Rust and Bone - De rouille et d'os

Rust and Bone (De rouille et d'os) is an unusual romance, by director and co-screenwriter Jacques Audiard. Marion Cotillard and Matthias Schoenaerts are strange bedfellows to say the least. When they meet Stephanie is a killer whale trainer and Ali is a kick boxer cum bouncer but things change quickly for both of them.

It's kind of The Wrestler meets Free Willy, Fight Club without the hype.

He's having trouble getting used to looking after his 5 year-old son Sam (Armand Verdure). She is about to face an even greater adjustment.

The film has a very hard physical edge, which is fitting for the director of the powerful 2009 film A Prophet. This is not the territory of sitcoms or Hollywood rom-coms.

It is a French language film , set mostly in Antibes in southern France. The strong cast includes Corinne Masiero as Ali's battler sister Anna.

Without slipping into a spoiler, it's fair to say that the use of Computer-generated imagery (CGI) leaves you wondering about the how virtual is the reality.

Rust and Bone is a grim and disturbing but fundamentally uplifting tale. Not for the faint-hearted.

Hitchcock: The Master at Work

Three films that helped to seal my lifelong love of cinema were directed by Alfred Hitchcock: Vertigo, Rear Window and Psycho. So I went to see Hitchcock with some trepidation. Fortunately, it lived up to its promise.

Set against the making of Psycho in 1959, its main element of suspense is a personal one. His relationship with wife and artistic partner Alma Reville provides much more tension than the fairly conventional Hollywood dramas about budget, director's cut or official censorship.

It's a classy cast. Hithcock would have enjoyed working with them, especially the blondes. The leads carry off their parts with deceptive ease. Anthony Hopkins (Hitch) carries the weight of the Master comfortably, except when his paunch retains its iconic shape whilst lying down. Helen Mirren (Alma) and Scarlett Johansson (Janet Leigh) are superb. Tony Collette and Jessica Biel don't miss a beat either.

The film has the 1950s Hollywood look and feel: the studios, the Beverley Hill's house and pool, the beach shack, even the suits. It's bright, clean, colourful, crisp. All part of the American Dream. At times it reminded me of the movie Beloved Infidel about F. Scott Fitzgerald and Sheila Graham, which had similar backdrops and was also made in 1959.

This is one for the big screen. Hopkins' shower scene is at least the equal of the original.

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.

Mental: Lighter side of madness

If Mental has a message it's 'Define Normal'. Writer/director P.J. Hogan, of Muriel's Wedding fame, returns to his roots in a homage of sorts to the Sound of Music, Jaws, and Muriel herself.

It's a very talented cast. There are high profile international faces. Toni Collette is a delight as Shaz but she has had a history of mental illness of course, particularly in her American Tara role. Anthony LaPaglia as Mayor Barry Moochmore also abandons his yankee TV accent in a role that's not too challenging. Liev Schreiber as shark hunter Trevor Blundell turns the tables as a very convincing Aussie.

Rebecca Gibney as Shirley Moochmore and Deborah Mailman as Sandra lead a wealth of local talent though their glory is stolen by the Moochmore youngsters played by Lily Sullivan, Bethany Whitmore, Chelsea Bennett, Nicole Freeman and Malorie O'Neill.

This is no masterpiece like Muriel but it worked as comedy. Audience reaction was definitely positive. A lot of laughs for such a serious subject.

The Descendants: A bit underwhelming

A couple of hours well spent, but The Descendants is not the film of the year it’s hyped up to be. It looks good, as it gently explores what makes the best and worst in our relationships. Perhaps because it’s more message than story, or because it tries too hard to have a comic edge, it fails to pack a real punch.

The Descendants is set against the conspicuous wealth and natural beauty of Hawaii. It’s easy to dismiss the tourism, beachfront high-rises, country clubs and golf courses and embrace the threatened land. It’s on the side of the angels but this allegory of the rich saving the planet is hardly an environmental blueprint for any meaningful action.

Overall, the cast seems to do the script justice. George Clooney as Matt King has an awkward part, which he fills competently but without brilliance. King may understand himself better by the end but the audience probably don’t. After the magnificent views of undeveloped coastal Hawaii, I suspect his running style will be one of the lasting visual memories.

The young’uns steal the show. Shailene Woodley as seventeen-year-old Alexandra does rant and one-liners equally well and has real screen presence. Amara Miller as younger sister Scottie is hard not to like but her part has a familiar feel. Sid (Nick Krause) is an important addition to the story – a reality check for the others.

Director and co-writer Alexander Payne has given us a tight, entertaining movie but it lacks the vitality of his masterpiece Sideways. The exploration of family relationships is trite at times: the absent husband and father, the difficult wife and mother, the rebellious teenager and the confused child. The extended family holds more interest especially the tough, merciless father-in-law played by Robert Forster.

The cousins have much potential, lead by Beau Bridges as Hugh. However, like the conservation/heritage theme that underlies this part of the narrative, this element is underdone. Another real estate drama gets too much time and attention and slips into the bizarre at times.

Well worth seeing, but not a worthy Oscar contender for mine.