Introducing.....The Sapphires

-

The Sapphires is the story, loosely based on a real event, about four Aboriginal women who form a soul-group in the late 60's and tour Vietnam. Boy, it's a real feel good story and if you like good music and good characters, you will love this film. First, the cinematography pulls you in before you have a chance to get comfortable. It's a real reminder why I love Australian cinema so very much. Why all those painters migrated to Paris for light is the fell you get watching an Aussie film. That bright yellow glow consumes you and washes over you right from the start. Nothing is quite as beautiful to me as a well shot Australian film. It gets me every time.

The young girls are introduced running through fields of yellow flowers as we are reminded of the atrocities that went on against the Aborigines, not only massacres and disease, but the kidnapping of light-skinned youth. As the indigenous Australians were robbed by Australian law of their humanity, classified as non-people, but wildlife, 'flora and fauna.' The lighter skinned children were removed from their heritage and parents and taken into white gentrified communities and taught 'white ways.'

The Sapphires takes on this barbaric action with the story of Kay (Shari Sebbins), who was kidnapped at an early age. Gail, Julie and Cynthia are played by Deborah Mailman, Jessica Mauboy and Miranda Tapsell with talent scout, Dave (Chris O'Dowd). Good Morning Vietnam meets The Commitments, The Sapphires plays on conventional story lines, but takes it to another level. Like Dave explains to the girls whose first song is Merle Haggard's "Today I Started Loving You Again" country music is for people that got fucked over and stayed home to cry in their beer over it, but soul music is for those who got fucked over and refuse to give up.

The music in the show does what it does in real life, brings people together. So many great scenes that make you feel good during a bad time. That's why I'm watching all these Australian movies and series. They make me feel real good. A bunch of Fuck You I'm From Austin Film Talk ovations for this one, The Sapphires.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

So Long, Marianne

-
Image
I finally got up the strength or whatever to watch Marianne and Leonard, Words of Love knowing it would do me in for a couple of days after. And, I was right. 'So Long, Marianne' is and has always been my favorite Leonard Cohen song. And, I could never tell you why. It just hit all the right notes. The perfect score for lovers who've lost at love. I love the man. I spent a whole year of my life lying on a friend's couch and drinking tequila while listening to Leonard. That's when I first heard the song and would play it over and over on lonely long Sundays. And, I couldn't tell you why, but it resonated with something deep inside that was doomed to be doomed. I was only seventeen. What's important about the film is the filmmaker, Nick Broomfield's own relationship with Marianne Ihlen. Broomfield has made over 30 films including some of my favorites, Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer and Kurt and Courtney. He goes deep where many fear to trea
Read more

Come back and save us, Steve McQueen

-
Image
Last night, I had a really great dream. It was still bad out there and Trump was still our evil president trying to kill us all. But, Steve McQueen was still alive. I had written a short story about a cowboy from Wyoming, a modern day cowboy, who runs for president. And wins! He turns out to be the kind of American this country needed. He saw the bad side of racism and oil creeps hurting the Native American nations. He'd seen it all, like cowboys do in real good cowboy movies. They're always on the outside looking in at the bad things civilization does. Anyway, Steve loved this story. I was in San Francisco in the dream and Steve told me to run and get him his favorite treats, those striped peanut butter bars and those Jolly Rancher Watermelon candies. I went over to Market Street and Castro nearby where we were meeting and couldn't find those striped bars anywhere. I wound up at this Asian market and had to get him this weird jello stuff that was watermelon flavored an
Read more

Zone of Interest

-
Image
I'm dropping the "The" from The Zone of Interest , my only humble suggestion. Jonathan Glazer's film is about a real family living on the grounds of Auschwitz - we all know about it - Auschwitz concentration camp was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland during World War II and the Holocaust. Glazer's work takes a look at Rudolf Höss, his wife Hedwig and their children living a fairy tale type of life with the big dark shadow of Auschwitz always looming in the backdrop. The film is difficult to watch and was difficult to make. The director's choice to wire cameras hidden amidst plants and staged scenery creates a documentary feel to the piece and it works. In fact, the camera takes on it's own persona, something I'm mesmerized with in filmmaking. As when something magical happens and the 'film goddess' takes command as she will do. There is definitely another dimension added t
Read more