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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 17 October 2023

The actors’ strike continues in Hollywood and this has allowed a few smaller films, which would not otherwise be released here, to sneak into Australian cinemas.  That’s a good thing in the case of Oink.  It’s a stop motion animated feature to come from Viking Film, a production company established in 2011 and based in The Netherlands.  The version we’re seeing uses English voices (it’s all very seamless) to ensure it’s more accessible for younger audiences.

The storyline is incredibly cute.  A 9-year-old vegan girl named Gretchen is gifted a pet pig as a birthday present from her estranged grandfather.  Suffice to say her parents aren’t pleased.  They don’t want a filthy, noisy, untrained animal messing up the house and destroying the backyard vegetable garden.  Further, they can’t understand Grandad’s motivations.  Given he’s a former butcher who has made a life out of breeding pigs and turning them into award-winning pork sausages, they’re confused as to why he suddenly sees the creatures as adorable pets.

I love the way director Mascha Halberstad blends high-tone with low-tone.  There are scenes where the pig, given the name Oink, is pooping all over the house (there’s lots of it!) and causing a ruckus when sent off to “puppy” school.  I’m a mature adult (well, at least I think so) but even I get a childish laugh at what can be achieved on screen with claymation poo!  Kids should find it hilarious.

These goofy laughs are offset by darker humour and more serious narratives.  In interviews for the film’s promotion, Halberstad has spoken about her love of Roald Dahl books and the way they feature characters who are both charming and villainous.  It’s a big reason she was drawn to the source material of Oink, a book authored by Tosca Menten.  I don’t want to give too much away but the film gets a little scary in places and offers up lessons for younger crowds.

Much effort goes into stop motion and it’s no surprise to see the film clock in at just 72 minutes.  It’s more than enough though.  There’s no unnecessary padding, no unnecessary subplots.  It couldn’t crack a nomination at the Academy Awards (I’d have voted for it) but it did earn a nod at the 2022 European Film Awards (where is lost to No Dogs or Italians Allowed).  It also picked up the award for best feature at the 2022 Netherlands Film Festival and, confirming my own view, this again illustrates its appeal with people of all ages.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 03 October 2023

We’re less than three months out from the end of 2023 and the nominations will soon be determined for the AACTA Awards, honouring the best in Australian cinema.  Personal favourites of mine thus far include Of an Age and Talk to Me but a new entry to add to the list is Shayda.  The buzz has been strong since it won the Audience Award in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition category at the Sundance Film Festival back in January.

Inspired by the upbringing of writer-director Noora Niasari, the film is set in 1990s and is centred on Shayda (Ebrahimi), an Iranian mother living in a women’s shelter in Melbourne.  Through a series of conversations with the shelter’s caring manager (Purcell), we develop a detailed understanding of Shayda’s backstory.

She had temporarily relocated to Australia with her husband, Hossein (Sami), and her 6-year-old daughter, Mona (Zahednia), while he studied to become a doctor at a local university.  The plan was for Hossein to graduate and then the family return to Iran.  However, after being subject to physical and mental abuse by her domineering husband, Shayda used the opportunity to escape his control and found refuge at the shelter.  It’s a lifeline available in Australia and its Western cultures that would not otherwise be available back in Iran.

The film delves into several interesting subplots.  It looks at language barriers and the difficulty of a non-English speaking person seeking legal help in a country like Australia.  It explores the psyche of a 6-year-old girl who doesn’t understand her parent’s separation and why she is not living in her usual home.  It illustrates the ongoing trauma associated with domestic violence and the difficulty of doing daily chores (like shopping) while constantly looking over one’s shoulder.  It taps into the rigidity of Middle Eastern cultures and, as shown by a phone conversation involving Shayda’s mother, an unwillingness to believe a wife’s denunciation of her husband.

Guided by Niasari’s screenplay, the cast are meticulous in imparting each character’s emotions onto the audience.  This is most evident during a get-together late in the film where the tension ratchets up to very high levels.  You’ll feel the gravity of the situation and its consequences.  While it feels unfair to single anyone out, Zar Amir Ebrahimi is especially good in the title role.  This adds further weight to her impressive resume which includes the Best Actress prize at last year’s Cannes Film Festival (for Holy Spider).

Submitted as the Australian entry for Best International Feature at next year’s Academy Awards, Shayda is a superb, thought-provoking piece of cinema.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 10 October 2023

Writer-director François Ozon (8 Women) talks about this latest film as paying “tribute to the wittiness of American screwball comedies from the 1930s.”  It’s an apt description.  The Crime is Mine is an off-the-rails French comedy that becomes more outlandish with each scene.  Actors deliberately overplay their respective characters, and goofy plot twists are used at any opportunity.

Also set in the 1930s, it’s centred on a struggling actress, Madeleine (Tereszkiewicz), who has been accused of murdering a renowned film/theatre producer and stealing 300,000 francs.  She’s innocent of the crime but, in teaming up with her conniving lawyer housemate (Marder), she pleads guilty and goes to a full public trial.

Her rationale is both risky and brilliant.  She will take the witness stand, lie about what happened, proclaim it was self-defence, and be then exonerated by a sympathetic jury.  Given the notoriety of the deceased producer, the trial will receive front page news across France.  If you can connect the dots, this will then provide Madeleine with her own fame which she can use to kickstart a long, successful career on the stage.  She’s got nothing to lose… well, except her freedom.  It’s reminiscent of what Roxie Hart was trying to do in the Broadway musical Chicago.

As assortment of supporting characters have a part to play with well-known actors Dany Boon (Welcome to the Sticks), Fabrice Luchini (Women on the 6^th Floor), and Isabelle Huppert (Elle) chiming in with their distinctive roles.  The cast are enjoying themselves and, to an extent, their zaniness is imparted on the audience.  I only wish the script was tighter.  Several scenes drag on too long (like the courtroom stuff) but that said, the film finishes on a high.  The best material is saved for the final act which wraps up the narrative in a fun, twisting way.

If looking for a new comedy which pays homage to old ones, The Crime is Mine fits the bill.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 03 October 2023

This may be the 6^th film in the stop-start Exorcist franchise but based on the opening hour and the lack of supernatural happenings, you’d think you were watching a different movie.  That’s not necessarily a bad thing.  Director David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express) builds a credible relationship between a single father, Victor (Odom Jr), and his teenage daughter, Angela (Jewett).  It’s that delicate, inevitable time where she’d rather hang out with her own friends than her not-so-exciting dad.

What follows is any parent’s worst nightmare – Angela doesn’t return home from school one evening.  The police become involved, the nearby forest is scoured, personal belongings turn up… but there’s no sign of Angela.  Another student, Katherine, has also gone missing and security camera footage from the school shows the pair were together when last seen.  A panicked Victor struggles to keep his emotions in check – a natural reaction given the circumstances.

Then, three days later, the two girls are found by a stranger in the back of a barn.  They have no sense of time (they didn’t even realise they were missing) and cannot explain what happened to them.  A doctor gives them a clean bill of health and they return home.  It’s at this point, roughly half-way through the movie, where the demonic elements are introduced.  Both Angela and Katherine start doing some really weird stuff and, guided by a next-door neighbour (Dowd) who has seen this kind of thing before, a priest and a shrewd veteran (Burstyn) are called in for assistance.

It builds to a lacklustre finale where the only surprise is the lack of originality.  I realised a film called “The Exorcist” should contain an exorcism but when that moment finally arrives, it’s a bland, tiring, not-so-scary one.  This might have shocked audiences back in 1973 when the first movie was released but it feels “dated” today.  The horror genre is continually evolving and when you compare The Exorcist: Believer with more adventurous material, such as this year’s surprise hit Talk to Me, its limitations become even clearer.

Academy Award nominee Leslie Odom Jr (One Night in Miami) is the standout cast member with his performance as the softly spoken Victor.  The rest don’t have much to work with.  While it’s nice to see 90-year-old Ellen Burstyn (Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore) reprise one of her most famous roles, her involvement is little more than a heightened, unnecessary cameo.  Without giving too much away, the use of her character in the final act is laughably bad.

Intended to kickstart a new trilogy, The Exorcist: Believer starts with a bang but finishes with a whimper.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 09 October 2023

Drawing from Philippe Besson’s 2017 novel, Lie with Me is an engaging French film with the ideal blend of comedy, drama, and love.  It’s centred on Stéphane Belcourt (de Tonquédec), a globally recognised romance writer who has returned to his childhood hometown for the first time in 35 years.  He’s been selected as the keynote speaker at an annual Cognac festival – an obligation which add-on commitments such as book signings, media interviews, and formal dinners.

The trip brings back a flood of memories which are illustrated by director Olivier Peyon through use of flashbacks.  It was in his final year of high school that then 17-year-old Stéphane (Gillet) fell in love for the first time.  Stéphane was an openly gay teenager but the object of his affection, Lucas Andrieu (Belmondo), remained in the closet – partly because of his insecurity and partly because of his conservative parents.

Largely confined to the bedroom and other secluded locations, it was a love affair which lasted only a few months before the school year ended and Lucas moved to Spain to work on his family’s farm.  The pair never saw each other again.  While much has happened to Stéphane in the decades which followed, the memories of that first love remain vivid and, while he’ll coyly deny it in public, they’ve served as inspiration for many of his most successful books.

The catalyst for the current day drama arrives in the form of a young man, Thomas (de Saint-Jean), who is acting as festival tour guide for a group of wealthy Americans.  He is Lucas’s son and when Stéphane draws the connection, it creates as many questions as it does answers.  Where is Lucas today?  Does Thomas know about the teenage tryst his father had with Stéphane?  Is this all just a crazy coincidence?

The concept could easily come across as phoney and contrived, but the four-person screenwriting team make it work and the performances are superb.  There are so many great individual moments.  From a scene where Stéphane meets Lucas’s elderly mother… to a subplot involving a visit to a hidden lake, Lie with Me will, most likely, generate an emotional response from audiences.  To help break up the poignancy, Guilaine Londez adds a splash of comedy with her performance as a stressed festival organiser.

Bolstered by a great music score from experimental composer Thylacine, Lie with Me is a beautiful, interesting story.