I keep walking past shops, or getting emails from folks determine to remind me that Christmas is just around the corner. These constant reminders send shivers down some people’s spines, but for others like me who refused to be dragged into the often self-inflicted chaos of the festive season, I say, bring it on! The best way of ignoring the pressures of Christmas is to get lost in other people’s lives and worlds by watching movies. You think you’ve got problems; the protagonists in my film picks for the week will have you thinking twice.

I keep walking past shops, or getting emails from folks determine to remind me that Christmas is just around the corner. These constant reminders send shivers down some people’s spines, but for others like me who refused to be dragged into the often self-inflicted chaos of the festive season, I say, bring it on! The best way of ignoring the pressures of Christmas is to get lost in other people’s lives and worlds by watching movies. You think you’ve got problems; the protagonists in my film picks for the week will have you thinking twice.




Saturday 14th November, 8.30pm … The Face of An Angel

This ambitious film from British director Michael Winterbottom is set during the appeals of two students convicted of brutally murdering an English student while they were studying in Siena, Italy. Even though different names are used and the location is slightly different the story is that of Raffaele Sollecito, Amanda Knox and Meredith Kercher and is based on Barbie Latza Nadeau's book Angel Face: Sex, Murder and the Inside Story of Amanda Knox. Winterbottom turns this trial into a psychological character study, but not of the people involved in this case. Rather, Winterbottom focuses on the media’s coverage of the case and their influence over people’s perception of the accused involved. The story is centered around Daniel Bruhl’s Thomas, an accomplished director who has been commissioned to write and direct a film about the case. Kate Beckinsale plays correspondent Simone Ford (in the role of Nadeau) and agrees to be Thomas’ tour guide, introducing him to all the main players in this case that’s currently going through the appeal process. Thomas, who is going through a separation from his actress wife, is a fragile soul on the verge of a breakdown, and the pressure of trying to tell this story in the most truthful way possible leads him down a path of self-destruction. It’s a strange segway – just like Thomas’s backers in London, we too would like a film that examines the case rather than examining those covering the case. However there are some nice observations about the role of journalism, and difficulties of portraying real life tragedy on screen. It is a shame however, that like its lead character, The Face of An Angel is a touch self-absorbed and self-indulgent.




Thursday 12th November 8.30pm… The Hunting Ground

This documentary by Kirby Dick’s aims to do one thing; give the victims of university campus sexual assaults a chance to be heard. It’s hard not to be shocked by the content of this film that features the stories of many women and a few men who were sexually assaulted while at university. It’s the kind of material that would make you think twice about sending your daughter off to university in America – Ivy League or public. It’s not the first time Director Kirk Dick and producer Amy Ziering have discussed sexual assault. The two are behind the Academy Award nominated documentary The Invisible War about sexual discrimination and assault in the American military. It was while touring and researching for The Invisible War film, they got the idea of making The Hunting Ground. Kirby and Ziering aren’t so concerned about getting everyone’s side of the story in this film, although I doubt they would have been able to if they tried. What this film reveals is the negligent manner in which universities treat victims who reported abuse. The last thing a university wants is publicity or statistics that reflect the truth of what’s happening on their campuses – hardly a good look for potential students or donors. It’s remarkable that in this day and age, places of higher learning still lean towards backing the perpetrator rather than the victim. As shocking and sad as this film is, it also profiles a group of proactive young women determine to set the story straight, as well as providing a safe environment for abused women to talk about their experiences and report their abuse. Their contribution is a small, but uplifting step in the right direction; so too is this film.



Wednesday 11th November, 8.30pm… Healing

I’m currently in the middle of reading Helen Macdonald’s remarkable book H is for Hawk, the true story of a woman overcoming grief by training a Goshawk. It was a no brainer then, that I would seek out this Australian film about a bunch of ex-cons rehabilitating themselves by rehabilitating injured raptors. Also based on true events, this is the third film by writer/director Craig Monahan (The Interview, Peaches) and the third time he’s worked with actor Hugo Weaving. Currently appearing on the big screen stealing scenes in The Dressmaker, Weaving plays the nicest prison warden you’ll ever met, who sets up a mini-aviary to look after a hurt eagle and owl that the local bird sanctuary don’t have room for. He teams up an injured wedge-tailed eagle with an Iranian immigrant Viktor Khadem (Don Hany) who has just arrived at this low security, working farm after almost two decades in prison for murder. The metaphors about damaged men and damaged birds, and imprisonments versus freedom are obviously handled here, and some performances are better than others, and yet Healing has its charms. It’s nice to see men getting emotional but not melodramatic on their journey to redemption, and cinematographer Andrew Lesnie (Lord of the Rings trilogy) captures this rural Victoria setting beautifully. While some directors might prefer to avoid working with animals, Monahan was impressed with his birds who always came out of their trailers when he needed them, and impressively only two scenes required CGI, the rest of the shots involving the birds are all real.