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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...
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Rottofest 2012: Call For Entries Now Open!
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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.
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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.
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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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Audi Festival of German Films: Second Chances
An intriguing thriller at The Audi Festival of German Films
We all have something in our lives we would like to change. The possibility of turning back the clock and righting past wrongs is a common fantasy among people. However, we never stop to think: what if this had consequences? That is the underlying premise of The Door, an entertaining thriller from director Anno Saul.
Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen (the dubbing of his voice into German is so flawless it's hardly noticeable) plays David, a painter who loses his daughter in an accident after leaving her alone for a quick fling with the neighbour. Five years later, the grieving father is estranged from his wife and borderline suicidal, until he finds a tunnel in the neighbourhood which leads to a door. This takes him back to the moment of his daughter's death, a chance to save her and change his life for the better.
The twists and turns the plot takes from there are best left for the viewer to discover. Suffice it to say that David gets stuck in a situation which complicates itself by the minute, and the particular grim secrets behind this white picket fence corner of suburbia are every bit as weird as anything David Lynch ever did.
Saul raises interesting questions about fate. Mainly, whether or not it is good to dwell on past mistakes. Sure, we all would like a chance to make things right, but that in a way is tempting fate, and it doesn't mean we would be better off. David has a path he must follow in life, however grim, and changing it surprisingly only brings about new problems. Not that the film is a deep and thoughtful rumination on human existence; these are only surface concerns, but they do give food for thought.
It's a well-constructed thriller which manages to clearly convey its convoluted time travel plot (a device which can tie any filmmaker up in knots trying to explain it). It keeps an audience on its toes wondering what will happen next, and the increasingly preposterous twists lead to an over-the-top climax involving gunfire and car crashes; possibly not the best way to end a film which had been quietly building itself up, but it works.
The Door is as over-the-top as any Hollywood thriller, but with its unpredictable narrative, it can still hold surprises for the viewer. Time travel stories are usually shaky if a viewer thinks about them too much, so in this case it's better to just enjoy the entertaining ride and not ask questions.
The Audi Festival of German Films is held at Melbourne's Kino Cinemas and Palace Cinema Como, from 22 April to 02 May, with additional dates in Adelaide (07-09 May), Brisbane (28 April - 04 May), Perth (22-26 April) and Sydney (21 April - 02 May).