Penguin Bloom is one such film, although with quite an international cast it is likely destined for greater things anyway.

The film chronicles the story of the Bloom family - a middle class, slightly Bohemian, busy and chaotic Sydney family who experience a life changing event when mother Sam (Naomi Watts) falls from a balcony lookout while on holiday in Thailand. Sam experiences a spinal cord injury, and the film explores the family's grief, guilt and adjustment to their new life. Key to the adjustment are an adopted baby magpie called Penguin, and a wise Kiwi kayaking coach, Gaye (Rachel House).

Based on a true story, it's a lovely film and overall quite uplifting in a gentle way (not in a traditional wheelie, or moralistic way). It gave me pause for thought as to how I would cope in a similar situation.  One minor professional point though, which I am sure Cecil will raise too – Sam’s wheelchair and home assistive technology appeared to be dated circa about 1950, and it is extremely unusual not to need any home modifications in that situation - but perhaps these and similar details were glossed over as unimportant.
***1/2

Cecil says: I love Australian magpies (obviously not when they swoop me, but their song is one of the wonders of living in this country, and a delight in the early morning especially). But the idea of a film where a family adopts an injured magpie didn’t immediately appeal to me. The thing is sometimes we choose the cinema not the film, an on this day in Warrnambool, Penguin Bloom was the only option that looked like it might suit us.

In the end, I was glad we did.

There was a lot to relate to for us as a couple.

I have always loved Sydney’s northern beaches, and I truly love swimming in their amazing rock pools – it is probably the thing I miss most about living within reach of Sydney, but interestingly, given the subject matter of the film (basically about dealing with life-changing injury and working out how to move on to a different life), I can watch films set there these days and not be hankering after a life that has now passed. They are fond memories but there is no tug of the heart anymore.

The injury suffered by Sam, the main character in this film – played by Naomi Watts – leads to reassessment not only of Sam’s day-to-day life, but also her relationships and her family. I think COVID must have done this to many couples across the world, and for many it has seen the end of relationships that couldn’t survive the scrutiny, but for Bea and I it has actually led us to reflect on our lives and brought us closer if anything. Adversity and challenges have a habit of doing that, I find; they can make or break.

Cameron (played by Andrew Lincoln – I remember him mostly as playing the northern English lawyer in This Life so so long ago) does his best to deal with the anger and frustrations going through Sam’s mind and body. And then there is the main child, the one who feels that it is his fault that his Mum fell off the balcony, and the trauma he goes through, and how he tried to deal with it via video diaries – fortunately I never had a trauma like that as a child, but I can well imagine my younger self taking a similar approach.

There were a few odd things that made me question why certain directions weren’t taken (and this is based on a true story, don’t forget). If this was a Northern Beaches family, living fairly comfortably by the look of things, why did they not seek professional help for Sam in the form of counselling or psychotherapy? They could surely afford it? Or has that become less of a go-to in middle-class Australia?

And then Sam’s past career in nursing. Fairly glossed over, apart from one old photograph, and I know it’s easier to be on the other side of the treatment table, but I couldn’t help wondering why she didn’t turn to alternative life-style activities earlier. Surely it’s the very thing as a nurse she’d have been encouraging patients to do, so there would have been one moment surely, where she’d think of people she had helped in hospital in that earlier life of hers.

It all ends up OK, of course, and the real Sam ends up competing in the Olympics for Australia, so it is a wonderful portrayal of how to come back from adversity in your life.

Interesting choices to cast the two main characters with English actors, though. I’m not sure who else I’d have gone for, and they did a good job, plus Naomi Watts looks as if she actually belongs totally in both countries (so a bit like me, really), but it did feel slightly strange once I’d worked out where I’d seen them both before.

***

High Ground

 Seen at the Paramount Theatre, Maryborough, VIC

Cecil says: Beautifully-filmed in Northern Territory, much of it in the fantastic Kakadu National Park, which I haven’t visited for almost 30 years, but which holds a fascination as somehow at the heart and soul of the true Australia. After watching 90 minutes of bloodshed as white settlers battle with local communities about 100 years ago, my overall feeling was: “What the fuck are we doing here?” Why don’t we whites just quit the red centre and the Northern Territory and let the indigenous peoples have their land back, and develop their own culture?

I don’t want to write a spoiler review, but like in the settler novel I just read (“The Secret River” by Kate Grenville), nearly everyone gets killed in ‘High Ground’, so if you’re wary of gory killings or of gunfire, you’ll need to be looking away a fair bit as you watch on the big screen.

But the panoramic filming, the extraordinary wildlife, and the observation of Aboriginal rituals and practices make this an epic experience. The soundtrack, whether the Aboriginal music, the birds screeching, or the cracks and rustles of the undergrowth, is captivating without much, if any, scored orchestrated pieces to it.

Wityana Marika was majestic as the family elder; Jacob Junior Nayinggul superb as the main character Gutjuk (interesting to see that the Nayinggul family are so central to this film in all the credits, and I noticed also that there seem to be no photos of Jacob in any of the cast lists for ‘High Ground’ – I wonder if he’ll be back on our screens any time in the future?).

Among the white characters, Simon Baker does a great job as the attempted conciliator Travis; Jack Thompson is gritty as ever as the chief white personage; and Caren Pistorius has a good go at the missionary’s sister, though she didn’t age much in the 12 or so years of the film and she came through it all pretty unscathed for such a rough, outdoor life as she must have led.

Although both Australian films we have seen this month don’t make me feel great about living here, I did enjoy High Ground a lot more than The Dry. There is hope if the indigenous culture can be allowed to flourish again; if we do listen to the wind, the sky and the earth, to paraphrase what the elder says at one point.

****

 

Bea says:  One benefit of Covid seems to be that the Australian film industry has been able to continue, and so the last two films we have seen are both locally made.  High Ground is one of them. 

 The film has been compared to the John Ford-style Westerns, and having seen it I agree; with a white settler vs Indigenous population theme, and lots of riding though canyons (albeit canyons with lots of tropical plant as the film takes place in Kakadu) with eerie feelings of being watched. 

 The title of the film is taken from this; taking the high ground is important - it gives a view of all oncomers and incomers.  Possibly it also operates at a metaphorical level (before I saw the film I thought it would refer more to this - taking the high ground morally and all the contradictions that entails) but actually that is not explicit in the film, though it was perhaps something they were trying to do; perhaps with the missionary characters who instead are portrayed quite sympathetically.

 To some degree I was disappointed with the Western aspect of the film.  That bit of it felt quite derivative, exclusively male, and not very contemporary.  The Indigenous people in the film do have a fairly strong role and are relatively well explored in terms of the knowledge of tradition, language, customs, food and medicine (although perhaps there could have been more of this). 

 Massacres are a key part of the action, but the more insidious erosion of culture through missionary work, settlement and government policy is really only lightly touched upon.  The missionary sister Claire looks far too modern, and doesn't age at all over a 20-30 year period (very hard to believe when living in a wooden shed in a harsh, hot and very remote tropical climate, particularly as she is rarely shot wearing any kind of hat or sun protection). 

 It is not a feel-good film at all, although worth seeing as there are just so few films that give any airspace at all to Australia's Indigenous people and their stories.  I just wish it hadn't tried to be a Western - that is such a problematic genre in terms of Indigenous relations and portrayals. 

** .5

The Dry

 Seen at the Bay Cinema, Brighton, VIC

Bea says:  I was keen to see this as I had read the much-lauded book a few years ago.  I had a few reservations about the book at the time, but always enjoy a bit of a crime/mystery story and this one is set more or less in the part of the world I find myself living in at the moment.

 The plot revolves around a high-level police officer (Aaron Falk, played by Eric Bana), now working in Melbourne in a desk position who returns to his home town in country Victoria to attend a funeral of a peer.  The death is considered to be a murder-suicide (and now having lived in Australia for a few years I am newly struck how common this is on remote properties), but Aaron begins to dig around, which is at first welcomed by the local police, but as suspicion starts to fall on him, it is less well received. 

 Aaron has some skeletons in his own closet, which start to come out, and although he goes on to solve the murder and be lauded by the town, the film has a strong element of noir and as a result an air of darkness which in fact pretty accurately reflects life in country Australia. 

 I left Australia prior to the Millennium drought, and the long years of Howard's conservative government, and have been struck since I returned by the change in country towns which now look hard-up and depressed, particularly when compared to the glittering boom town cities on the coast.  Both the film and the book capture this despair and the emptiness left by it in people's lives and the culture of Australia well, but it is not uplifting viewing at all.

 My main concern with the film, and with the book, is that it felt like two stories in one.  I'm fairly sure this author had two different novels drafted out and combined them to make the book and film - there are, for example, two endings (one where the modern murder is solved, and one where the historical one is).  The two sit a bit awkwardly for me (and if the two stories were intentional it isn't particularly well done in my view), but it is a relatively minor point and Cecil for example didn't really notice this aspect of the story at all.

 Definitely worth a watch, but not if you need cheering up! 

***

 

 Cecil says: The storyline of The Dry was compelling enough to keep me interested for the duration of the film, though there was something of a sense of foreboding over the whole thing, it left me thinking life in country Victoria can be pretty grim at times, and as Bea and I discussed it on our way home afterwards, I realised that everything I was saying about it sounded negative.

So where does leave us?

Well, there’s the plot, first. Experienced Melbourne-based detective comes back to his home town after an apparent murder-suicide case took place there AND he received a note from someone in the town about having lied, and needing to tell the truth. He gets involved in helping the local cop investigate the killings, but meantime there is a fair bit of hostility to him from some of the town’s residents because of his own involvement with a teenage girl who died in the local river when he was still at school.

And basically you need to keep an eye on both stories – about both sets of deaths – as the film develops, with quite a lot of flashback footage of the river bank frolics of the teenagers which ended in disaster. The flashback phenomenon in story-telling is something I tend to find rather annoying, and definitely a 21^st century fashion in both novel-writing and film-making (look at the dreadful re-make of Little Women for how NOT to do it). It’s OK in The Dry once you work out which of the teenage girls is the one who died and which is still living in the town some 20 years on…

The town is full of pretty bogan rednecks, and there is a lot of violence and drinking down at the pub. It’d be enough to put me off living in country Victoria if I wasn’t already doing so…

One of these aggressive blokes, Grant, has a go at our hero Melbourne-cop, but then gets roughed up himself soon after as the suspicion falls briefly on him. But I don’t believe an experienced detective from Melbourne would immediately assume that a note saying “Grant?” had to refer to the bloke who had it in for him. Grant, after all, is also a noun, which could quite plausibly have been the reference in the note and a decent cop would have picked that up.

So, as well as the violence, the drinking, one of the newer arrivals in town is struggling with racist attitudes, so again this really doesn’t paint a brilliant picture of small town Australia…

And then it’s dry, and that’s the whole point. The river in which the teenager drowned all those years ago is just a dry, muddy track now, and although we have had a fair dowsing of rain since we saw the film, this is the time of year when I almost lose the will to live myself, as the barren brown dryness seems interminable after weeks and weeks without rain.

So, no, The Dry didn’t leave me in good spirits, but maybe that says as much about my current feelings on country Australia as it does about The Dry itself.

But, as another local to me who saw the film and loved it said, it was refreshing to see a film set exclusively in country Victoria, and it felt like the camera was on our lives here for the first time. She also thought the character of the local cop, doing his best to find a way through, managing local sentiment whole doing his job as a cop, was the most sympathetic of all of them. I guess maybe she was right…

***

 

Tenet

 Seen at the Peninsula Cinema, Sorrento VIC

Bea says: Tenet was my suggestion as Cecil isn't really into the whole sci-fi/time travel/action genre but I don't mind it as a bit of escapism; and I had heard some good reviews from colleagues and BBC podcasts on the film.  We were taking advantage of the current relative easing of restrictions in our state of Victoria, Australia and had gone away for the weekend (our first time since March) to the Mornington Peninsula.  Sorrento has a lovely old cinema (although I will leave Cecil to say more about that), Tenet was on at a time that suited us, and so it was decided.  It was our first cinema outing since March and it did have some odd quirks (not least the rather non-socially distanced spacing the booking system decided on!) but all in all it was lovely to be in a cinema again.

Tenet is action-packed from the opening scenes; it's loud, quite violent, pacey and beautifully shot.  It's rather like a blend of Bond, Dr Who and the Terminator series.  Basically, our hero, the Protagonist (John David Washington), a CIA agent, narrowly escapes death in mysterious circumstances, and as a result is recruited to a secret organisation called Tenet, who are able to manipulate time.  This organisation claim to be trying to avert a mass war/man made apocalypse which occurs in the future, and the Protagonist will be assisting in this goal, moving backward and forwards in time to do so, travelling to exotic locations and meeting and re-meeting contacts in different places in time and space.  The plot is very complex and I definitely missed things; but I did love watching the beautiful scenery of the exotic locations (this, and the action sequences, is what reminded me of the Bond films, particularly the early ones before mass travel was available).  I liked the inclusion of the puzzle of time travel and the Sator square (where the Tenet name comes from) - these aspects reminded me of the Dr Who series.

I would watch this again to pick up more of the plot details and I broadly enjoyed it, but - trigger warning - it is violent and there are explicit torture scenes and violence towards women.  I found these disturbing and as the torture scene occurs early on I wondered if I could hack it.

I understand from reading about the film that is was badly impacted by Covid-19; it is clear it could turn into a series of films but that may not happen now.

It was also really nice to see some diversity in lead roles.

***

Cecil says: Sometimes we want to go to a specific cinema as much as we do a particular film, and the Peninsula Cinemas in Sorrento were a case in point. This is one of those lovely vintage cinemas built over 100 years ago, and still screening films today. Tenet was on at the right time for us, and although it wasn't in the screen room where lots of the original features can be found, it suited our schedule to go there, so that was our choice, even though I had a hunch it might not be my cup of tea, as Bea has said.

The opening 10-15 minutes seemed to be an exact copy of any Jason Bourne film, with chases, fights, lots of gunfire, lots of explosions, confusion, action and general excitement or mayhem. I find with the Bourne films (seen during lockdown on TV so I do know the genre) that the best thing for me is to switch off, do something else even during those opening scenes of tremendous action and violence, and just tune in to the storyline after things have calmed down a bit.

That approach usually works with the Jason Bourne stories, but in the case of Tenet, I never really caught up with the plot. I vaguely knew it was about time travel and some people were moving forwards as normal, while others moved backwards through time. It was highly complex and my brain just couldn't be bothered to try to understand it really, especially as I didn't ever really care what happened to any of the characters (a real downside I've found for some of the books I've been reading while we were unable to see films at cinemas during Covid).

And, rather like Usual Suspects all those years ago now, there were probably clues left for the viewer in vital scenes, especially as we neared the yawningly dramatic climax, but if a story depends on a vital clue that is flashed across the screen in a milli-second, and if you aren't tuned in for that, you miss the whole point, then it isn't much of a story in my book.

Sorry, Tenet, just not my thing (oh, and the very fact that both Bea and myself have thought of so many different films or genres it reminds us of surely says a lot about how derivative it is rather than breaking new ground in cinema - God, I'm sounding like a pompous bore, but honestly I was bored...)

*

Military Wives

Seen at the Everyman, Glasgow

Cecil says: We watched Military Wives on our wedding anniversary on a wet afternoon in Glasgow, when it was a relief just to get into the warm and out of the relentless rain outside. It was a good, light-hearted film for a matinee and actually felt very relevant to our own lives in so many ways.

We are both choral singers, rather than karaoke fans, but we have seen enough self-important, know-it-all choir people over the years to recognise the character played so well by Kristin Scott-Thomas.

We also lived a few miles from the UK’s largest garrison for some years in Yorkshire and we rather fancy they filmed part of Military Wives on that garrison that we knew so well (though I guess army housing looks pretty similar wherever you are in the country). And we often drove past the isolated farmhouse, which I’m pretty sure was mainly used for film sets and appeared in this film (though there were no details of where exactly the locations were in the credits at the end).

And we have both sung at the Albert Hall, my first time also being a very emotional occasion, singing a Requiem just days after a close friend had died, so there were lots of memory triggers throughout the film for me, and I’m sure for Bea as well.

The plot is kind of fun: organising morale-boosting activities for wives of servicemen and women left behind when the spouses go on 6-monthly tours of duty; and the very different approach from the senior officer’s (posh) wife to the sergeant-major’s (more working class) partner.

I could never have survived in the armed forces for lots of reasons, but one of the toughest things I think is the stark hierarchy and the tendency for class divides to be so heightened in the forces. I would never have fitted in with the ordinary soldiers, but nor would I have been at ease in the officer’s mess, with all that posh talk going on around me.

There are some comical adjustments to the dialogue and filming to make things easier (I guess) for American – and other overseas – audiences, like the reference to ‘York Cathedral’ instead of Minster; and the hilarious signpost in the middle of the Yorkshire Dales with “London, M1” to the left and the garrison to the right (It reminds me of a final scene in some movie we saw years ago when the main character goes to a ticket counter and asks for ‘two tickets to Africa, please’…).

And although I loved the final song supposedly created from letters the wives had written to their spouses (or vice versa), with beautiful music (I think composed by Scotsman Lorne Balfe), I do not believe they would have been learning their lines still on the coach down to London, or never have rehearsed the song until they got to the changing rooms at the Albert Hall. But, hey, this is fiction and there is dramatic licence, so it didn’t really matter…

Overall, it’s a nice film, with some moving scenes related to loss and grief, but a feel-good film on the whole, and certainly good for a wet afternoon in Glasgow.

***

Bea says:  Seen at my new fave cinema, and sort of my current local – the Everyman in Glasgow, and as Cecil says, this was a bit of welcome light relief, as well as a relief to be dry and warm and sheltered from the Glasgow rain for a few hours!

Cecil suggested this one for our anniversary afternoon (in between lunch at the Willow Tea Rooms and a fish and chip supper), and I was happy to agree as I assumed it would be about the formation of the military wives choir (which it was) – but I hadn’t quite realised how much it would resonate with our life, including the Garrison scenes and the concert at the Royal Albert Hall.

 I entered choral life later than Cecil, and have sung more than once at the RAH, but the first time (the Verdi Requiem for me) is unforgettable.  Cecil and I are spending quite a bit of time apart this year due to differing work commitments, so a film that brought together so many facets of our life, on our wedding anniversary was actually very special and poignant.

However, it could have just been some good writing, and perhaps everyone seeing this film feels connected in some way to its story of marriages, loss, grief, parenting and joy – universal emotions even if one hasn’t shared the exact experience of the women.

Other than these deeper emotions, the film is actually quite lightweight and fun in a “Full Monty” kind of way with lots of singalong tracks (I suspect a stage show is likely to follow) and wisecracking.  Kristin Scott Thomas acts everyone else off the screen, and the scene where she gets into the car and sobs is stellar – I did not share the experience her character had, but I think we can all connect with feeling that wretched, particularly when used to holding it all together.  Her grounding performance lifts the whole film above the forgettable, and I am so glad that she is in it.

Definitely worth seeing – despite the emotions, this will leave you feeling good.

***.5