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QPIX STUDENTS ARE TROPFEST FINALISTS
Graduates of QPIX’s 2011 Diploma of Production course have won their way into the finals of TROPFEST, the world’s largest short film festival, with their student production PHOTOBOOTH. Set in the Afghanistan conflict, PHOTOBOOTH is one of a sequence of...
'Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu' Out February 10
(Nationwide)
Over The Fence Comedy Film Deadline
(Nationwide)
Rottofest 2012: Call For Entries Now Open!
(Nationwide)
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Geoffrey Rush Joins Tropfest
The acclaimed actor and newly-crowned Australian of the Year, Geoffrey Rush, will be a key player in 2012’s Tropfest activities.
Naomi Watts To Play Princess Diana
The Aussie actress is set to play the people’s princess in an upcoming film that chronicles the final two years of Diana’s life.
Sullivan Stapleton Signs On To ‘300’ Prequel
The Aussie actor has beat out the competition to land a role in the upcoming blockbuster.
James Cameron Loses Long Time Australian Collaborators
Producer Andrew Wight and cinematographer Mike deGruy lose their lives in a helicopter crash.
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ANARCHY IN MELBOURNE TOWN
FILMINK’s MIFF correspondent gives us the latest on the festival’s fantastic films.
First up on the program was Louise-Michel, a bizarre black comedy from directors Gustave de Kervern and Benoit Delepine that won the Special Jury Prize at this year's Sundance Film Festival. The story centers around a group of female factory workers, and one particularly peculiar worker named Louise, an illiterate woman who speaks like Yoda and enjoys catching and feathering pigeons. When she and her fellow colleagues are inexplicably laid off from their jobs, Louise has the all too bright inspiration to pool their paltry severance money together and hire a hitman to off their fat cat boss.
Enter Michel, a bumbling private security officer who enjoys shooting stars (literally, using his custom made weapons to shoot the sky) and re-enacting special ops manoeuvres which ends with him inadvertently shooting a cow. After a random run in on the street, Louise and Michel form what can only be said as one of the wackiest alliances in recent movie memory. What proceeds is a chaotically perverse series of events which has everything from 9/11 conspiracy theorists, creepy male strippers, and close to everything in between.
Louise-Michel is one of those rare films that have moments that simultaneously make you laugh and shudder. Case in point, a scene in which Michel literally drags his terminally ill sister from her hospital bed, dresses her up in heels and skirt, arms her with a derringer, and points her in the direction of a party in which the big boss man is attending so she can do his dirty work for him with
no consequences - it does not go well.
Belgian actors Yolande Moreau and Bouli Lanners are superb in the roles of Louise and Michel respectively, their chemistry and eccentric coupling is just a joy to watch. The film also has a funky soundtrack led by Daniel Johnston, somewhat of an apt musical choice considering the oddball nature of the two main characters.
While Louise-Michel is very much a satire and at times farcical, the movie does strike a chord and is strangely relatable, especially in this time of fiscal crisis where people are being laid off left, right and center. At its heart, it's an underdog story about two anarchists fighting the capitalist hierarchy, and their attempt to take back power of their own lives, which has been for so long out of their control. The title of the film is an actual reference to the 19th century French anarchist Louise Michel, who was imprisoned and later deported from France for trying to overthrow the government.
Next on the hit list was Young Freud in Gaza, a no frills documentary from directors PeÅ Holmquist and Suzanne Khardalian. The story follows Ayed, a young psychotherapist for the Palestinian Authority's Clinic for Mental Health, as he traverses his way through the isolated northern part of Gaza, an area accustomed to violent street demonstrations and suicide attacks. The film was shot between 2006 and 2008, a tumultuous time for the region which saw a violent escalation between Hamas and Fatah.
Amid the violence and political instability, it's Ayed's job as the only mental health professional in the area to visit with a wide array of patients suffering in different ways. His lists of clients include Inas, a young woman struggling with an eating disorder and suicidal thoughts; Maysa, who is having trouble forgetting the image of seeing her fiancé die in front of her eyes; Abed, a young man severely injured after a failed suicide mission in Israel; and Hanan, who is struggling with the strains of day to day life with a negligent husband who has two other wives.
While this isn't the most polished documentary ever made, (some grainy camera footage and a couple of sound issues), Young Freud in Gaza manages to engage, and more importantly bring to light an aspect of warfare in this area (or any area like this) that goes largely ignored. We often forget the psychological toll that political wars have on civilians, and through the honest and heartfelt accounts of Ayed's patients, we really do get a better understanding of it. This is none more evident than a moving part of the film in which Ayed visits with young children no more than ten years of age, as they recount stories of friends and family members that they've seen die in front of their eyes.
With the serious subject matter, the film does have some lighter moments involving Ayed and his family. His parents are desperate for him to get married and find a place of his own; however Ayed is in no rush. A happy compromise is reached towards the end of the film as Ayed moves out of the house, but only to a small little area on the upper level, literally outside the house. The look his father gives him is absolutely priceless.