In The Valley of Elah; mystery drama film review (Advance Screening)

ESSENCE OF HUMANITY: Hank and Joan Deerfield (Tommy Lee Jones and Susan Sarandon) deal with losing another son in the film In The Valley of Elah.
Image: Warner Independent Pictures


Post-War Pains by Linh

Writer, producer and director Paul Haggis' latest film In The Valley of Elah is a mystery thriller and drama concerning a former military police investigator and war veteran, Hank Deerfield, who goes in search of his missing son, Mike, with the help of a reluctant civilian officer,Detective Emily Sanders, only to discover the horrifying truth surrounding his son's death.

In The Valley of Elah is inspired by a true story and addresses the human costs of war rather than the politics surrounding it. The title comes from the biblical story of David and Goliath where David slays Goliath in the Valley of Elah.
It's an allegory to Hank seeing himself as David who has to fight the might of the American military for the truth of his son's death and their determination to cover it up.

The ensemble cast is brilliant in handling the emotional content and ambiguous script to bring a film that goes to the heart of human conflict and tragedy with US soldiers returning from war.

Tommy Lee Jones gives an Oscar-calibre performance as Hank Deerfield who starts questioning his long held beliefs of the America he once supported, which now misuses and places its young soldiers in horrific situations, then help is not forthcoming when they return.
Jones' sincere and deeply reflective portrayal of Hank is superb and worthy of his Best Actor Oscar nomination for this film.

Charlize Theron plays Detective Emily Sanders who assists Hank Deerfield by investigating his son's disappearance. Theron does well in showing a tougher edge as the lone woman in a male dominated workplace and then a gentler side as the single mum to a young son.

Susan Sarandon has a small but pivotal role as Joan Deerfield, wife of Hank and mother of Mike, who excels as the griefstricken mother and long suffering wife of Hank in an already tense relationship.

Jonathan Tucker appears as Mike Deerfield, but only in photographs, in the grainy images recorded on his mobile phone and throughout Hank's flashbacks of his son. Tucker gives a powerful performance as the brave soldier who was serving his country, before returning to find he barely recognises himself as post-traumatic stress disorder sets in.

Cinematographer Roger Deakins' subtle lighting and excellent camerawork adds to the intrigue of Paul Haggis' script.

In The Valley of Elah is a moving and thought-provoking film that's heavy with symbolic gestures with a brutally honest depiction of the de-humanisation of soldiers fighting in a climate of fear and death, and the impact of their experiences psychologically and emotionally.

Tropfest 2008 - in Adelaide under the stars; short film festival (part two)

A film inspired by a true stoy has won first prize for Tropfest 2008. Adelaide-born and Sydney-based director Michelle Lehman was shocked but stoked to win for Marry Me, saying that everyone, "worked so hard on this film."

When she was little, Michelle Lehman recalls running after a boy named Jason in the playground while in her pretend wedding gown, which happened to be her Mum's nightie.

The mum-to-be is due to give birth in a month's time and joked that she hoped the shock of winning won't send her into early labour.

South Australia had two films in the final sixteen, William Allert's Dusk and Sarah Crowest's Looped. Looped won for Best Screenplay, but Dusk missed out on an award.

Although this year's signature theme was the 'number eight', it was interesting to note that the majority of the films amongst the sixteen finalists featured performers under the age of 18. The list of talented youngsters, including winner of the Best Female Actor Award, Jahla Bryant, appeared in The Code, Dusk, Scab, Marry Me, and Uncle Jonny.

Founder of Tropfest and creative director, John Polson said the standard and quality of the entires this year were outstanding, and announced the signature theme for next year will be 'Spring'.



Tropfest 2008 Winners:

First Prize Film - Marry Me

Runner Up Film- Uncle Jonny

Second Runner Up Film- Great White Hunters

Best Actor - Andrew Gilmour, Smitten

Best Female Actor - Jahla Bryant, Marry Me

Best Young Talent - Shardyn Fahey, The Code

Best Animation Award - Fault

Best Original Score - Craig McLean, White Lines

Best Editing - Scab

Best Screenplay - Sarah Crowest, Looped

Best Comedy - Great White Hunters

Special Tropicana - Scab

Women in Film - Jayne Montague, Glass

Tropfest 2008 - Under the stars in Adelaide; short film festival (part one)

Watch My Shorts by Linh

The iconic short film festival Tropfest returned to Adelaide after ten years and the Media Resource Centre presented the event under the stars in Rundle Park, near the Garden of Unearthly Delights.

Comedian and television/radio personality Adam Spencer hosted the event from Sydney via satellite and the programme included South Australian films and local artists providing the live entertainment.

Two South Australian films made the finals with Sarah Crowest's Looped and Will Allert's Dusk.

The sixteen finalists are:

Ascension
Dir: David Easteal (ACT)
A film about two men trapped in an elevator with no way out.

Mouse Race!
Dir: Paul Williams (VIC)
Australians will bet on anything - but mice? A fascinating and funny journey into the seedy world of amateur mouse racing.

Beggar's Belief
Dir: Colin Cairnes (VIC)
A young man, down on his luck, approaches passers-by for some spare change. His improbable tale of woe just doesn't seem to be doing the trick but a kind of soul comes along and offers him the very last thing he needs.

Smitten
Dir: Grey Rogers (QLD)
Majestic, pretty surroundings, a quiet old horse, and three sweet members of the older generation - but don't be fooled. Something sinister is about to unfold.

The Code
Dir: Murray Fahey (NSW)
Damian is the brains of his Year 7 class. He devises a secret code to pass a multiple-choice test. Will the code be broken?

Scab
Dir: Koichi Iguchi (Japan)
Cute, itchy, and hard. Do you leave it alone or eat it? Whatever you do - don't pick it.

Fault
Dir: Daniel Miller (ACT)
Animation. A creation story. A myth. Your world is your paradise, but what if you lose it? Do you get a second chance? Do you deserve one?

White lines
Dir: Craig MacLean (VIC)
When a routine bust goes horribly wrong, a rookie ignores the book and his partner by placing his career on the line to bring his man down on any cost.

Made in Australia
Dir: Monte Macpherson (SCOTLAND/AUSTRALIA)
Determined to succeed at Sony Tropfest, amateur Scottish filmmakers Peter and Brian go all out to produce a film which they know will melt the hearts of even the toughest Australian audience.

Uncle Jonny
Dir: Mark Constable (VIC)
Uncle Jonny is the best mate of a seven-year-old who daydreams during class.

Blues for the Soul
Dir: Dean Preston (TAS)
Peter Crowe gives us an insight into what music means to all of us and how it affects our well-being. Can music heal? Can it give us hope? Maybe the muic will give you the answers.

Marry Me
Dir: Michelle Lehman (SA/NSW)
A little love story about a little girl who likes a little boy and a little boy who likes his BMX bike.

Great White Hunters
Dir: Gary Doust (NSW)
Three fishing buddies set out to land "the ultimate catch".

Glass
Dir: Jayne Montague (NSW)
John's life is thrown into confusion when he is confronted by a woman late one night.

Looped
Dir: Sarah Crowest (SA)
A humourous yet darkly tinged film explores the impulse towards repetitive acts through a focus on a handful of individuals. One person's comforting routine is another's compulsion to ritualise.

Dusk
Dir: William Allert (SA)
In the summer of '77, a boy and a girl hide in the sand hills and look life in the eye.

Definitely, Maybe; romantic comedy film review

POLITICS OF LOVE: Ryan Reynolds as Will Hayes and Isla Fisher as April in a scene from Definitely, Maybe.
Image: Universal Pictures, www.movieweb.com

Definitely Friends, Maybe Lovers by Linh

Definitely, Maybe tells the story of a soon-to-be divorced father, Will Hayes, who has failed in love three times. His inquisitive daughter, Maya, asks how he met and fell in love with her mother. Will tells the story as a puzzle, with the names altered to keep his daughter guessing which of the three ladies is her mother. The film then flashes back sixteen years when Will leaves Wisconsin for New York to work on the Clinton Presidential campaign. He soon finds himself romantically involved with three very different women.

Ryan Reynolds is the well-meaning and amiable character Will Hayes, whose presence as a father and a lover is overshadowed by the females in his life, including his daughter. Reynolds downplays his character as if highlighting the roles of males in aspects of love and romance as passive while the females are the instigators and embracers of change. However, where his character's romantic ways are fallow, there is plenty of energy and enthusiasm in his work as political campaigner and consultant.

Isla Fisher sparkles on the screen as the apolitical April, whose character meets Will at the Democrats' campaign office in New York. April soon becomes Will's confidante and best friend, and they share laughs and personal stories with alcohol and cigarettes. April is one of the stronger and more complex female roles in the film which Fisher tackles deftly and with aplomb.

Rachel Weisz gives a consummate performance as Summer, a journalist for 'New Yorker' magazine, whose gentle and free-spirited exterior hides a tough and ambitious personality. Summer's fling with Will ends in heartbreak and job-loss for him, yet her resilience keeps her on top of her game.

Abigail Breslin shines in the role of Maya, Will's ten year old daughter. Maya may seem precocious at times, but mostly her cuteness factor wins over the audience.

Elizabeth Banks plays Emily, Will's wholesome and pretty college girlfriend who breaks up with him after sleeping with her room mate. Seemingly a minor role, yet Emily's actions have a far greater impact on Will than those of the other women. Banks succeeds in maintaining an air of mystery about Emily which makes the character seem hard to forget.

Definitely, Maybe is charming in its attempt to make the complications of love and relationships intriguing, yet fails to keep the momentum flowing throughout. With a romantic mystery plot combined with affable characters, Definitely, Maybe is slightly better than the usual batch of Valentine's Day film releases.

Le Scaphandre et le Papillon/The Diving Bell and The Butterfly; French arthouse film review (advance screening)

EXCEPTIONAL: Mathieu Almaric as Jean-Dominique Bauby and Marie-Josée Croze as Henriette in a scene from Le Scaphandre et le Papillon/The Diving Bell and The Butterfly.
Image: Miramax Films, www.thedivingbellandthebutterfly-themovie.com


Windows To The Soul by Linh

Le scaphandre et le papillon/The Diving Bell and The Butterfly is based on the book about the true story of French author and editor of Elle magazine Jean-Dominique Bauby, who suffers a stroke at age 43. After twenty days in a coma, he wakes to find he's almost speechless. Bauby could only move his mouth a little, grunt, and blink his left eyelid. His rare condition is called Locked-In syndrome and has been made into a moving and beautiful film.

Director Julian Schnabel had Ron Harwood's script for Le scaphandre et le papillon/The Diving Bell and The Butterfly changed from its original English version to French in order to remain true to Bauby's life story.
Schnabel and cinematographer Janusz Kaminski brilliantly provides the visual intimacy by making the camera become Bauby's eye in most scenes. This technique effectively enables the audience to experience everything from Bauby's perspective, engaging the viewer on a deeper and profound level.

Mathieu Almaric gives a commanding performance as the wheelchair bound Bauby, who is capable of exuding charisma and charm with the blink of an eye.

Marie-Josée Croze is Henriette, the speech therapist, who teaches Bauby a communication code by reciting to him the most used French letters of the alphabet and getting Bauby to blink once for 'Yes' and twice for 'No' to spell out words.
Croze is sensitive and highly spirited as the affable Henriette and manages to keep Bauby the centre of attention even though the camera (Bauby's eye) is focussed on her.

Emmanuelle Seigner plays Céline, Bauby's estranged partner and the mother of his children, whose desperate attempts to reach out to him fails. Seigner displays plenty of passion and endurance as Bauby's long suffering partner with many poignant moments of spending time with him and the children.

Max Von Sydow stars as Bauby's father Papinou, and succeeds in bringing joy in scenes before Bauby's stroke and sadness while his son becomes teary-eyed as Papinou speaks to him on the telephone.

Le Scaphandre et le Papillon/The Diving Bell and The Butterfly is a cinematic marvel that combines present scenes with flashbacks of Bauby enjoying life to the fullest with a successful career, surrounded by beautiful women and spending time with his children and his father. It also takes the viewer into the vividly wild imagination of a man who feels trapped inside his body; underwater and immobile like a diving bell, yet his consciousness is free and flits about energetically like a butterfly.