The Other Side of Hope - Toivon tuolla puolen

The Other Side of Hope is another gem from Finnish writer/director Aki Kaurismäki. It picks up some of the themes concerning refugees of his 2011 French language film Le Havre.

Set in another port city, Finland’s capital Helsinki, it tells of the developing friendship between a Syrian asylum seeker, Khaled (Sherwan Haji) and a former shirt salesperson turned restaurateur, Waldemar Wikström (Sakari Kuosmanen).

It has Kaurismäki’s signature mix of offbeat humour and serious social issues. He makes the audience uncomfortable as we laugh at a topic which should not be a joke.

The restaurant, and its staff in particular, seems to be have time-travelled from the 1950s. The Golden Pint’s no frills décor and menu match the expectations of its working-class customers. Waldemar’s stumbling attempts to embrace 21st century hospitality bring some comic relief from the grim obstacles facing the refugees.

Nevertheless they have a common thread in their battles with authority. Even the lacklustre restaurant staff shine in comparison with Finnish bureaucracy. However, immigration security is not the only foe, as neo-nazis are lurking with intent.

Khaled’s stay at the open-door but depressing detention centre has its upside. During his journey from his home in Aleppo, he has become separated from his sister. His Iraqi friend helps with his attempts to find her.

One of the bright sides of this movie is the music, led by singer/songwriter Tuomari Nurmio. He appears in musical vignettes as a busker and lead singer for a band. There are several videos of the soundtrack online, including this glorious performance:



The cast includes several other veterans of Finnish entertainment, who help to energise the oddball collection of local characters. If their world seems quite daft, it triumphs over the unhinged reality that the refugees have fled and what they now face in exile.

Anyway, you’d have to cry if you didn’t laugh. Perhaps, that’s the other side of hope.

Living Is Easy with Eyes Closed: Innocence Regained

It should be hard not to like writer/director David Trueba's Living Is Easy with Eyes Closed (Vivir es fácil con los ojos cerrados). Antonio (Javier Cámara) sets off on a quest to meet John Lennon who is making a film in Almería, Spain. It's 1966 but this middle-aged teacher of English and Latin would be an unlikely Beatles fan except that he's a dreamer, but that's another song.

He picks up two hitchhikers, both lost souls like himself: young hairdresser Belén (Natalia de Molina) and sixteen-year-old Juanjo (Francesc Colomer). Speaking of souls, the film is set against the backdrop of Franco's fascist regime, with its all pervasive police and religious controls. We are reminded that Lennon had said that the Beatles were "more popular than Jesus".

The journeys of the three central characters typify the rebellious sixties that John symbolised for those looking for a better way, in particular in contesting the authority of church, state and family. Trueba is not preaching but his messages are clear, if gently delivered.

Cámara lives up to the quality you would expect from the lead in Pedro Almodóvar's Talk to Her. His young offsiders give equally controlled, understated performances. They are matched by Ramon Fontserè as Ramón, a bar owner and Rogelio Fernández as his son Bruno who has cerebral palsy.

Of course, the title comes from Lennon's lyrics for Strawberry Fields Forever. The adventures of this unusual triangle are about innocence lost and innocence won. It would be a great story even if it weren't based on Juan Carrion's actual experiences.

Definitely a film for baby boomers seeking to regain some of their lost innocence from the sixties. Various Gen X-Zs, who are given a yardstick to measure how far we've come, may also reflect on the courage needed to bring about change. Here endeth the review.

20 Feet from Stardom: Music to Our Ears

Director/writer Morgan Neville has given us a real goodie with 20 Feet from Stardom. Bad pun notwithstanding it lives up to its claim: ‘meet the unsung heroes behind the greatest music of our time’.

There are many great singers featured but the households names that appear such as Bruce Springsteen, Bette Midler, Mick Jagger, Sting, David Bowie, Tom Jones, Stevie wonder, Ray Charles and Michael Jackson are not the stars of this first class documentary.

That honour goes to the backup singers: Darlene Love; Merry Clayton; Lisa Fischer; Judith Hill; Tata Vega; Jo Lawry; Claudia Lennear; Oren, Maxine and Julia Waters; and more. We’ve all heard them, even if we don’t realise it.

Despite their imposing voices, most of them have not become stars in their own right. Sheryl Crow who makes a brief appearance is one of the exceptions.

It is also a nostalgia trip for baby boomers as it ranges across the post-war period of popular music. Go to a cinema with a good sound system – well worth the effort.

The Search for Sugar Man Rodriguez

After watching Searching for Sugar Man at Melbourne’s Shadow Electric open-air cinema last night, the full house must have had only one thought: where do you get Rodriguez’s records.

This quality documentary throws up all the clichés: amazing, incredible, heartwarming, authentic, genuine, too-good-to-be-true. Like more than one of interviewees in the film, there was a niggling doubt throughout that this couldn’t be a factual account, that it is an elaborate fabrication.

Detroit local Sixto Rodriguez made two albums in the early 1970s, which bombed in his home country but were very successful in apartheid South Africa and later. Many of his fans were white opponents of the regime.

His fate was a mystery He was rumoured to have committed suicide but fans such as Steve 'Sugar' Segerman kept the quest alive. Sixto was unaware of his fame. This is the story of the search for this unlikely musical icon.

The Independent has an excellent interview with Director/writer Malik Bendjelloul. When he discovered the mystery of Rodriguez, he felt it was “the best story I’d ever heard”. It certainly is one of the best. Not too many cinema audiences applaud as ours did during the credits.

Malik also answers a lingering question ‘Was it only white South Africans that were fans of Rodriguez?’ Do yourself a favour and read the conversation, but not before seeing the film.

One of the highlights is meeting his daughters: Regan, Eva and Sandra. It’s clear that his unique approach to life has rubbed off on them, except for his laconic nature. Rodriguez’s workmates help us to understand their mate. Fellow construction worker Rick Emmerson helps to reveal a little of the enigmatic Sixto. He’s a silver-tongued fellow philosopher. Rodriguez has a Bachelor of Arts with a philosophy major.

There is lots of stuff about Rodriquez at Segerman’s official website sugarman.org –‘all the facts’, backed up by a Facebook page, and a twitter account @sugar_man.

Please see Wikipedia for the latest.

To finish, a couple of verses from the song Sugar Man from his first album Cold Fact:

Sugar man, won't you hurry
'Cos I'm tired of these scenes
For a blue coin won't you bring back
All those colors to my dreams

Sugar man you're the answer
That makes my questions disappear
Sugar man 'cos I'm weary
Of those double games I hear

I give it 5 stars - because I can.