Regrets and letting go are the cornerstones of The Midwife. This French drama looks at a fractured relationship between a straitlaced woman and her free-spirited elder. Cesar-winning writer/director Martin Provost’s (Séraphine) film pairs two of French cinema’s most beloved stars, Catherine Deneuve and Catherine Frot. Gifted midwife Claire (Frot) has led a quiet, focused life. She’s…
Lady Gaga and Brad Cooper mesmerise in A Star is Born. Their tour de force performances bring a decidedly 21st century take to the highs and lows of fame. The picture is based on screenplays for the 1954 film of the same name featuring Judy Garland and James Mason and the 1976 version starring Barbra…
Pablo Neruda was the pen-name (and later legal name) of Chilean poet, diplomat and politician Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto, who lived from July 12, 1904 to September 23, 1973. In 1971, he won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Lyrical, poetic and steeped in politics, Neruda is what I would term a “festival” film; one for purists. It’s…
Despite perceptions to the contrary, art and crime are never far apart. Dark deeds plagued Renaissance painters like Caravaggio and Artemisia Gentileschi. The artist Walter Sickert has been accused (posthumously) of being Jack the Ripper. And the 1911 theft of the Mona Lisa from the Louvre is one of many “crimes of the 20th Century”….
Call it searching for creativity or a descent into madness. That is a matter of interpretation. Carpet and Sand is a fanciful re-telling of a trip that English theatre and film director Peter Brook took with a group of actors through the Sahara Desert in 1972. Among their number was Helen Mirren. According to the presentation in…
The hero in Hadestown goes to hell and back in his quest to rescue the love of his life. This is a modern retelling of an ancient Greek myth, with the original character names retained. It is a tale of good versus evil, delivered with sass. With confidence and attitude, it is the narrator Hermes…
Eccentric Danish auteur Lars Von Trier makes controversial and deliberately confronting films. His latest is likely to be divisive as well. Despite the title, The House That Jack Built is not a family-friendly fairy tale. Rather this is Von Trier’s portrait of a sadistic serial killer. But the film isn’t as illuminating nor as insightful…
– The Wait – Only in cinemas from 30 June 2016 We have 5 double advance passes for the weekend of 24 – 26 June thanks to Palace Films. *(Tickets valid in Australia only)* Watch the trailer HERE In the vast rooms of a beautiful Sicilian villa, Anna (Juliette Binoche) receives an unexpected guest….
When we first meet Ruben Guthrie (Patrick Brammall) in the film that bears his name, he’s hosting an extravagant bash in his swanky harbourside digs after winning an award for his work as an advertising creative. The evening ends with Ruben on the bottom of the pool, having thrown himself off the roof of the…
A man haunted by his past is forced to face his demons in the slow-moving horror film, The Vigil. Yakov Ronen (Dave Davis) is a shadow of a man in the aftermath of a tragedy that befell his younger brother. He was present; but he didn’t intervene and before he knew it, it was too…
