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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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French School Taken Hostage in Melbourne
FILMINK’s MIFF correspondent gives us the latest on the festival’s fantastic films. by Anthony Roberts | August 08, 2009 13:54
Skirt Day is a drama/comedy from director Jean Paul Lilienfeld. The movie begins with what seems like an ordinary day in an inner city Parisian public school, as teacher Sonia struggles to control her rowdy and petulant group of multi-racial drama students. These students are crude to say the very least, hurling a swell of insults and sexual innuendo at the frustrated Sonia before she can even have her morning coffee. When Sonia intervenes in a small rift between two students, she finds one of them has a gun, and after accidently discharging a shot which hits one of the students, this ordinary day is suddenly turned on its head.
What ensues is a tense, at times funny hostage situation, as Sonia, gun in hand, attempts to teach her students Moliere. On the outside there is the customary hostage-situation hullabaloo - throngs of blood-thirsty media outlets, worried parents, a SWAT team with keyhole cameras, and a hostage negotiator going through a rough patch in his marriage. There are multiple twists and turns throughout the story, and the end is somewhat unexpected.
Skirt Day is very strong in addressing issues of race, social class, religion, and the general attitude and behaviour of youth in inner-city areas. The scenes in the drama class are really all about this, as Sonia presses her students (sometimes literally with a gun barrel), questioning their life choices and playing a little on their own insecurities. On these deeper issues, the movie probably doesn't reach the level of Laurent Cantet's recent endeavour The Class, but that's not to say it's not effective, and is obviously a different type of film. You could say this is a cross between The Class and The Negotiator, the latter a Samuel L. Jackson action flick jokingly referenced in the film.
Isabelle Adjani does an admirable job as the frustrated Sonia, as does Denis Podalydès, who brings humour to the role of hostage negotiator Labouret. The actors who play the students are also very good, namely Sonia Amori who plays Nawel. There are times that you feel the director Lilienfeld tries to squeeze too many minor subplots into the story, and he may have been better off fleshing out some of the stronger narrative elements. He does a marvellous job with the ending however, however, and the beautiful final shot is quite poignant.