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Men In Black 3

It’s not a sequel that needed to be made, but thanks to the charm of its leads and a tone that harks back to the wit and humour of the original, it’s a pretty enjoyable trip.

Bel Ami

The excellent female support cast saves this patchy effort, which is let down by its leading man and a flat screenplay.

The Dictator

A disappointing, often repulsive and mean-spirited mess of a film with seemingly only one real criterion on its agenda: to shock and offend.

The Woman In Black

Packed with atmosphere, this old-fashioned but deftly told ghost story delivers ample chills and thrills.

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Tea With Madame Clos (Film)

by Annette Basile | October 18, 2010 15:46 | Edited November 09, 2010 09:26

The occasional moments of wonder and wisdom are outweighed by the overall dullness and humdrum pace.

There's a romantic notion that you can point a camera into any life and there would be a movie in it. This documentary proves that's not the case. Filmed in the southern French medieval hamlet of Lauzerte, Australian filmmaker Jane Oehr recorded the life of the undeniably charming, ninety-something Madame Clos over four years. We watch her as she shops, peels vegetables, talks to the postie, cooks, ambles into the sleepy village, talks to the postie again, and sees her neighbour play (a fairly rudimentary) accordion. What should be a celebration of daily life is instead all rather humdrum - even if the idea of getting inside a medieval French village is appealing.

Tea With Madame Clos is not about Oehr herself, yet it's an example of too-personal filmmaking. Oehr is fascinated by Madame Clos; by the nonagenarian's optimism and appreciation of the little things in life. But the director/narrator has not grabbed hold of a narrative thread or been able to transfer her fascination to the viewer. Madame Clos is mildly amused by Oehr's presence, and playfully calls the Australian a "voyeur". But Madame Clos has the kind of wisdom that you would hope to find in one in their 90s. She stops to smell the roses, delights in the beauty of a clear blue sky, and when her spacious, ancient house is invaded by the high volume sounds from the nearby schoolyard, she says it brings "life" inside.

Documentaries like this are often culled from perhaps 40, 50 or even 100 hours of footage, but Oehr, who did the excellent camera work herself, only shot around 20 hours and, just maybe, that's part of the problem. There are too few moments of wonder and wisdom and too many moments of just plain dull.

 

There is something to learn from Madame Clos but it's a slow day in life's classroom.