Art Smitten

Ben interviews film director Rebecca Zlotowski about her latest feature, Planetarium, starring Lily-Rose Depp and Natalie Portman, which is being screened in the Alliance Française French Film Festival.

Click here to listen to our interview with the festival's Artistic Director, Philippe Platel.

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David Stratton is a pioneer in both critiquing films, and Australian films themselves. If you ever want to be a critic, you should take a good look at some of Stratton’s reviews, as they emphasis what is important about filmmaking, and how to perfectly break it down, dissect it, and give a professional opinion. David Stratton: A Cinematic Life, reveals a lot more about the man behind a critical perspective than you would ever imagine. However, it also reveals things that you could assume and gather from him, as a bit of Stratton is in every one of his reviews which have been in Variety, The Movie Show and At The Movies.

Directed by Sally Aitken, the documentary does more than just explore David Stratton’s fascinating life; it gives a wonderful homage to Australian cinema, and how far its come over the years. The documentary is wonderfully broken down by certain Australian films, and how the both impact and reflect Stratton’s life. I feel bad saying that the majority of films on screen that are shown are one’s that I haven’t seen before, and I’m not alone in this. A lot of the crowd murmured at moments when a new or unknown film came up, but the best part about this is that we all have gained something new to watch once we get out of the theatre. The documentary does give a bit of a jumbled and out of order description of Stratton’s life, and it does occasionally become a bit confusing to follow. Some of the relations to films and how Stratton’s life was impacted by them do come across as a bit of a stretch to, however there always needs to be a bit of disbelief in films like these.

In addition to seeing the film, we were treated to a live q&a with the man himself afterwards. Stratton expanded upon his experiences reviewing films, and creating the documentary, such as how he went about writing his narration for the film (he edited the director written speeches when he thought they weren’t good enough) and how the director hadn’t seen any Australian films, nor had she heard of Stratton himself. Following this, questions for the crowd were allowed, and surprisingly I had one up my sleeve which i pleasantly got to ask first. It was quite nice for the crowd to laugh at my question, “will you be reviewing this film?”, but nicer that Stratton joked along, telling us that he’d leave it up to other reviewers to break the film down, but judging by our response, we liked it. Or, that he hoped we had liked it.

Going into the film, I didn’t assume I would enjoy it a great deal. It’s not because the film is about David Stratton himself, more because I didn’t think it would be possible to make a documentary about a critic interesting. That is what David Stratton: A Cinematic Life, does best however. It’s a surprise, a pleasant surprise, one that you don’t get to be rewarded with much nowadays. Stratton is a highly interesting, and singular man, however there's also, and it sounds funny saying it, a bit of David Stratton in all of us. We are all critical of something, be it film, music or life. We are critical because we love what it is about, we are critical because we’re seeking the best of the best, to interact with anything we can, to engage and dissect and talk about why we love it or why we can’t stand it. David Stratton resonates the critic in the everyday person, and it's a glorious moment to see him rewarded with a perfectly fitting documentary which captures the films that he loves, and how they have shaped the man that he is today.

Written by Hamish Vallance

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Logan is the brand new marvel film under the banner of 20th Century Fox, adding to the long running series of X-Men Films. Logan concludes the trilogy of Wolverine, the two previous films, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and The Wolverine, being mildly successful, but for the most part not critically rated very highly. This all changes with Logan, which has been met with massive praise, easily trumping the average reviews of the previous films. However, does the film really deserve the praise? I went into Logan ready for the best superhero film I’ve ever seen, as that is what I got from the reviews. I was prepared for the best Marvel film I’ve ever seen, and I’m not a big fan of marvel films. To begin, I agree wholeheartedly that Logan is the best film in the trilogy of Wolverine films. It deals with some very real issues, the acting is great from all performances, and it reflects on the long X-Men trilogy in a simple, brutal light. However, for myself, it was not the best superhero film I’ve seen.

Logan is not a bad film, not by a long shot. Honestly, nearly up there with the best superhero films to be made in my opinion. It's up there with X-Men: Days of Future Past, Captain America: Winter Solider and Spider Man 2. These three films are what cement good superhero films to me. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is something I’m not even close to a fan of. Perhaps it's my background in film culture or script writing. Maybe I’m just a film snob. Either way, the films listed to me are the best superhero films ever made, as they present something more than just a hero and villain plot, an action sequence, and smooth editing effects. They reflect society, have a message within them, and stand out among the rest. I’m battling with the idea that Logan is up there with these three masterpieces, as it does really do a lot right when it comes to reflecting values and issues in society. Before clarifying why I didn’t love the film as much as I thought I would, I need to address what the film does shine in.

Logan is the No Country for Old Men in the Marvel Franchise. The plots are different, but the cinematography, brutality, and characters reflect the film. It's a Western at heart, the main character being a lone wolf who holds strong, moral values, and is willing to sacrifice himself to save others. The character of Logan is this clearly, a man who still holds strong values, yet is alone in an ageing and near apocalyptic society. The R18+ rating for Logan shows, and was clearly needed. Going back to watch the M rated X-Men and Wolverine films, you notice how much is lost without bloodshed and violence. I’m not advocating violence in films here, but in Logan it is a necessity. The film would not be the same without the violence which is shown, as it adds to the realism in the society the film portrays, and shows that nothing is that far from death. The performances in Logan is another aspect which shines, and defines the film. Hugh Jackman is still great as Logan, however brings something new in this installment. Logan is a lot older and more mature, and broken in this film. His limp is consistent, his yells are shaky, and his emotion is clear. Patrick Stewart however gives us something which is completely different to anything he has done previously as Professor X, and alongside this applies a message which comes from outside the film.

Professor X displays clear symptoms of dementia in Logan, due to his age. The way the film shows this idea is the backbone which make this film shine. Stewart portrays a clearly lost man, lost in his thoughts, lost in his way of life and lost in where he even is. When we are first introduced to Xavier he is rocketing around on his wheelchair yelling about random stuff, completely different to anything we’ve ever seen of him before. The most powerful moments however are the episodes that he has. A normal old person who has an episode is fair enough. It’s manageable but hard since it does affect the people around them. However this is Professor X, who has the power of telepathy. When he has an episode in the film everyone in a one mile radius are affected, and as mentioned early in the film, can kill some people. The way the film deals with dementia is simple yet explosive I thought, as easily one of the best aspects of the film. Dafne Keen does a great job as Laura Kinney, or X-23 for all the X-Men fans out there. I didn’t quite enjoy the reveal of her talking, as it was suppose to be pitched as a big deal, but wasn’t really to me. Stephen Merchant as Caliban was great, however was a bit of an odd change from Tómas Lemarquis, who portrayed him in X-Men: Apocalypse.

Alongside the performances, visually the film was very impressive, and I really liked the change in scenery from orange to green, with each location having very different styles, characters and emotions. The music of the film was good too, however the editing of sound was better, especially with Professor X’s episodes, how the audio was made high pitched and tinny, with an added screen wobble.

Finally, why was the film not everything I had hoped it would be? I’ve listed so much that is good with the film that even I’m confused why I didn’t love it. I guess it would probably be the ending. It’s quite stereotypical, and can be called a mile away, even before seeing the film. I understand what they were going for, but I feel as though it didn't add a great deal of emotional distress, which was that they were going for. The ending is important to this film, as it wraps up the trilogy and should give us something powerful and meaningful. It's just simple, plain, and obvious though, which is a disappointment. However, perhaps this is the point. X-Men films are known to be big, bold and action packed. Logan is the least of all these three. It has action, but it never reaches the spectacle of Days of Future Past or Deadpool. It deals with some big plot developments, but nothing majorly changes in the world they reside in. Finally, it's not that big; they don’t travel far, or make big impacts to the world. This is the point of Logan. Logan is a peaceful tragedy. It's a plain, simple film, which deals with sensitive issues and portrays them honestly and brutally. I don’t consider Logan a superhero film, meaning it's not my favourite superhero film. I think Logan is a perfectly timed, structured, acted, and directed tragic Western, which deals with a man who has come to the end of the line, and needs to perform one last act to save himself.

Written by Hamish Vallance

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The Dancer (or La danseuse) is the feature debut of French director Stéphanie Di Giusto starring Soko as the revolutionary dance pioneer Loie Fuller.

To start with, this film is beautiful. In the locations, in the cinematography, in the dance - the film itself captures and mirrors the longing of the protagonist Loie Fuller for the beauty she is searching for in dance. The film opens in the American Rocky’s where she is living in the wilds with her mad french father who encourages her love of art and her seemingly odd desire to become an actress. There are some charming scenes of a wild maned Soko soliloquising into the air or at taxidermy, perhaps as a set up as the humble roots of greatness but to my view represented a sheer singleness of mind on focused on stardom.

Men are quite appalling throughout the film and it is shot in such a way that Loie is suggested to only find ease and success in the companionship of women. There are some amazing scenes of her and her troupe of dancers frolicking through the grounds of her patron Louis’s house, suggesting true joy and abandon of the type that I imagine Stevie Nicks to have in her well protected female world.

When it comes down to it though, the film is a sports film in genre and construction. There are attempts to hide this under the veneer of beauty it presents the story through but its adherence to sports film tropes give it away. Loie is an american/french underdog, poor and practically orphaned. She gets a selection of coaches - well the support of her infatuated if ether addicted patron Louis and the Folies Bergère manager Marchand and his working partner Gabrielle. Loie is a proud and determined upstart and though she achieves success, it is not without struggling with her own physical and mental limits.

Then enter the antagonist - a young Isadora Duncan, played here by Lily Rose Depp in a charming performance that perfectly vilifies her. Loie falls in love with the young dancer but feeling threatened by her plays games with her. The film does not cast Loie as an overbearing infatuated employer, jealous of her protege, but on quick reflection that does seem to be the case. However, it is really nice to see a film that portrays a female sexuality repulsed by but sometimes accepting of men and alternately infatuated with women - and doesn’t draw that much attention to it or even question it.

The dances themselves - they are breathtaking. Loie’s performances of her famed serpentine dances at the Belle Epoch Cabarets and eventually the Paris Opera are paired with Beethoven in the film which, while evoking associations with Chef’s Table (and her outfit does look like a beautiful billowing table cloth which doesn’t help), gives real power to the performances that highlight the intensity of them for Loie and the audience. Soko gives a spellbinding performance and with such intensity one cannot take their eyes off of her.

This film as a biopic is startlingly inaccurate and perhaps bares only the faintest right to the claim that it is “based on a true story.” However as a film, it is about a dancer’s search for beauty in the perfection of their vision, and this is does quite well.

The Dancer is being screened around the country as part of the 2017 Alliance Franchise Film Festival. It is being screened in Melbourne across Palace Cinema’s locations between the 8th and 30th of March.

Written by Gill Langford

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Hamish, Christina and Rebi interview the new Artistic Director of the Alliance Française French Film Festival, running in Melbourne from March 8-30.

Click here to listen to Ben's interview with Rebecca Zlotowski, director of Planetarium, one of the films in the festival.

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Daniel reviews La Mama Theatre's production The Fever, by Wallace Shawn (of Toy Story and Princess Bride fame).

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Hamish and Christian interview singer-actor Rhonda Burchmore, who’ll be performing in Morning Melodies at the Arts Centre of April 3, at 11am & 1.30pm.

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Christian chats with artist Tristan Meecham, the ‘Marathon Man’ playing a starring role in the Fun Run at the Arts Centre on Sunday March 12 at 4.30pm.

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