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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 24 January 2021

The first Australian feature film was made in 1906 (The Story of the Kelly Gang) but it took another half-century until we saw the first Aussie movie with Indigenous actors in leading roles (Jedda in 1955).  Progress since then has been slow but steady.  Over the past two decades, films such as Rabbit-Proof Fence, The Tracker, Ten Canoes, The Sapphires, Samson and Delilah, Mystery Road and The Nightingale have played their part in opening the world’s eyes to Aboriginal history, culture and stories.

High Ground is a fictional tale set in the 1920s and 30s but it’s inspired by events that took place across the era.  It begins with a group of trigger-happy white soldiers who lose their composure on a routine mission through Arnhem Land and kill a small tribe of Aboriginal men, women and children.  The aftermath is just as horrifying.  No soldiers are punished and the white authorities pretend it never happened.  This doesn’t sit well with a sniper named Travis (Baker), one of the few not involved in the massacre, who resigns from his post and takes on a new life as a crocodile hunter.

The film then pans 12 years into the future and lays out a complex scenario.  Baywarra (Mununggurr), an Aboriginal elder connected with the murdered tribe, has bide his time and now seeks vengeance. He and his “wild mob” are setting fire to farms and houses and, as expected, this has raised the ire of the arrogant police chief (Thompson) who wants Baywarra stopped at any cost.

Two unlikely people find themselves caught in the middle and trying to negotiate a truce so as to avoid further bloodshed. The first is the retired Travis who is lured back into service - partly because of his conscience and partly because his strings are being pulled like a puppet. The second is Gutjuk (Nayinggul), a 20-year-old Aboriginal man with divided loyalties given he’s been raised by a white missionary family since a small child.

The strongest selling point of High Ground is the lead performance of Jacob Junior Nayinggul in what is his first acting gig.  Director Stephen Maxwell Johnson made Nayinggul and other non-traditional Aboriginal actors feel comfortable by creating an open space with no rehearsals.  They understood the story as well as anyone and so it was simply a matter of letting them get into the moment and craft something truthful and honest.

The film isn’t as successful in balancing up its numerous subplots.  Characters played by Aaron Pedersen, Ryan Corr and Caren Pistorius feel underdeveloped and we don’t fully appreciate their perspectives and their role within the era.  The fact it’s such a chaotic narrative, where you’re never sure to whom allegiances lie, also makes it difficult to understand the reasons behind some decisions.

Making the most of its Northern Territory setting, High Ground reminds us that the Australia we know today is the result of a darker, troubled past.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 07 January 2021

A period piece with minimal dialogue about two quiet, repressed woman who collaborate on a project, take walks along a rocky coastline, and ultimately have a short, passionate love affair that sticks with them forever.  If it sounds like a movie you want to see, I’d suggest streaming/buying Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire (one of my top 10 movies of 2019).  Its emotions resonate strongly, the performances are outstanding, and every scene has been thought through in immaculate detail.

In creating Ammonite, British writer-director Francis Lee (God’s Own Country) uses an analogous storyline and adopts similar techniques but when making the comparison, it feels a lesser version of Sciamma’s film.  It’s still worth seeing but the leading characters are less interesting and their development feels more stilted.  It’s a long wait to get to the film’s emotional punch.

Set in the 1840s, Lee has made the curious decision to create a fictional love story involving real-life people.  Mary Anning was a pioneering palaeontologist who roamed the English shoreline and unearthed Jurassic fossils during the first half of the 19^th century.  Some of her discoveries can be viewed today in London’s Natural History Museum.  You’ll find her name in modern day encyclopaedias but she wasn’t well known at the time given the sexist, male-dominated nature of her industry (e.g. the Geological Society of London didn’t admit women as members until 1904).

Portrayed in the film by Oscar winner Kate Winslet (The Reader), the Mary Anning we’re introduced to is a rude, abrupt woman.  She’s living just above the poverty line and she resides with her nagging mother (avoiding small talk wherever possible) in a small home that also serves as her workshop.  You get a sense that continual disappointments throughout her life, both personally and professionally, have worn her down to the point where she cares about very little.

It’s at work where she’s introduced to Charlotte Murchison (Ronan), a melancholic woman trapped in a loveless, one-sided marriage.  Her husband (McArdle) is a geologist off on a 6-week European expedition and while away, he asks Mary to provide his wife with support and friendship.  Mary wants nothing to do with the idea but the offer of financial reward is too hard to overlook.

It 's a lengthy wait (the above takes about an hour to establish) but a relationship finally develops between the pair.  Charlotte comes alive with a burst of excitement and happiness and these same personality traits are taken on by Mary who lets down her guard.  Their fervent love scenes make quite a contrast from their frosty first meeting.

Ammonite could have used more pace during the first two acts but the climax and worthy performances of stars Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan provide ample compensation.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 19 January 2021

Given it’s a rite of passage to be swooped by an attacking magpie here in Australia, the idea of a family adopting one as a playful, loveable pet sounds a little far-fetched.  Thankfully, any believability issues are dispensed by the fact Penguin Bloom is based on a true story.  Some will have read the popular 2016 biography, authored by Bradley Trevor Greive, while others might remember a feature story on 60 Minutes from 2018.  The level of public interest in this tale clearly contributed to the film rights been snapped up so quickly after the book’s original release.

We’ve seen live action movies involving stunts animals (everything from dogs and cats to bears and horses) but director Glendyn Ivin was sceptical about how to do the same with one of Australia’s most famous wild birds.  It wasn’t until he reached out to a “bird whisperer” from Queensland that he realised a magpie could be trained to do the movements and tricks we see on screen.  It reduced the need for costly digital effects and, despite a few bird scenes feeling cobbled together from inconsistent shots, it gives the film a sense of credibility.

In terms of narrative, there are two prominent stories being told.  The first is the aforementioned light, feathery yarn where the oldest son, Noah (Murray-Johnston), finds the abandoned magpie on the beach, takes it back home, and nurtures it with the help of other family members.  Yes, it makes annoying noises and yes, it poops everywhere but they turn out to be minor quibbles given the positive way it brings the household together (particularly the impressionable kids).

The second story is heavier, deeper.  Noah’s mother, Sam (Watts), was recently paralysed from the waist down after falling 6 metres off a balcony while on a Thai holiday.  Everyone wants to help, particularly her mother (Weaver) and husband (Lincoln), but Sam is stuck is a pit of self-loathing and continually pushes people away.  The memories of her prior life, where she was a well-liked nurse and an active surfer, further contribute to her negativity as she mopes in bed.

It’s not hard to predict how things will unfold and when it comes to analogies, the writers are laying it on thick.  There’s even a sequence where Sam points out that Penguin has wings but can’t fly and that she has legs but can’t walk – part of the reason the two forge a bond.  Noah also offers up some profound narration which feels over-written given his young age.

Whilst character development is lacking in places (particularly the husband the two youngest kids), Penguin Bloom delivers as an inspiring, feel-good tale about overcoming adversity, and as another opportunity to appreciate the talent of New Zealand actress Rachel House.  Her arrival midway through the film, as a kayaking instructor trying to build Sam’s confidence, gives the film a huge boost.  House received the New Zealand Order of Merit (in 2017) but she deserves a damehood from the Queen given her ability to improve any movie she appears in.

Shot in the actual home where the real Bloom family live (they moved out for a few months to allow the shoot to occur), Penguin Bloom will win most people over.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 04 January 2021

While I have a few issues with the script (we’ll get to that in a moment), there’s no doubting that writer-director Emerald Fennell (Killing Eve) and actor Carey Mulligan (An Education) have created one of the year’s most intriguing characters.  Cassie (Mulligan) is a 30-year-old woman who dropped out of medical school, works in a dead-end coffee shop, and still lives at home with her parents.  She sounds like the kind of person who belongs in a movie like Office Space or Failure to Launch.

There’s so much more to Cassie however.  Her best friend committed suicide after being raped at a party several years ago and it’s as if every subsequent decision in her life has been shaped by that event.  Cassie originally sought justice through traditional channels (going to the police, talking to college administration) but when that amounted to nought, she ceased her studies, gave up on a career and devoted her life towards a more vengeful cause.

 Her “work” is demonstrated in the film’s opening scene.  She goes to a crowded bar alone, pretends to be inebriated and, like a spider spinning a web, waits to snare her prey.  Her goal, and it’s a dangerous one, is to be picked up by a sleazy guy who will take her home for non-consensual sex.  At the last possible moment, she reveals her sobriety and shifts the power dynamic in an instant.

A catalyst is required to create change and it arrives in the form of Dr Ryan Cooper (Burnham), a man from Cassie’s past who bumps into her at the coffee shop.  Their first encounter (it involves spitting in a coffee cup) is a memorable one.  Cassie is standoffish at first but a romantic connection soon develops and it’s not long before she’s questioning her current lifestyle.  Can she trust another man and fall in love again?

Promising Young Woman is loaded with interesting, provocative ideas but the contrived nature of the storyline makes it difficult to fully buy into.  Given how untrustworthy Cassie is of men, it’s hard to believe she could so overwhelming fall for a man with a connection, albeit a loose one, to her deceased best friend.  Was there not one genuine guy she met while frequenting bars each night?  I wish the film had of put the foot on the throttle and gone flat-out crazy instead of stalling with these manufactured, semi-redemptive moments during the second act.

Limitations aside, Fennell’s first feature film is still a memorable one.  From the difficult subject matter… to the splashes of dark comedy… to the distinctive music score of Anthony Willis, Promising Young Woman provides an unsettling experience where you’re not always sure what lies ahead.  Carey Mulligan excels in the lead and it again shows her versatility as an actor and her willingness to take on challenging roles.  It’s a film worth seeing.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 14 January 2021

If you visit room 41 at London’s British Museum, you’ll find an array of precious artifacts from an Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the early 7^th century.  Their discovery in 1939, labelled as one of the great archaeological finds of all time, is the subject of The Dig.  Australian director Simon Stone (The Daughter) and English screenwriter Moira Buffini (Jane Eyre, Viceroy’s House) have drawn from the John Preston’s 2007 novel – a work described as part historical, part fictional.

A two-hour movie about an archaeological dig may not sound like riveting cinema but those involved have done a wonderful job in making this tale both interesting and genuine.  A significant chunk of the credit belongs to Carey Mulligan (An Education) and Ralph Fiennes (The English Patient) who bring the two leading characters to life through their moving, subtle performances.

Mulligan plays Edith Pretty, a wealthy widower who lives with her young son on an expansive estate in Suffolk, England.  She’s always been curious about a series of man-made mounds on the southern part of the property and so, after years of procrastination, she’s hired the services of an amateur archaeologist to learn if anything of value lies beneath.  His name is Basil Brown (Fiennes) and he’s a married, subdued, not-so-wealthy man who has taken the job as much for the money (he’s handsomely paid) as for the experience.

I’m not sure we have a word for it in the English language but what develops between the two is more than a friendship but less than love.  They increasingly rely upon each other for advice and support but, knowing that Basil is happily married with a kind-hearted wife, they never “cross the line” into anything sexual.  When the dig bears fruit, they become a formidable pair as they push back against many advice-givers and decide what to do with their discovery.  The imminent threat of war (World War II was about to kick off) adds a layer of complexity.

This film is strongest when Mulligan and Fiennes share the screen and conversely, it’s weaker when devoting time to other characters involved with the excavation.  The most obvious is a love triangle between other archaeologists that feels like it’s only been included to satisfy romantics.  It’s cliched, poorly fleshed out and adds little to the broader story.

Helping bring to light a remarkable piece of British history that few will be familiar with, The Dig tells a damn good tale.