Saturday, August 11, 2012
Before getting into the review for the week I just wanted to tell you a bit about my afternoon.
Dubbo finally decided to bring us Katy Perry: Part of Me 3D - for one weekend only, so I made sure I got my arse into gear to get down the street and be an extra bum on seat. And I was lucky I did; my Olympic schedule for the night went haywire - crashed and missed the BMX, Steve Hooker's attempt at the pole vault etc, and then proceeded to finally make it to my bed at 6am where I crashed for a further five hours...
So anyway, I'd heard pretty good things about the film and I hoped to see since watching some Australian interviews. And it was a great look into not just her, and not just the tireless work put into a tour, but the support that even those at such a successful level need, crave, desire.
I've always thought myself, and been seen to be, a bit on the crazy side - sometimes through what I wear, or my at times unrelenting loudness. But the way Katy sticks by who she is seems to be almost unrivalled, and hearing from those in her life about how hard she'd worked to get to where she is now was beautiful.
Not shying away from the difficulties, I felt wrapped up and quite absorbed in this world by the time the lights came on, understanding the good and the bad. It made me think about how she perceives dreams and greatness and what greatness meant to me. Have I achieved it in any capacity? Sometimes I doubt myself. But when I see things like this it kicks me into gear and makes me reassess, with the hope that one day I will be capable.
But for now, I'm declaring myself a KatyCat because I think she really is the best advocate for pushing that it's OK to be different, and I respect her so much.
***
To this week's review: Indigenous filmmaking of late has shone a light on our industry and it continues with Cannes standing-ovation recipient The Sapphires. No classic review tonight, was given the week off. Handy with the Olympics and all.
My reviews are finally being published on our website now that it's been revamped, so view it online here!
The Sapphires (PG)
A SENSE of belonging was something the Australian government felt was lacking among a significant part of the country’s community in the 1960s, where the wrongs of the Stolen Generations were still in effect amongst the introduction of various ethnic minorities as migrants. While there was an increasing movement for equal rights following in the footsteps of Martin Luther King Jnr and Rosa Parks in the United States, Australia as we know was still in a tumultuous place.
The Cummeragunja mission is where we find sisters Gail
(Deborah Mailman), Cynthia (Miranda Tapsell) and Julie (Jessica Mauboy),
excellent singers but at the mercy of the white Australians who stare them down
with their every step. When Irishman Dave (Chris O’Dowd) discovers their talent
and decides to help them realise fame, they find themselves flying to Saigon as
a soul group for the soldiers in the Vietnam War.
There is fun and games as they become cosy with soldiers
along their travels for company, but the environment not only raises fears for
safety but their insecurities about any sort of belonging. Fourth member Kay
(Shari Sebbens) may be the girls’ cousin, but as half-Irish her attempts to
shun her ‘blackness’ are not well-received. Struggles to forget long-buried memories
are futile.
At one point of the film, each of the girls are given labels by David in what is seemingly a sign of the times. But Wayne Blair’s first feature sticks to the overall tone of the play on which the film is based, where Australia’s issues are not the overall focal point. It is the girls that rightly remain at the fore, each with their own ferocious personalities that constantly come to surprise David.
Playwright Tony Briggs adapted the screenplay, while Mailman
was an original production member. Based on Briggs’ family, real-life Sapphires
Laurel Robinson, Lois Peeler, Beverley
Briggs and Naomi Mayers, more star Indigenous influence is exerted for the
adaptation with Samson and Delilah
director Warwick Thornton on board as cinematographer.
Blair has a fun cast not afraid to play around with the
material. Chris O’Dowd is a bumbling David, a manager who takes a special
interest in Gail. Mailman is hard as the mama hen of the quartet, rarely
letting her guard down for the protection of her family as well as their
integrity. But it’s Jessica Mauboy who gets her 15 minutes of fame. The singer,
who also worked with Mailman in Bran Nue
Dae, is the star of the show and it never suggests otherwise.
Thornton’s cinematography makes the most of the Australian
and Vietnamese locations, but it’s the soundtrack that really helps the film
along. Great renditions of songs from Marvin Gaye, Creedence Clearwater Revival
and Merle Haggard lift the mood to give this feel-good venture a bit of
respect. In the stretch of prominent Indigenous films in recent years, this
falls on the lighter side but refuses to forget the hardships many faced, and those
that still reside today.
Rating: 4/5
*Published in the Daily Liberal (Dubbo), Western Advocate (Bathurst), Parkes Champion Post and Midstate Observer (Orange) from Saturday 11/8/2012
MISSED LAST WEEK'S REVIEWS? See what I thought of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and My Left Foot.
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