Mad Max: Fury Road

The fourth instalment to the Mad Max series, a vigorous reboot of the cult franchise, is an irresistible Western car-chase fever dream, adorned with a delicious, persistent slick of grit and stamped with a brimming, big-budget ego. With smooth and captivating confidence, Mad Max: Fury Road is the holy grail of summer blockbusters, of franchise instalments, of fandom parities. Make no mistake, the feature is tightly secured in its action genre, but perhaps it is the determination to emphasise every genre trademark in zealous rapture that wins over the audience. However atypical and oddly original the feature may be, it is nevertheless recognisable - gas is burned, prizes come in the form of beautiful women and the threat of death lingers near, with terror perpetuated by the ruthlessness of a wretched villain. But only the subtlest and darkest comedic relief is offered, absent are the lingering gags and useless, flimsy character traits to memorise and play on. Only a strong narrative powered by an angry cathartic score and engaging, exorbitant warfare engage the audience with aggressive exuberance. It may not be subtle but it is nonetheless a winning, symphonic recollection of derisive elements thrown together with dubious abandon. 

In the harsh, post-apocalyptic world of Mad Max, women, fuel and water are valuable commodities, harvested and monopolised by the greedy, grotesque cult leader, Immortan Joe. Setup sequences portray this dystopian realm to harbour only the most primitive, brutal type of living - all sanctity of human life is forgone- sexual slavery of women is rampant, men are mere blood-bags for the road warriors and breast milk is gathered systematically from obese women. One-armed road warrior Furiosa seeks to escape the hellish citadel with Immortan Joe's five wives by traveling through the desert wasteland, in hopes of reaching an oasis, the "Green Place".

Son of a Gun

From the go, we are engrossed by action. Son of a Gun provides high-quality, stimulating entertainment and encapsulates everything that a decent thriller should be. The film is loaded with enigmatic characters, a wonderfully constant state of anarchy and compelling power play between its key antagonists in an Australian Michael-Mann-style confrontation. The film also chronicles a poignant love story which steers clear of overcomplexity. All of this is finished off with some astounding sound-mixing and a strangely affecting soundtrack of exquisite entries such as a masterly remixed track of Bon Iver's "Perth" and the moving "Enter One" by Sol Seppy. Whilst not a distinct departure from classic crime flicks, the feature demonstrates competence on every scale from its consistently absorbing narrative arc to the effortless execution of every role. Son of a Gun is a confident debut feature by director Julius Avery who does well to avoid the trappings of the archetypal Aussie thriller.

Son of a Gun's leading light is the young 19-year-old delinquent JR (Brenton Thwaites) of an ambiguous, unconfirmed history. As he arrives at a high-security prison for the first time, he comes in contact with Australia's public enemy No. 1, Brendan Lynch (Ewan McGregor). Soon enough, in desperate need of protection within the walls of brutal confinement, he becomes Brendan's protégé. When JR is released is six months later, he begins to pay his extensive debts and is quickly involved with organised crime of the highest order, from heists to prison breaks. 

Charlie's Country

Like most countries, Australia is a nation tarnished by an ugly, compromising history. It takes true insight and a steady hand at subtly to produce a contemporary Australia piece which reflects the convoluted Aboriginal condition. Dutch Australian director Rolf de Heer is fast becoming identified as the go-to-guy for real, prepossessing Indigenous cinema. I adored the unrelenting patience within the film and the corresponding patience it demanded of its audience, forcing viewers to really look. A certain poetry afflicts the film, a stirring melancholic melody plays over and over (curtsey of Graham Tardif), and the shots linger for unusually lengthy times on David Gulpilil. An unyielding sorrow and despondency shadows the film despite an affectionate, tasteful humour gracing the feature at many a moment. It is ultimately Gulpilil's performance which remains the crowning achievement and attraction of the film:  a striking portrait of a man plagued by the darkness of our history and left directionless as a result.  The screening was followed by a Q&A session with Rolf de Heer, whom spoke freely about the process behind the collaborative creation with David Gulpilil which came to be Charlie's Country. 

Blackfella Charlie's community life is an odd one: he collects fortnightly government benefits only to give most away, he's in with the police, with drug dealers and squats on his own land because his house has no room for him.  Hungry, suppressed, indignant and desperate he despairs, ultimately deciding to "go bush", to live the old way. What proceeds is a ready exposition of the compromising, modern Aboriginal culture.  

Adore

A chilling, compelling arch narrative accompanied by transcendent cinematography and a haunting score Adore simply encapsulates so many things I adore about film. It's non-conclusive and conflicting, thought-provoking and treats its audience with endless intelligence. The script, some perceive as tame and lifeless, but I saw it as calculating and instrumental. I thought about this film days on end. French director, Anne Fontaine's, hold on the film is evident with European sensibilities at the backbone of the film. What themes would hardly be questioned in a French film mistakenly became its defining and most talked about features. Premiering at the Sundance Film Festival, the film was much better received internationally than in Australia. And its not hard to see why. 

Roz (Robin Wright) and Lil (Naomi Watts) are two true blue Aussie girls growing up as the closest of friends next door to each other, at the stunning coast of New South Wales. Their halcyon days of youth are spent on lazing around on a floating platform - a major fixture of the film itself. As time passes, the pair never leave their home even when both marry and have sons. Lil's husband passes away in a car accident and subsequently Lil is left to raise her son, Ian (Xavier Samuel) alone. Roz becomes something of a second mother to Ian and the two families grow up, side-by-side. At age 20, the two sons,  Ian and Tom's (James Frecheville) close friendship mirrors that of Roz and Lil's. When Roz's husband, Harold (Ben Mendelsohn) leaves for Sydney for a few months, attraction between Roz and Ian comes the beginning of something dark and real - a transgression which consumes them all.

Galore

Galore is a feature perpetuating life in its real form. It is a masterful, controlled piece of cinema which throws you in unexpected ways. You, as an audience member, delve so deep and convincingly into the lives of the characters that you feel somewhat affected by the swift turn of events - from sweet freedom to recluse circumstance. The careful and virtuoso craftsmanship of every character can truly be appreciated. You can actually feel their presence. The film is patient; it lets the light dance in front of the lens, it gives time for us to become familiar with places, season, routine and patterns, and it introduces us to every character as they come. 
Come a chilly Wednesday night, I find myself seated at a special screening of Galore at Cinema Nova on Lygon Street. It is always a different cinematic experience when you are prepared to come face-to-face with the very people who created the film you just saw. It was a strangely and uniquely intimate two hours. The director Rhys Graham, producer Philippa Campey and actors Toby Wallace, Lily Sullivan and Aliki Mantagi were in attendance and following the screening provided some insight into the work behind the magic.  

Galore tells the story of youth: that derelict, reckless time where in a narrow and singular vision, you are invincible. Billie (Ashleigh Cummings) is an indignant spirit who exists in a delicate balance, the prospect of eventual havoc looming quietly over her head. She loves and lives fiercely. Her summer days in the lazy town are spent working shifts at a local store, swimming and sunbathing by the river, long nights spent partying - all with the company of her best friend, Laura (Lily Sullivan). But the dynamics of the relationships Billie holds are far more complex. Billie and Laura's boyfriend, Danny (Toby Wallace), hide away for hours on end together, madly and indisputably crazy for each other.  

Preview Screening: Healing

Soft and lightly paced, Healing takes it sweet time telling you its story. Its a cinematographers dream - Academy award winning cinemagician Andrew Leslie is given much artistic license in this film. The shots are never short and sharp but rather are quiet, lingering moments. We hear the wind, we absorb the august, illustrous views and we can almost feel the thick, cold smog kiss our skin as eagles soar through the blue of the wild morning. It's a refreshing piece of cinema which deviates away from generic storylines and whilst it is not exactly unpredictable, it is a clean, modern beautiful feature forwarding profound notions which are worth considering. It was once again a true privilege being able to meet the director, Craig Monahan and lead, Don Hany at the conclusion of the film.   

Healing introduces a small circle of prisoners who have just been transferred to minimum security prison in rural Victoria, Wron Wron. In particular, we have Viktor Kahdem (Don Hany), an Iranian man whom utters few words and is hard bent on remaining isolated. It is case worker Matt Perry (Hugo Weaving) who endeavours to incite some opportunities for rehabilitation via the introduction of an innovative new program. In collaboration with Healesville Sanctuary, Matt Perry brings injured raptors - proud creatures such as eagles, falcons and owls to the prison. Viktor Kahdem fronts the program, and we gradually come to see how it is actually a paradigm for his own Healing.  

Preview Screening: Tracks

An event I had been looking forward to for quite some time was a preview screening of the Australian semi-biographical film Tracks. The night encapsulated much discussion of the adaptation and a special appearance by the author of the basis novel Tracks and the original protagonist, Robyn Davidson, herself along with photographer, Rick Smolan. An interesting aspect of the night was the discussion of the idea and basis of adaptations - of how closely a filmmaker can translate a story or series of events from page to screen. An eloquent speaker, Robyn Davidson emphasised the belief of her experience to be completely segregated from that of the one presented in the film. This being said, she neglected not to articulate just how seamless and singularly remarkable she found the film to be. 

Tracks tells the story of a driven, lost young woman who abandons all social conventions and instead seeks to cross the deserts of Western Australia - a distance of 1,700 miles. She spends months prior searching and working for funds and training camels. Eventually finding a means for her personal odyssey in media, she embarks on her journey with a promise, on her part, of several meet-ups with a photographer along the way and an appearance in The National Geographic.  

The Railway Man

As a young engineer captured by the Japanese in World War II, Eric Lomax (Jeremy Irvine) was forced to work on what is today known as the "Death Railway". Years later, an afflicted Lomax (Colin Firth) is given the opportunity for retribution when a fellow veteran, another POW, locates his tormentor (Hiroyuki Sanada). 

British-Australian film The Railway Man exceeded expectations in numerous ways.