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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 11 February 2021

A movie about elderly men and their dogs searching for rare truffles in Northern Italy.  It doesn’t scream “box-office hit” but The Truffle Hunters is a fascinating documentary that premiered a year ago at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and recently made the shortlist (the top 15 films) for best documentary feature at the upcoming Academy Awards.  Many are tipping it will receive a coveted nomination.

The story of this secretive world will be of interest to many.  The white Alba truffle, found exclusively in Italy’s Piedmont region, is one of the expensive foods in the world with the market price often exceeding $10,000 AUD per kilogram!  It’s a classic case of supply and demand economics in that the price is high because supply is rare.  The truffles grow for just two months a year and, as they cannot be cultivated, they can only be found by experienced hunters foraging in little known forests.

The background to this documentary is as remarkable as the subject itself.  Filmmakers Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw were travelling through Italy one summer when they first learned about truffle hunters.  It took them roughly 3 years to pull the film together with much of that time spent living in Alba, earning the trust of the guarded townsfolk, and getting them to share their stories.

The end result is simple yet beautiful.  There’s no unnecessary narration and no talking heads.  We’re just observing these characters, often from a distance, and listening in on their day-to-day exchanges.  Shots have been meticulously framed with a single, motionless camera capturing the conversations as if those involved are completely unaware.

The Truffle Hunters is the kind of documentary that fills your brain and lifts your spirits.  You’ll be shown a world you never knew existed and then want to tell your friends and family about it.  You’ll discover that truffle hunters do much of their work at night so rivals won’t learn of their treasured rummaging spots.  One of them is 87-years-old but he’s still as active and passionate as ever.  You’ll also learn about the unspoken truffle hunting rules and get a glimpse as the hunters negotiate prices with keen buyers.  This is a film you must see.

You can read my interview with director Gregory Kershaw by clicking here.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 27 January 2021

Today’s news can be read online by holding a tiny electronic device in your hand.  In the 1950s, you could watch nightly national newscasts on TV and if you were around in the 1920s, you could stay informed by listening to bulletins on your local radio station.  News of the World takes us back to the year 1870 where there was only one reliable method to broadly inform the masses – newspapers.

Jefferson Kidd (Hanks) isn’t a journalist, a publisher or a salesman but he’s been able use the medium to make a meagre living.  He collects newspapers from across the country and relays the key stories in town halls to those with “10 cents and the time to hear it.”  When he reads good news tales, the folk cheer excitedly.  When he reads bad news or starts talking about national politics, jeers drown out his voice.

It may sound like an odd occupation but it’s of huge benefit to small towns.  Their residents can’t afford and/or don’t have access to a wide range of newspapers and further, this was a time in the United States when 20% of the population was illiterate.  Kidd enjoys the spotlight but it’s still a tough profession.  The pay is poor, the journeys are lonely, and the roads are dangerous.  It’s a step down from his previous role as a captain in the Confederate Infantry during the American Civil War.

It’s on a routine trip through Texas that Kidd comes across a horrific scene – a lynched black man, a destroyed carriage, and a scared 10-year-old orphaned girl named Johanna (Zengel) who cannot speak English. Realising there’s no one else who cares enough to help, Kidd takes it upon himself to care for the girl until she can be reunited with her long-lost aunt and uncle.  They travel across Texas together and become entangled in a series of life-threatening situations.

An outstanding Tom Hanks looks like he’s been wearing the shoes of Jefferson Kidd his whole life.  There’s a tiredness in his eyes and some scar tissue in his mind but he’s still trying to live a fruitful existence and make the world a better place.  This is evident when you see the news stories he selectively chooses to read (subtly shaping debate) and the way he cares deeply for Johanna.  It’s not a flashy performance but Hanks has created an interesting character worth rooting for.

Oscar nominated director Paul Greengrass (United 93) excels in capturing 1870s America.  The rocky landscapes are beautiful to look at but difficult to travel across.  The people vary from educated lawyers to racist hicks refusing to accept the result of the Civil War.  It’s all on display thanks to the cinematography of Dariusz Wolski (The Martian) and a well-chosen group of supporting actors.  Australian Luke Davies (Lion) also deserves a shout-out in working with Greengrass to adapt Paulette Jiles’ novel for the screen.

The biggest takeaway is the performance of 12-year-old newcomer Helena Zengel as Johanna.  She hardly speaks throughout the entire film and yet we still feel the impact of Johanna’s troubled upbringing and we still understand her confusing search for a sense of family and identity.  Zengel will be a name to watch in the future.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 05 February 2021

Four male high school teachers, who have been friends for years, have gone out for a nice dinner to celebrate a 40^th birthday.  Much is discussed but at one point, the focus turns to a Norwegian philosopher who proposes that people are better functioning when they have a blood alcohol content of 0.05%.  They’re more relaxed, they’re more poised and they’re more open.

This curious quartet then make a pact and, as part of an informal written thesis, decide to put theory into practice.  From the moment they wake up of a morning, they continually consume enough alcohol to remain around the 0.05% mark throughout the work day.  They even carry around a breathalyser to help measure!  It’s as if they’ve become opposites of the general population – drinking during the day but never at night or on weekends.

There’s a motivation behind their madness (if you want to call it that).  The central character, Martin (Mikkelsen), is having somewhat of a mid-life crisis.  His marriage is waning and he’s worried that his wife sees him as just a boring, empty shell of the man she originally married.  His time at school isn’t much better.  His students, all in the final year of education, are worried they won’t get the grades they require to go to college and they’ve expressed concern about Martin’s tired teaching methods.

I’m not sure I’d be recommending the idea to my own friends but Martin’s world improves with a little alcohol in his system.  He starts talking more with his wife, his organises a short family vacation with his two sons, and the kids at school soak in more content with his newfound approach.  Similar benefits are discovered by the other three men who find their lives are becoming more appealing and fruitful.

In different hands, such a narrative could be used to create a silly, far-fetched comedy in the same vein as The Hangover and Bad Moms.  Instead, Danish writer-director Thomas Vinterberg (The Hunt) threads the needle and goes with a darker style comedy.  These characters aren’t over-the-top caricatures.  Yes, we laugh at their actions but they’re real, honest human beings and many will relate to their problems and their mindset.

It’s not a “preachy” film either.  There’s not some grand revelation where the men realise alcohol is evil, swear never to drink again, and then live happily ever after.  There’s nuance to the issues being explored and that’s particularly evident during the film’s unusual climax which takes place at a marina.  It’ll leave you thinking about what these characters have learned and where they’ll end up.

It’s a touch repetitive during the middle act (a lot of fun without any hint of consequences) and relies on a few hooks too heavily (the thesis writing) but for the most part, Another Round is an interesting piece of Danish cinema.  The Golden Globe nomination it picked up this week for best foreign language film will help boost its already growing profile.   

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 24 January 2021

The first Australian feature film was made in 1906 (The Story of the Kelly Gang) but it took another half-century until we saw the first Aussie movie with Indigenous actors in leading roles (Jedda in 1955).  Progress since then has been slow but steady.  Over the past two decades, films such as Rabbit-Proof Fence, The Tracker, Ten Canoes, The Sapphires, Samson and Delilah, Mystery Road and The Nightingale have played their part in opening the world’s eyes to Aboriginal history, culture and stories.

High Ground is a fictional tale set in the 1920s and 30s but it’s inspired by events that took place across the era.  It begins with a group of trigger-happy white soldiers who lose their composure on a routine mission through Arnhem Land and kill a small tribe of Aboriginal men, women and children.  The aftermath is just as horrifying.  No soldiers are punished and the white authorities pretend it never happened.  This doesn’t sit well with a sniper named Travis (Baker), one of the few not involved in the massacre, who resigns from his post and takes on a new life as a crocodile hunter.

The film then pans 12 years into the future and lays out a complex scenario.  Baywarra (Mununggurr), an Aboriginal elder connected with the murdered tribe, has bide his time and now seeks vengeance. He and his “wild mob” are setting fire to farms and houses and, as expected, this has raised the ire of the arrogant police chief (Thompson) who wants Baywarra stopped at any cost.

Two unlikely people find themselves caught in the middle and trying to negotiate a truce so as to avoid further bloodshed. The first is the retired Travis who is lured back into service - partly because of his conscience and partly because his strings are being pulled like a puppet. The second is Gutjuk (Nayinggul), a 20-year-old Aboriginal man with divided loyalties given he’s been raised by a white missionary family since a small child.

The strongest selling point of High Ground is the lead performance of Jacob Junior Nayinggul in what is his first acting gig.  Director Stephen Maxwell Johnson made Nayinggul and other non-traditional Aboriginal actors feel comfortable by creating an open space with no rehearsals.  They understood the story as well as anyone and so it was simply a matter of letting them get into the moment and craft something truthful and honest.

The film isn’t as successful in balancing up its numerous subplots.  Characters played by Aaron Pedersen, Ryan Corr and Caren Pistorius feel underdeveloped and we don’t fully appreciate their perspectives and their role within the era.  The fact it’s such a chaotic narrative, where you’re never sure to whom allegiances lie, also makes it difficult to understand the reasons behind some decisions.

Making the most of its Northern Territory setting, High Ground reminds us that the Australia we know today is the result of a darker, troubled past.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 31 January 2021

There’s a moment in The Simpsons where Mr Burns speak of his incredible wealth and says “but I’d trade it all for a little more”.  It’s the first thought that came to mind in describing Rory O’Hara (Law), a commodities trader who yearns for financial wealth above all things.  He has a nice home with a backyard pool in New York but he’s given it up and taken his reluctant wife and two teenage kids to London to “make some real money”.  Given they’ve moved 4 times in the past 10 years, you get a sense it’s not the first time they’ve made such a leap for those reasons.

Rory is a superficial, compulsive liar.  He puts an exhaustive amount of time into “appearing successful” as opposed to doing the hard yards and earning his achievements.  When out with work colleagues, he picks up the full tab for their expensive lunch.  When at a party, he brags about his non-existent New York penthouse.  When at a business dinner, he tells prospective clients he can get them tickets for an acclaimed Anthony Hopkins play.  The reality is that Rory has next-to-nothing in his bank account and, despite all the confidence he exudes publicly, he has no meaningful plan to fix his financial free fall.

Written and directed by Canadian Sean Durkin (Martha Marcy May Marlene) and set in the year 1986, The Nest delves into Rory’s insecurities while also looking at the way his self-destructive actions impact on the rest of the family.  His wife, Allison (Coon), interchangeably provides support and criticism to her husband’s ideas.  There’s a great scene where they go out for a fancy dinner and argue over what to order.  The two children are witness to their parents’ disagreements with the eldest (Roche) using it as opportunity to behave badly.

Their new home in London, an unfurnished mansion in the middle of nowhere, could be considered a character in itself.  It’s far too big for them (typical of Rory’s vain nature) and so many rooms remain vacant.  It gives the place a creepy vibe to the point where the youngest son (Shotwell) gets scared walking through the long, darkened corridors at night.

Rory and Allison are flashy, interesting cinematic figures but the character arcs they’re provided with are limited.  You get to know them both during the opening half-hour and beyond that, there’s not a lot on offer in terms of change and development.  There’s a random sequence involving Rory and his estranged mother that feels unnecessary.  The same could be said of a quirky subplot involving the fate of Allison’s prized riding horse.  I’d have preferred to see more interaction with the vulnerable kids who have been pushed too far into the background.

The Nest deserves a look but it misses an opportunity to become something more distinct and memorable.