'Lore' Selected as Australian Entry for Foreign Language Consideration

Transmission Films is proud to announce that Cate Shortland’s magnificent new film LORE, set for national release on September 20, has been selected as the Australian entry for consideration for Best Foreign Language Film for the Academy Awards® to be announced early 2013.

LORE, which has its North American premiere on Monday at the Toronto International Film Festival, was also in competition at the Sydney Film Festival and recently won the Audience Award at the 2012 Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland.

Set in the closing days of World War II, the film tells the story of Lore, who, after her Nazi parents are imprisoned, leads her younger siblings across a war-torn Germany in 1945. Amidst the chaos, she encounters the mysterious refugee Thomas, who shatters her fragile reality with hatred and desire. To live, she must trust someone she was taught to hate and face the darkness within herself.

To be eligible for consideration for the Best Foreign Language Film Award, a film must have been released in its country of origin for at least seven days and is defined by predominantly non-English dialogue. Each country can submit one film for nomination consideration. Samson & Delilah was Australia’s official entry in 2010. 

LORE is an official German-Australian co-production by Roh Film, Porchlight Films and Edge City Films.  Producers are Karsten Stöter, Liz Watts, Paul Welsh and Benny Drechsel. Writers are Cate Shortland and Robin Mukherjee.  Director is Cate Shortland.

LORE was financed by Screen Australia, Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung, HessenInvest Film, Filmförderungsanstalt, Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein, Medien- und Filmgesellschaft Baden-Württemberg and Deutscher Filmförderfonds, in association with Screen NSW and Creative Scotland. The film was developed by Screen Australia and Creative Scotland. LORE is being represented internationally by Memento Films, and its US Distributor is Music Box Films.

The 85th Academy Award® nominations will be announced on January 15, 2013, with the awards presented on February 24.

Cate Shortland, will support the release of LORE with a ‘meet the audience’ screenings at cinemas in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra.

MELBOURNE

Monday September 17, 7pm, Classic Cinema, Elsternwick

Tuesday September 17, 6.30pm, Cinema Nova, Carlton

SYDNEY

Wednesday September 19, 6.30pm, Dendy Newton

Thursday September 20, 6.20pm, Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace, Cremorne

CANBERRA

Sunday September 23, 3pm, Greater Union Manuka

Memorable Performances From 2012 (So Far)

Male

At the top of the pack is Matthew McConaughey for three brilliant performances: Killer Joe, Magic Mike and Bernie

 Denis Lavant - Holy Motors

Mohammed Fellag - Monsieur Lazhar

Jean-Louis Trintignant - Amour

Sean Penn - This Must Be The Place

Anders Danielsen Lie - Oslo, August 31st

Mads Mikkelsen - The Hunt

Mark Duplass - Your Sister's Sister

Tom Hardy - The Dark Knight Rises
Michael Caine - The Dark Knight Rises
Mark Ruffalo - The Avengers

Jack Black - Bernie

Thomas Haden Church - Killer Joe

Mikkel Folsgaard - A Royal Affair

Toby Jones - Berberian Sound Studio

Joel Edgerton - Wish You Were Here

Luis Tosar - Sleep Tight

Paul Dano - Ruby Sparks

Michael Fassbender - Prometheus

Chris O'Dowd - The Sapphires

Garret Hedlund - On The Road

Female

Anna Paquin - Margaret

Emmanuelle Riva - Amour

Anne Hathaway - The Dark Knight Rises

Sophie Nelisse - Monsieur Lazhar

Rosemarie DeWitt - Your Sister's Sister

Emily Blunt - Your Sister's Sister 
Shirley MaClaine - Bernie

 Saskia Rosendahl - Lore

Vanessa Paradis - Cafe De Flore

Gina Gershon - Killer Joe

Elizabeth Olsen - Liberal Arts

Quvenzhane Wallis - Beasts of the Southern Wild

Michelle Williams - Take This Waltz

Jennifer Lawrence - The Hunger Games

Rachel Weisz - The Deep Blue Sea

Five Most Anticipated Spring Releases

Late last month I came up with a list of 25 films to watch out for over the next three months. Well, over the past week I have become quite excited for several of those releases. Reasons include simply being won over by the trailer to strong reviews coming out from Telluride and Venice Film Festivals.

So, over the next three months, here are my five most anticipated releases, their release date, and an accompanying trailer.

Killing Them Softly (October 11) - Andrew Dominic (Jesse James) reunites with an in-form Brad Pitt for this crime thriller. Competed for the Palme d'Or and was well-received in Cannes.

Argo (October 25) - Ben Afleck's new political thriller looks smart and gripping. Strong response out of Telluride. Love the premise, and Affleck has not put a foot wrong in the directors chair yet. Awesome trailer.

The Intouchables (October 25) - Won the Audience Award at MIFF 2012 and several of my trusted friends raved about it. The trailer almost brings me to tears. Looks like a lovely story.

The Master (November 8) - It's the new Paul Thomas Anderson film. Of course I'm excited. The teasers and trailers also suggest that this is going to be an acting powerhouse. Joaquin Phoenix especially.

Skyfall (November 22) - Wasn't overly impressed by Quantum of Solace, but I loved Casino Royale. I can see this hitting those heights. Also, Javier Bardem is the villain. That can't be a bad thing.

Classic Throwback: The Exorcist (William Friedkin, 1973)

The Exorcist is widely credited as one of the greatest and most influential horror films ever made. Having just seen the film for the third time, I find it hard to argue with that critique.

The vision of William Peter Blatty, who self-adapted the screenplay from his own controversial novel, is brought to the screen with unsettling precision by director William Friedkin (The French Connection and Killer Joe). The Exorcist was nominated for ten 1973 Academy Awards and though it won just the two – Best Sound and Adapted Screenplay - it certainly caused a buzz when it was released. Incredibly, taking into account inflation, it would still be amongst the Top 10 highest grossing films of all time.

After the failed diagnosis of the unnatural behaviors of 12-year-old Reagan MacNeil (Linda Blair), her distraught mother, Chris (Ellen Burstyn), turns to a young priest, Father Damien Karras (a superb Jason Miller). Karras has begun to question his faith following his mother's terminal illness and recent passing, and is asked to observe Reagan as both a psychiatrist and a priest. He decides, on Chris’ pleading, to request permission from the church to perform an exorcism to rid her of what he believes to be possessive demon claiming to be the Devil himself.

The film becomes much darker and gradually more disturbing as the demon further takes over Reagen's body and as a result Reagan's horrific behaviors begin to worsen and she becomes unrecognisable. But even from the opening sequences in Iraq and a credit sequence accompanied by a haunting theme of tubular bells - the macabre sense of dread is already established. The atmosphere becomes so tense it is nearly suffocating. The Exorcist features some of the most famous horror sequences in film history, including the 360-degree head spin, the horizontal rise out of the bed and Reagan descending the stairs upside-down and spider-like. All of the characters, and especially Father Karras – one of the great heroes of cinema - are effectively developed and portrayed as just regular people absorbed into the girl's terrible struggle. The lengthy exorcism, conducted by both Karras and Father Lankester Merrin (Max Von Sydow) is superbly acted, and the conclusion is unforgettable.

The Exorcist, nearing 40 years old, has not aged and will be forever preserved as a horror classic. It is terrifying and shocking, and still resonates strongly. The re-mastered and extended DVD edition also looks great. If you are reading this blog I can only assume you have already seen it, but if you haven’t it should be at the top of your list of horror must-sees.

New Releases (06/09/12)

This is a very strong week at the cinema. New releases include Canadian drama Monsieur Lazhar, nominated for Best Foreign Language film at the 2011 Academy Awards and winner of the Audience Award at the 2012 Sydney Film Festival and Your Sister's Sister, the hilarious, heartwarming and unconventional new romantic comedy from Lynn Shelton, featuring fantastic performances from Mark Duplass, Emily Blunt and Rosemarie DeWitt. Also making an exclusive visit to Dendy Newtown is Killer Joe, William Friedkin's controversial and macabre tapestry of southern redneck debauchery, offering up a serving of brutality and hilarity in near-equal measure and another stunning performance from Mr. McConaughey. Also hitting cinemas are Kath and Kimderella (which looks diabolically awful), Hit and Run, and for Melbourne only, Damsel's in Distress. It has been announced that the latter will hit Sydney screens from September 13. 

Monsieur Lazhar - In Montreal, an elementary school teacher dies abruptly. Having learned of the incident in the newspaper, Bachir Lazhar (Mohamed Fellag), a 55-year-old Algerian immigrant, goes to the school to offer his services as a substitute teacher. Quickly hired to replace the deceased, he finds himself in an establishment in crisis, while going through his own personal tragedy. The cultural gap between Bachir and his class is made immediately apparent when he gives them a dictation exercise that is beyond their reach. Little by little, Bachir learns to better know this group of shaken but endearing kids, among whom are Alice and Simon, two charismatic pupils particularly affected by their teacher's death. While the class goes through the healing process, nobody in the school is aware of Bachir's painful past; nor do they suspect that he is at risk of being deported at any moment. A near-perfect film. A must watch.

Your Sister's Sister - A year after his brother Tom's death, Jack (Mark Duplass) is still struggling emotionally. When he makes a scene at a memorial party, Tom's best friend Iris (Emily Blunt) offers up her family cabin on an island in the Pacific Northwest so Jack can seek catharsis in solitude. Once there, however, he runs into Iris' sister Hannah (Rosemarie Dewitt) who is reeling from the abrupt end of a seven-year relationship and finds solace in Tom's unexpected presence. A blurry evening of drinking concludes with an awkward sexual incident, made worse by Iris' sudden presence at the cabin the next morning. A twisted tale of ever-complicated relationships is set in motion with raw, hilarious and emotional performances from the cast. The indie comedy of the year so far.

Killer Joe - When 22 year-old drug dealer Chris (Emile Hirsch) has his stash of drugs stolen from him by his mother, he has to come up with six-thousand dollars quick, or he's dead. Desperate, he goes to the trailer-park to see his father, Ansel (Thomas Haden Church), and he lays out the plan. Chris's mother has a life insurance policy that would clear up his debt and make them all rich. The problem is that Chris' mother is very much alive. Enter Detective "Killer" Joe Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), a hired hit man with the manners of a Southern gentleman, who will do the job - for an upfront fee, that Chris and Ansel can't pay. Just as Joe is about to leave, he spots Dottie (Juno Temple), Chris' innocent younger sister. Joe makes Chris an offer, he'll keep Dottie as sexual collateral until the money is collected and his fee can be paid. A greasy bucket of scum...in a good way. 

2012 Sydney Underground Film Festival Preview

The sixth annual Sydney Underground Film Festival is taking place from the 6 to 9^th September at Marrickville’s Factory Theatre. The festival features an eclectic line up of over 100 local and international films that will showcase the year’s most subversive, underground, cult and off-the-wall content. Tickets are available to book online at www.suff.com.au. Tickets are selling fast so be quick to snatch them up.

As I have seen a few of the films screening at this year's festival prior I thought I would provide personal thoughts on them.

Opening the festival is the Australian premiere of Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie. Closing the festival is Bobcat Goldthwaite's God Bless America. For thoughts on both of these films check out Sam McCosh's SUFF overview at An Online Universe.

Berberian Sound Studio - Friday 6.30pm (Main Cinema)

 

Berberian Sound Studio was one of my most anticipated screenings at the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) last month and it was certainly the strangest film I watched while I was there. Peter Strickland's creepy mind-bender is an assured and confident conception and an eerie, unsettling and undeniably fascinating watch. I left the film processing a plethora of questions and interpretations and the immediate desire for another viewing.

Set in the 1970's the audacious Berberian Sound Studio stars Toby Jones (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) as Gilderoy, a quiet and reserved sound engineer summoned to Italy to work on the lurid new 'giallo' picture, The Equestrian Vortex, from director Gianfranco Santini (Antonio Mancino). Being thrust into one of Italy's sleaziest post-production studios to work on a sordid film is not what Gilderoy expected when he left his garden shed in Dorking, especially considering his prior work: nature documentaries. 

We never see a reel of the misogynistic mayhem of The Equestrian Vortex (well, with the exception of the opening credit sequence) but by the end of Berberian Sound Studio we feel like we have experienced it all the same. The narrative, manufactured by Gilderoy through his inventive methods of creating accompanying sound effects, begins to reflect Gilderoy's work in the studio and through a series of mishaps - exploited actresses, the production's failure to reimburse his flight to Italy and conflicts with the film's producer, Francesco (Cosimo Fusco) - Gilderoy's sanity begins to become victim to the repetitive horrors and he begins to lose his grip on his reality. As an audience, so do we.

The premise of the film is conveyed through the sequences of Gilderoy tweaking with the soundtrack and dubbing the sound effects the old-fashioned way - slashing watermelons to convey a limb being decapitated, ripping radishes to convey a neck being broken and pouring oil into a hot pan to substitute for a red hot poker being thrust...somewhere vile. Though the images, projected by a black-gloved hand (a nod to Argento), are being presented for Gilderoy and off-screen for us, we hear the sounds Gilderoy is constructing and they feel wincingly real.

Just like Gilderoy is an expert sound technician, so are the team behind Berberian. The sound design is an extraordinary achievement - and there are some excellent decisions made by Strickland to heighten the claustrophobic environment Gilderoy operates out of. Visually it is pretty surreal as well. The film gets so complex that the image begins to bubble on one occasion. Mulholland Drive was a film that came to mind a couple of times and the presence of a blinking red 'Silenzio' sign outside of the recording room is but one example. Toby Jones is perfectly cast, and delivers a terrific performance as the hapless fish-out-of-water.

There are a bunch of pieces to the puzzle - rotting vegetables, possibly discarded from use on the shoot, a spider which appears in several different locations (Gilderoy's private quarters and the studio) and several letters from Gilderoy's mother, which must be significant because the camera tracks down the page and ensures that we read every word. The contents of these letters make a strange appearance in another form. It is hard enough processing both Gilderoy's story and The Equestrian Vortex, but the film goes even further, turning itself inside out in the final act. Divulging what happens is a disservice, but I don’t have an explanation for what happens either. Strickland has constructed something excitingly original and fans of surrealist cinema - Lynch and Bergman - will find plenty to admire here. It is an eerie, fascinating and genuinely puzzling thriller.

Movie Questionnaire Blog-a-thon

Cinemaniac Reviews has recently started a Movie Questionnaire blog-a-thon. I discovered this courtesy of Alex at And So It Begins. Check out my responses.

1. What is your favorite movie?

Platoon

2. Least favorite movie?

All time: Clash of the Titans, maybe. This year: Safe.

3. Name one movie you loved upon initial viewing but eventually grew to hate (or vice-versa).

Probably the best example of a film experiencing a downfall is The Dark Knight. I don't hate the film now - though it bores me and I think the final third is awful - but I loved in first (and second) watch in a cinema.

4. Name your biggest “guilty pleasure” film.

 Conair

5. Favorite quote from a favorite actor/actress (must be a line from a movie)?

 "Andy Dufresne...crawled through a river of shit and come out clean" - Red, The Shawshank Redemption.

6. Favorite quote from a favorite actor/actress (must NOT be a line from a movie)?

This one comes to mind pretty often: "Who wants to be responsible? The first thing anybody says when something goes wrong is: Who's responsible for this?" - Jerry Seinfeld

7. Three favorite movie scenes?

Impossible, but here are three I admire greatly: the apartment block/street chase in Se7en, the exploding derrick sequence in There Will Be Blood and the visit to Do-Long Bridge in Apocalypse Now.

8. Four films that should NOT have won Best Picture?

Wow, there are a lot that come to mind.

Braveheart

Forrest Gump

Shakespeare in Love

The King's Speech

9. Top five of the year (currently)?

Holy Motors

The Imposter

Monsieur Lazhar

Undefeated

This Must Be The Place

10. Bottom three of the year (currently)?

Safe

Wuthering Heights

American Reunion 

11. What film gets your vote for the worst or most pointless remake?

Rob Zombie's Halloween is atrocious. Discussing re-makes recently with Tom Clift, we agreed that the remake of The Hills Have Eyes is pretty damn good.

12. Is there any film you think is actually desperate for a remake?

I'm going to go with Alex here. I'd like to see Fincher round out the Millennium Trilogy with Rooney Mara, Daniel Craig and the entirety of his writing and key tech team.

13. Name your three favorite film heroes.

Right now: Han Solo - Star Wars, Nathaniel - The Last of the Mohicans and Rick Blaine - Casablanca

14. Name your three favorite film villains.

Same: Anton Chigurgh - No Country For Old Men, Carl Showalter - Fargo, Keyser Soze - The Usual Suspects.

15. Best sequel?

Terminator 2: Judgment Day

16. Worst sequel?

Any of the Saw films II-VI

17. Best trilogy?

Krzysztof Kieslowski's Trois Couleurs Trilogy (Bleu, Blanc, Rouge)

18. Worst trilogy?

Transformers and Pirates of the Caribbean tied. Pirates has been extended to include a diabolical fourth film, so it might take it out now.

19. What’s your favorite word to use in a movie review (if your film blog does not feature reviews, substitute “review” with “-related post”?)

I like the word 'extraordinary'. If I describe a film as extraordinary, it is worth a look.

 

20. Anything else?

That will do.

Upcoming Release Review: Lore (Cate Shortland, 2012)

Lore, distributed through Transmission Films, has a limited release from September 20.

Lore tells a bleak, uncommon, and harrowing tale of a Nazi siblings traverse across war-ravaged Germany in search of their grandmother's home following the imprisonment of their parents. Directed by Australian director Cate Shortland (AFI winner for Somersault), and written by Shortland and Robin Mukherjee, this international co-production screened at the Sydney Film Festival as part of the Official Competition. Recently Lore won the Audience Award at the Locarno Film Festival, and is set to screen at this month's Toronto International Film Festival. Featuring a breakthrough role from Saskia Rosendahl, this is a stirring and emotionally resonating war drama that comes highly recommended.

Lore is set during 1945 and the fall of the German resistance. With their SS father (Hans-Jochen Wagner) and mother (Ursina Lardi) imprisoned by American and Russian forces, and abandoned to face an uncertain fate, Hannelore (Saskia Rosendahl) takes charge of the rest of her family - her younger sister Liesel (Nele Trebs), twins Jurgen (Mika Seidel) and Gunther (Andrei Frid) and baby brother, Peter - guiding them across the perilous countryside towards their grandmother's house in Hamburg. On the road the children face the punishing conditions, experience distressing sights and find their health suffer, and along the way Hannelore begins to better understand the consequences of her parents' actions, come of age, and accept responsibility for her family.