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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 29 April 2006

Georges (Auteuil) and Anne (Binoche) are in their living room watching a video tape.  On the tape is a long, unedited shot of their house taken from across the street.  It was left at their front door in a plastic bag with no note.  The tape includes footage of Georges leaving for work and walking right past the camera.  Both he and his wife can’t believe that he didn’t see it.  They are also confused as to why it has been sent and who made it.  Is it a prank?

Their curiosity turns to anxiety when another tape is left at the front door.  It too has been left in a plastic bag at the front door.  On this tape is a long, unedited shot of the house in which Georges was raised as a child.  He now realises this is not a random act.  Someone is playing a carefully considered game over which he has no control.

A third tape arrives.  This time, it shows a street sign, an apartment building and a door with a number on it.  Georges follows the clues from the video and locates the door.  He knocks.  The door opens.  Standing in the doorway is a man he doesn’t immediately recognise.  Then, he does.

That’s about as much information as I’m willing to give.  I’d love to give you more but that would be spoiling a film which absolutely must be seen.  With five minutes, this film had grabbed me by the back of the neck and wasn’t letting go.  Hidden is two hours of increasing, unrelenting suspense.  You will analyse every conversation and scrutinise every facial expression with the hope of finding some hint as to who is behind the video tapes.  It’s the ultimate mind-boggler in the tradition of Reservoir Dogs and The Usual Suspects.

At this point, I will issue a strong warning.  The ending is open to interpretation and not all the questions will be answered.  If you are a moviegoer who likes everything wrapped up at the end, this film will feel pointless.  If you do take it on, I’ll offer some advice and that is to pay very close attention to who is in the final scene.  Intrigued yet? 

I saw Hidden with two friends and we were still discussing it the next day.  The more we thought about it, the more we appreciated the craftiness of writer-director Michael Haneke (The Piano Teacher).  In the film, someone is playing a game with Georges.  In the cinema, Haneke is playing a game with us.  He’s only showing us what he wants us to see.  It reminded me very much of David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive.

Haneke’s ability to create tension is what separates the film from your usual thriller.  There is no soundtrack and many scenes contain next-to-no dialogue.  He doesn’t want us to feel comfortable in the theatre and this is exemplified by a scene late in the film.  It is so shocking and so unexpected that people were literally screaming at the session I attended.

Hidden has been showered with awards including the best director prize at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival.  It also won best picture, best director and best actor at the European Film Awards (honouring the best of European cinema).  It’s remarkable!

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 19 April 2006

American Dreamz is a sharp comedy which pokes fun at the world’s obsession with reality television shows.  It centres on a high-rating show called American Dreamz in which wanna-be singers get the chance to perform in front of a massive television audience.  Each week, several singers are voted out until there is one person left standing.  If you haven’t picked up on it yet, it’s a take-off of American Idol.

The host of the show is Martin Tweed (Grant), a complicated man who finds misery in success.  He hates the show but does it for the fame and the money.  Tweed wants to spice up the new series of the show and so when his assistants ask what kind of person he’s looking for he responds with “I’m talking human.  And by human I mean flawed.  And by flawed I mean freaks.  Find me some freaks.”

The pick of the crop is Sally Kendoo (Moore).  She’s a great singer and a great manipulator.  With the help of a phoney New York agent, she plans on using every trick in the book to win the audience’s vote.    Also in the running is an Iraqi by the name of Omer (Golzari).  Omer is in America to help carry out a terrorist operation but a strange twist of fate sees him selected to appear.

As large subplot in the film is that of newly re-elected President Joe Staton (Quaid).  The bumbling President has recently had some bad publicity and so his Chief of Staff (Dafoe) has organised for him to appear at the grand final of American Dreamz as a celebrity judge.  I’m not convinced that the President is a necessary character in this film but Dennis Quaid provides some great laughs in the role.

American Dreamz is entertaining from the very first scene.  It has one of the biggest casts of the year and that’s a tribute to the script written by Paul Weitz (American Pie, About A Boy, In Good Company).  They clearly wanted to be a part of the project and some of the actors have accepted roles which are smaller than you’d expect.  Hugh Grant, Mandy Moore and Willem Dafoe are particularly good.

There are a few terrorist references in the film which may be off-putting to some but those who love a darker-style of comedy will have their “dreamz” realised.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 24 April 2006

It’s not often that a horror film is rated R here in Australia.  We’ve seen two though in the last two months – Hostel first and now The Hills Have Eyes.  I think the only reason I go to these violent horror flicks is to see how far they are prepared to “push the envelope”.  We have become more and more desensitised to violence over the years and filmmakers have to find new ways to scare us silly.

For this reason, there is no point recommending this film to anyone perturbed by bloodshed.  You won’t find any Oscar-worthy performances or anything resembling a realistic storyline.  You only need see this flick if you want a fright and in my honest opinion, you won’t even get that.  For all the fake blood and special effects that are used, I was never on the edge of my seat.  The Aussie slasher flick Wolf Creek was rated MA and offered much more in the scary department.

The Hills Have Eyes is set in an isolated part of the American desert.  A family on a sight-seeing expedition have become stranded when their car (and attached campervan) crashes on a lonely, dirt road.  This is no accident.

Many years ago, the American military performed nuclear tests in the desert.  The resulting radiation had a catastrophic effect on a small number of miners working in the area at the time.  They became deformed and their intent on revenge has seen them develop a taste for human blood.  This won’t be the first time they’ve preyed on an unassuming family…

The movie is actually a remake of Wes Craven film of the same name which was released in 1977.  There’s no denying that this new film is violent but as I hinted at earlier, it doesn’t add up to much.  There are standard killings and standard close escapes.  Even fans of the horror genre will be disappointed.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 17 April 2006

The Australian military had fought in wars before but it wasn’t until 1942 that our own home soil faced its first serious attack.  Japanese soldiers landed in Papua New Guinea (which at the time was an Australian colony) and tried to take control.  Considered key by both the Australians and the Japanese was the inland village of Kokoda.  It was home to an airstrip and many other valuable supplies.  Over the course of the six month battle, control of Kokoda changed several times.

The Kokoda Trail linked the northern coast of Papua New Guinea (where the Japanese landed) with the southern coast (where the Australians landed).  It was on this rough, mountainous path where many of the battles took place.  In all, more than 600 Australians were killed.  Australia took control of Kokoda once and for all in November 1942 and the Japanese had fully retreated by January 1943.

It has been over 60 years since the end of World War II and there are many who have forgotten or aren’t familiar with the incredible job that was done by the Australian military.  It sounds like a cliché but we could be a very different country today had Australia not defended so resolutely.  This film serves as the perfect medium for bringing the story of the Kokoda soliders back into the spotlight.  Its release date, just five days before Anzac Day, is no coincidence.

The full Kokoda story is too long to bring to the screen and so the film focuses instead on a small group of soldiers in the 39^th battalion who have become cut-off from their comrades.  Under continual attack from the Japanese, they try to negotiate the arduous terrain and make it back it base.  They have no food, no radios and no medication to treat their illnesses and injuries.  Not all will make it back alive.

Based on a true story, you’d be forgiven if you thought this was a huge war blockbuster with a multi-million dollar budget.  It reminded me very much of Terrence Malick’s The Thin Red Line (which cost over $50m).  Kokoda is a film of the highest quality and a great endorsement of the talent in the Australian film industry.  We know how to fight and we know how to make great movies!

Kokoda is the first full-length feature from young director Alister Grierson.  It’s a wonderful debut and making it even more astonishing is the fact that Grierson graduated from the Australian Film, Television and Radio School just two years ago.  You’ll be interested to know the film was not shot in Papua New Guinea but rather the Gold Coast Hinterland (due to costing restraints).  You can’t tell the difference.

In August last year, I correctly proclaimed Look Both Ways to be the film to beat at Australian Film Institute Awards.  Kokoda is the clear frontrunner for the prize in 2006 and its intense, confrontational look at the Kokoda battle will leave a lasting memory.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 24 April 2006

19-year-old Tsotsi (Chweneyagae) is the leader of a small gang.  He and his crew roam the streets of Johannesburg looking for people to steal from.  There’s no excuse for his actions but you have to feel somewhat sympathetic for Tsotsi.  He was orphaned at a young age, never properly educated and lives in a shack in a poor, depressed community.  The chance to earn a decent living isn’t there and never will be.

On a fateful evening, Tsotsi heads to the wealthy side of town and steals a car from a woman who is parked outside her luxurious home.  The screaming woman resists and Tsotsi shoots her through the chest.  Leaving her on the driveway, he takes the car and flees.

It is not until he has driven some distance that he realises there is a newborn baby in the backseat.  Tsotsi’s first instinct is to leave the baby in the abandoned car but deep down, he knows he can’t do it.  He takes the baby back to his home and tries to take care of it whilst deciding what to do next.

As each day passes, the situation becomes more and more desperate.  He has no idea how to look after a baby and keeping her presence a secret from the other members of his gang is proving difficult.  The police are also closing in after the mother (who survived the shooting) provided a composite sketch of her attacker.  Conflicted as to what to do next, Tsotsi faces the toughest decision of his life…

The one film festival award I value above all others is the People’s Choice Award and the Toronto Film Festival.  More great films screen at Toronto than at any other festival and previous winners of this prize have included Hotel Rwanda (2004), Whale Rider (2002), Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (2000) and American Beauty (1999).  Tsotsi took the honours in 2005 and went on to win the Academy Award for best foreign language film.  That’s not bad for a small film shot a tight budget (just $3m).

Tsotsi is based on a novel by Athol Fugard and has been brought to the screen by Gavin Hood, a South African born director who went to film school in the United States.  The absorbing story and the force of its characters make it impossible not to be drawn in.  You will feel for Tsotsi but also for the people he has hurt.  How will you feel about it?