A searing portrait of depravity in the darkest of times, this debut feature for Hungarian director and co-writer László Nemes is a remarkable and evocative film. Son of Saul focuses upon a Jewish man, Saul Ausländer, a role filled by Géza Röhrig (a 48-year-old writer and poet), who is forced to aid the disposal of…
Sweet Country is the sophomore feature film from indigenous filmmaker Warwick Thornton, best known for his award-winning 2009 drama Samson and Delilah. Although this is only his second feature film, he’s been busy with short films, television projects and documentaries like We Don’t Need A Map, which premiered at the Sydney International Film Festival in…
Guy Ritchie (The Man from U.N.C.L.E.) puts his own take – a gritty, modern edge – to the classic Excalibur myth and the story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table in King Arthur: Legend of the Sword. Arthur is not yet king, instead a ruffian, a thoroughly reluctant hero compelled to discover…
I was thrilled to receive an advance copy of The Blue Rose by Kate Forsyth, but I put off starting it for weeks. I knew that once I’d started, I’d be swept away by Kate’s story and wouldn’t want the story to end. And yes, that’s exactly what happened with The Blue Rose – I…
The creator of and actors in Italian American Reconciliation, which premiered off Broadway in 1988, seem to have forgotten the adage “less is more”. Aldo (Josh Massarotti) is a larger than life character – a single Italian American – who hasn’t seen his best mate Huey (Dean Gunera) for a while, so he calls around…
Imagine what a dark place a world without music would be. That is the starting point for this bold, brassy and zany work, the brainchild of writer Brittanie Shipway, with original music from Jess Newman and Shipway. She straddles Nazi-era cabaret to a totalitarian regime with harsh dictates in 2043. Senser hits the right note figuratively and…
It is a joy of gargantuan proportions to witness Handa Opera’s La Traviata in all its passionate glory on Sydney Harbour, with the Harbour Bridge and Opera House and Sydney skyline as a spectacular backdrop. A massive chandelier – frequently lit up in many a hue – hovers above the stage throughout, held fast by…
Some movies are good. Some movies are bad. And some are just so bonkers, they defy rational assessment. Fatman is one of those. Co-directors and writers Eshom and Ian Helms have crafted a stunning piece of whack-battery that seems more like a fever dream than an actual plot. Not that there’s anything wrong with zany…
One of the truisms of gambling says the house always wins. However, with The House – a supposed comedy about an ordinary family that set up an illegal underground casino in the leafy streets of suburbia – it’s the audience who are the losers. Let’s face it – when was the last time Will Ferrell made…
American playwright, Lisa D’Amour wrote Detroit in 2010 for the Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Chicago. It was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2011, which was awarded to Clybourne Park, by Bruce Norris. The play is set in the backyards of two next-door-neighbours, in the first ‘ring’ of suburbia, now, and, although, the play is…
