Life Begins At.....
Issue link: http://ebook.aprs.com.au/i/40177
MOVIE REVIEWS The Australian entertainment industry has an obsession with portrayals of family life, and the more dysfunctional the family the better. The Eye of the Storm ups the ante by combining that dysfunction with money. Lots of money. Eye of the Storm Starring: Geoffrey Rush, Judy Davis, Charlotte Rampling, Alexandra Schepisi, Colin Friels Directed by: Fred Schepisi Rated: MA Running Time: 114 minutes Distributor: Transmission Films Said wealth belongs to Elisabeth Hunter (Charlotte Rampling), the dying matriarch of an influential family based in the Sydney suburb of Centennial Park. With death not far away and an inheritance to be claimed, Elisabeth's long estranged children come to visit: ex-pat theatre actor Basil (Geoffrey Rush) and one time European royalty Dorothy (Judy Davis). Rampling. Rush. Davis. It is a rare that such formidable acting talent would assemble on any film, let alone an Australian production, and here they all are at the height of their talents portraying characters with the appearance of grandeur, yet under the facade stems bitterness, suspicion, and a longing for true friendship in family. Director Joe Wright's (Atonement) success has come from period films, where sweeping visuals and lavish costumes rule. That he would go against the grain proves Wright to be a director who is willing to take risks. Hanna is his payoff. Hanna Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Cate Blanchett, Eric Bana, Tom Hollander, Olivia Williams Directed by: Joe Wright Rated: M Running Time: 111 minutes Distributor: Universal Pictures The film opens in the cold wilderness of Finland, where we meet Hanna (Saoirse Ronan). Since she was an infant, Hanna has been trained to kill by her rogue CIA agent father (Eric Bana). Tough love is his rule, and Hanna has responded well. Yet Hanna yearns for independence, and it's a big, bad world out there, especially when it's inhabited by Marissa Wiegler (Cate Blanchett), a corrupt CIA agent who holds more than a special interest in Hanna. From the wild and into civilisation Hanna goes, and thus begins a tale of super spies doing very bad things, and one girl trying to stay one step Returning behind the lens in his first Australian feature in over 20 years is Fred Schepisi (Evil Angels). Here he takes Patrick White's acclaimed novel and creates one of the more engrossing dramas to hit our screens this year. Schepisi's symbolic gestures are grand and powerful, the use of flashbacks flow seamlessly, and its emotions of love, betrayal, hope and pain will resonate after the end credits. Best of all is the dialogue. Judy Morris has done a terrific job with her script, feeding juicy quotes to the mouths of high calibre actors, portraying characters who try to vein the "possibility of human affection". That such self indulgent characters are able to evoke our attention and sympathy is power to the material, the performances and the masterful filmmaking of Schepisi. The Eye of the Storm is an apt title, for this will be the epicentre upon which all local films will revolve around this year. Pure drama at its finest. ahead of her persecutors while finding out who she really is. What grabs you at first is the momentum. Wright always has the action moving forward, sometimes at a frantic pace. Even in the quiet moments there is a sense of anxiousness, buoyed by a pulsating industrial score by electronic music group The Chemical Brothers. Bana is imposing in his role as mentor/lethal weapon, and Blanchett is pitch perfect in her turn as the ice cold, red-headed, pants-suit wearing government operative. Yet Hanna is as much Ronan's film as it is Wright's. On top of playing a convincing teen assassin, Ronan hits those dramatic moments with the same pinpoint precision as her character would a bullseye on a mark. Hanna marks the second time Ronan and Wright have worked together. THE RETIREE SPRING 147