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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 07 June 2022

Since the category was introduced at the Academy Awards in 1947, only six directors have won the best international feature film category on multiple occasions.  The most recent addition to that group (and the only person still alive) is Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi.  He won in 2012 for his Golden Bear winning A Separation and followed it up five years later with a win for The Salesman.

Farhadi's latest creation is A Hero and it solidifies his reputation of creating complex stories with equally complex characters.  In trying to squeeze comprehendible narratives inside of two hours, screenwriters often struggle to “flesh out” subplots in detail and so they fall into the trap of simplicity over substance.  A common example is in the rom-com genre where one suitor is inherently good, one suitor is inherently bad (despite appearing good at first), and the choice of who to marry becomes obvious.

Life is rarely that simple and we, as humans, are mysterious creatures.  There are times when we act in the interests of others… and then times when we put ourselves first.  There are times when we remain calm under pressure… and then times when we lose our composure.  There are times when we feel happy and appreciative of life… and then times when a wave of depression washes over.

This complexity is beautifully illustrated in A Hero.  The central character is Rahim (Jadidi), a man who has been imprisoned after failing to repay a sizeable business loan to his disgruntled ex-brother-in-law.  Allowed out of prison on two days’ leave, Rahim comes in possession of a lost handbag containing valuable gold coins.  He considers using it to repay a portion of the debt but instead, he returns the bag to its original owner.

Word gets around about Rahim’s good deed and he becomes a quasi-celebrity after being featured on a television news story.  A local charity steps in and tries to raise money which will allow for his release from prison.  However, it’s not long before a few people start questioning Rahim’s version of events and whether he is a “good guy”.  The truth keeps shifting to the point where it’s almost irrelevant!  Opinions have been formed and it’s going to be very difficult to change them.

37-year-old Amir Jadidi is outstanding in the lead role and skilfully plays the character as someone who is good-natured but also prone to mistakes.  Audiences will form a range of opinions about his actions and sincerity.  There are several interest subplots with the supporting cast all pulling their weight.  These include the perspective of the prison managers, the charity organisers, and Rahim’s married sister.

A joint winner of the Grand Prix at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival (considered to be the runner-up prize), A Hero is a terrific film where the performances are as a strong as the screenplay.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 25 May 2022

I wasn’t sure the fan base was wide enough to justify a big screen movie (ratings have been iffy in recent years) but, as someone who’s watched and enjoyed many episodes of the television show, I’m happy to see The Bob’s Burgers Movie.  For those new to the material, the show debuted in January 2011 and is still on the air today with 238 episodes produced across 12 seasons.

For as long as we’ve known the characters, the pessimistic Bob (Benjamin) and the optimistic Linda (Roberts) have run a small, simple burger store which is continually on the brink of financial collapse.  The film opens with an anxious Bob trying to find the money to meet lease payments on the store’s cooking equipment.  He’s got seven days or else the property will be repossessed by the inflexible bank and his business closed.

Bob and Linda have three chatty, problematic children who usually go an assortment of adventures away from the burger restaurant.  This time around, they’re trying to trump the incompetent police and solve a heinous crime.  The family’s wealthy landlord, Calvin Fischoeder (Kline), has been accused of murdering a beloved carny and so the trio, led by 9-year-old Louise (Schaal), try to put the pieces together to see who’s responsible.

The film moves at a frenetic pace and it’s hard at times to keep up with all the jokes.  The best material goes to the middle child, Gene (Mirman), who slips in plenty of adult humour to spice things up.  He’s funny even when he’s not on screen!  Many of his great one-liners can be heard in the background while other family members are front and centre.

Aside from a few musical numbers, there’s nothing overly adventurous about the film’s script.  It’s just a longer version of the television show.  Lead characters do what we expect of them (e.g. Bob is always stressed) and regular supporting players pop in and out.  The broader storyline isn’t complex and in trying to be a fun, interesting murder-mystery, it falls short.  I’d argue The Simpsons (Who Shot Mr. Burns? in 1995) and Family Guy (And Then There Were Fewer in 2010) did it much better.

Aimed squarely at existing fans, The Bob’s Burgers Movie is a serviceable animated feature that would be considered “middle of the pack” if ranked on a list of the television episodes.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 31 May 2022

There’s a 1970s song from Odyssey called “Our Lives Are Shaped by What We Love” and it could easily be an alternate title for this new film from French director Eva Husson (Girls of the Sun).  It’s centred on Jane Fairchild (Young), a woman described as being an “occupational observer of life”, who draws from her impeccable memory to write award-winning books.  Her past loves have served as inspiration and, through the power of literature, made her the success she is today.

Mothering Sunday takes us back to a single day in March 1924 which Jane has never forgotten.  Orphaned at birth, a young Jane had found work as a maid for the Nivens (Colman and Firth), a well-to-do British couple living on a spacious estate.  The work was straight forward but the atmosphere was sombre.  The Nivens had lost both of their sons in World War I and they now go about their lives in a dull, muted haze.  It’s as if they refuse to do or say anything which could provide a glimpse of pleasure.

Provided with a rare day off work, Jane spends it in the arms of Paul Sheringham (O’Connor), the handsome son of the Niven’s wealthy neighbours.  These two are clearly in love but societal customs will deny them a chance at lifelong happiness.  Having lost two older brothers of his own in the war, Paul must follow the wishes of his parents to get married and become a lawyer.  They’ve arranged for him to wed Emma Hobday (D’Arcy), a posh socialite who isn’t too enamoured by the match.

Based on the 2016 novel by Graham Swift and adapted for the screen by Alice Birch (Lady Macbeth), Mothering Sunday is a simple story elevated by Husson’s direction.  None of these characters are in a hurry.  They speak softly, they move slowly, and their emotions are muted.  Without giving too much away, there’s a scene in a bedroom where someone proposes marriage.  They act in such a subdued manner than you’d think it was an ordinary, everyday event!

It may sound sluggish but the style fits the material.  With dialogue kept to a bare minimum, the film’s moods are built around the beautiful cinematography of Jamie Ramsay (Moffie) and the seductive music score of composer Morgan Kibby (Girls of the Sun).  The two lead performances from Australian Odessa Young (The Daughter) and Englishman Josh O’Connor (God’s Own Country) are terrific.  Through their passionate lovemaking and simple small talk, you get a strong sense of the connection that Jane and Paul share.

I wasn’t sold on the fractured timelines (did we really need to see the older Jane?) and the supporting cast don’t have much to do (wanted to spend more time with Emma D’Arcy’s character) but Mothering Sunday is an above average drama that speaks to the lingering impact of love and tragedy.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 23 May 2022

A teaser trailer was revealed in July 2019 but since that time, the release date for Top Gun Maverick has been moved a gazillion times due to extra post-production work and the impact of COVID-19 on movie theatres.  I’ve joked with friends that perhaps the film didn’t exist at all and this was a giant ruse on the part of Paramount Pictures!  Thankfully, the wait is now over.  36 years after the release of the original movie and more than 3 years after shooting wrapped, the much-anticipated Top Gun Maverick has arrived in cinemas across the globe.

A close friend described it as “the best sequel since The Empire Strike Back” and while that may not be wholly true (Mad Max: Fury Road springs to mind), the intent of his statement has merit.  This is a sensational film that surpasses its predecessor in almost every way.  The flight scenes will have you twitching in your seat, the splashes of comedy are perfectly timed, and the story is kept short and straightforward.  I can’t imagine too many people being disappointed.

To quickly cover the narrative, pilotless planes are the way of the future with experienced military pilots told they are “heading for extinction”.  That won’t stop Maverick (Cruise) from proving himself one final time.  At the request of an old friend (Kilmer), he is brought back into the Top Gun training program to enhance the F-18 flying skills of 12 young pilots described as “the best of the best”.  The reason?  They’ll be needed on an incredibly dangerous mission to destroy a heavily guarded uranium enrichment plant which threatens the world order.

It’s as simple as that.  To the film’s betterment, time isn’t wasted developing (or even identifying) the villains.  You’ll just have to picture some Christoph Waltz-style baddie with an Eastern European accent with any army of incompetent henchmen who want to obliterate mankind.  This frees up the writers to focus solely on the rebellious Maverick, his interaction with the Top Gun graduates, and a quick-fire romance with an old flame (Connelly).  The closest we get to a “bad guy” is a humorous yet straight faced performance from Jon Hamm as a Vice Admiral who doesn’t think too highly of Maverick and his unorthodox training methods.

It’s a two-hour movie centred on a single mission but it still moves at a cracking pace thanks to the editing skills of Eddie Hamilton (Mission: Impossible – Fallout).  Rather than watch the in-the-air training runs and then the subsequent on-the-ground debriefs, Hamilton overlays these sequences to save time and maintain the film’s energy.  It all leads to a spectacular action climax which, to promote Hamilton again, is edited in a way which is easy to comprehend.  It doesn’t fall into the trap of being too chaotic.

Knowledge of the 1986 original will help but it’s not essential.  There’s a short flashback and a few well-placed photos that provide background for newcomers.  The emotional core of the film is centred on Maverick befriending Rooster (Teller), the son of his former colleague/friend who died in the earlier movie.  There’s tension between the pair from the outset but given Rooster is one of the selected F-18 pilots, they need to mend bridges and move forward.  The entire cast deserve praise for their performances but the banter between Tom Cruise and Miles Teller set them a notch above the rest.

Directed by the creative Joseph Kosinski (Tron: Legacy), Top Gun Maverick offers a full, complete experience within the action genre.  One of the year’s best.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 30 May 2022

Of the five nominees for best international feature at the most recent Academy Awards, four have already been released in Australian cinemas – Drive My Car from Japan (the winner), Flee from Denmark, The Hand of God from Italy, and The Worst Person in the World from Norway.  The final nominee is about to get its chance and rounds out a brilliant quintet celebrating the best of non-English language cinema.

The oddly titled Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom is the first ever movie from Bhutan to earn an Oscar nomination.  It’s amazing to think that writer-director Pawo Choyning Dorji, making his feature film debut and working on a miniscule budget, was able to create something which has captured the world’s attention.  It’s a rare situation where the making of the movie is just as interesting as the movie itself.

It was shot in the village of Lunana, a tiny mountainous spot in northern Bhutan (5,000m above sea level) with a population of roughly 50 people.  It has minimal electricity and so the small crew relied on solar powered batteries to charge equipment.  Still, they only had enough power for one camera and didn’t have enough juice to look back at the footage of an evening.  Dorji has joked that it’s a rare film with a “zero carbon footprint.”

The government of Bhutan has prescribed that every child deserves an education and so the film is centred on a fictitious teacher from Bhutan’s capital, Thimphu, who is asked to travel to Lunana’s and teach roughly ten kids for a full year.  It’s described as “the most remote school in the world” and to get there is an eight-day hike (mostly uphill) through wet, muddy terrain.

The teacher’s name is Ugyen (Dorji) and it’s clear from the outset that he doesn’t want to go.  He’s giving up city life, where he has friends and family, and travelling to a freezing cold place with no internet or phone reception.  Did mention the stone houses don’t have windows?  Did I also mention that townsfolk use leaves when going to the bathroom because they don’t have toilet paper?

There’s a clear message here about appreciating the simple things in life.  Ugyen is embraced by the residents of Lunana who are immensely grateful that he’s educating their children.  You’d think he was a member of a royal family given how highly he is revered.  He’s gone from a busy city where you ignore and walk past hundreds of people each day… to a tight-nit community where everyone cares about everyone.

This dramatic change in lifestyle serves as an awakening to Ugyen.  He bonds with the adorable, good-natured children and feeds their hunger for learning.  There’s a great scene where the town comes together and builds a blackboard (which they’ve never had before) for the school’s sole room.  There’s another heartfelt moment where he orders blank exercise books from the city (they take weeks to arrive) and the kids have proper paper to write on for the first time in their lives.            

Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom provides much to reflect upon.  It has something to say about educators and their importance in society.  It asks audiences to think about technology and how essential it is to our happiness (if at all).  It opens eyes to a beautiful yet largely unknown country.  It speaks about emigration and the belief, rightly or wrongly, that the grass is greener on the other side.

To successfully pack all of that into a 109 minute is a testament to Dorji’s filmmaking and storytelling strengths.  I can’t wait to see what he does next.