RIP, Sister Josephine Kenny OLSH, (9 October 1927 – 24 January 2025)

I have loved you with an everlasting love. I am constant in my affection for you.

These words from the prophet Jeremiah capture well the driving force behind our dear Sister Jo’s life, as she had absolute confidence in the one who called her into life and loved her unconditionally. At approximately 8am on Friday 24th January she gently slipped into the loving embrace of the one who had loved her with an everlasting love, throughout her 97 years.

Today we come together to celebrate the life of Jo Kenny, a Daughter of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, whose ministry in health showed care, concern and compassion for all who came to her. Her dedication as a nurse came from her closeness to Jesus to whom she dedicated her life for 75 years.

To Jo’s family, and all her relatives and friends who loved her so much and are deeply saddened by her death, we offer our deep sympathy and love. You know well her deep love for you and her gratitude to you. We also offer sympathy to those who join us from around the world, especially, our Sisters.

Charleville

Josephine Margaret Kenny, or Jo as she was known by many, was born in Charleville, Queensland, on 9th October 1927, to Perce and Martha Kenny. When Jo was only 10 years old her mother died, this was a time of deep sadness for Jo, her dear dad and her siblings Patricia, Francis and James. Her father was determined to keep the family together and employed house keepers to help care for the young children. Four years after the death of her mother, Jo’s father remarried, and later Jo’s stepsister Margaret was born. Jo’s family moved to Hamilton and she attended Primary School at St Cecilia’s and completed her secondary education at All Hallows Mercy College in Brisbane.

Jo’s parents had a deep faith with love of the Mass. Their deep devotion to the Sacred Heart and frequent communion overflowed onto Jo. At an early age she began reading the magazine the ‘Far East and this awoke in her a deep desire to go to the missions. In 1950, at age twenty- three she entered the novitiate at Hartzer Park in Burradoo and was professed in 1952; she was aptly named Sr Assunta, after the great Italian Missionary.

After five years doing general and obstetric nursing training at St Margaret’s Jo’s lifelong ministry and her epic journey as a passionate, enthusiastic nurse and missionary began as she flew out of Sydney destined for Papua New Guinea, the place she would call home for the next 16 years. After many days of travelling across the stormy sea she arrived at Rossel Island, an isolated, mission station with some of the most gentle people she had ever met. There Jo was on her own in the nursing field and despite the lack of resources and difficult conditions Jo felt ‘extraordinarily blessed’ in her work, as she had many opportunities to help mothers deliver their babies, a role she loved. Jo was an excellent nurse, compassionate, resilent and hardworking. She endured the many difficulties living in isolated missions with her reliance on the Grace of God.

Rossel Island

Jo spent most of her time in PNG between Sideia, Rossel Island and Nimowa. After one local Sister was trained as a nurse Jo felt sure more would follow and so she decided to return home and continue her missionary vocation in Australia. After undertaking some studies in Theology Jo asked to go to the Northen Territory. In 1977 she had her first experience with Aboriginal people when she arrived at the East Arm Leprosarium and although she only worked there for 1 year, it was the most influential experience in her 17 years of working with Aboriginal people.

East Arm

The Leprosarium was set up as more like a home than a hospital with both staff and patients forming a community of the heart founded on care, acceptance and love. It was here, Jo worked alongside Dr John Hargraves in the life changing work of microsurgery. Jo went on to Wurramyanga (formerly Bathurst Island). Here she delivered countless babies and was responsible for Infant and Maternal Health and the training of the Indigenous Health Workers. Jo was proficient in the Holyoake Support program for those recovering from drugs and alcohol and took a particular interest in the Indigenous men returning to the community after participating in this program, giving them the support, hope and confidence they needed to continue to better their lives. She had small huts built out bush for them while they recovered and would visit to talk, listen and counsel them until they were ready to return to the community. From here Jo went to work in Wadeye (formerly Port Keats). Although her ministry in health was often challenging she loved the aboriginal people and felt accepted by them as a friend. Jo regarded these friendships as the greatest treasure in all her missionary endeavours.

First OLSH Sisters arrive at Wadeye, 1941

Jo’s passion was to work with God’s anawim so she requested to work with refugees. She, along with Sr Moira Lynch, was the first Australian DOLSH to carry the flame of God’s love to the people in war torn South Sudan. When Jo arrived in Mapuordit, South Sudan they lived in simple tukuls (huts) made from bamboo. It was a very poor, physically uncomfortable mission, with no running water, sanitation or refrigeration. It was a dangerous mission at the height of the civil war,yet Jo and Moira’s courageous presence said to the people of Mapuordit, we see you, we love you, you are not alone in your suffering.

Mapuourdit

In later years Jo was missioned to South Africa and then she returned to the NT and made an outstanding contribution to the many ministries she was involved in: Palliative Care, Prison Ministry, East Timor Sunrise Group and St. Vincent de Paul Society.

To say that Sr Jo Kenny was a great nurse is an understatement. Jo nursed in many very difficult and challenging places, not just in Australia but around the world, she treated those suffering from Hanson’s disease, TB, Parkinson’s Disease, AIDS, Malaria, Typhoid, substance abuse, not just with her medical expertise but with inclusion and acceptance. With love! Jo was a skilful, totally devoted, gentle and caring nurse. In all of Jo’s achievements and there were many, she was humble.

In all things what was most important in Jo’s life is captured beautifully by a young woman in South Africa with whom she worked. When Jo was planning to return to Australia. The young women said, ‘what will we do without you?’, Jo assured her she had taught her everything and she was capable of continuing the work. The woman replied ‘the best thing you have taught me is to be kind’.

And Jo was kind, she spoke with her eyes. They were alive and always seeking to do good for people. She loved life and was a good friend to many. She enjoyed bush walking, cooking, sewing, reading and caring for her indoor plants. Jo valued her community members and was especially enriched by sharing life and faith with the Sisters in her community.

When it was becoming apparent that Jo’s’s health was failing she asked to transfer to St Joseph’s Aged Care Facility, she accepted her aging with her typical resignation. It was here that she was beautifully cared for until her death.

We will be ever grateful to Perce, Martha and the Kenny family for the gift of Jo to our Congregation.

Go in peace dear Jo, united with the one who says ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love’

Thank you for your faith - filled witness, generosity, diligence and humility and great missionary spirit. May your beautiful humble soul rest in peace.

Philippa Murphy FDNSC Provincial Leader

THE SEED OF THE SACRED  FIG/ dân e-ye anjîr-e ma'âbed

Germany, 2024, 167 minutes, Colour.

Soheila Golestani, Missagh Zareh, Setareh Maleki, Mahsa Rostami, Niousha Akhshi, Reza Akhlaghirad.

Directed by Mohammad Rasoulof.

A drama which gained a great deal of attention in 2024, many awards and nominations, including Cannes, Golden Globe, Oscars, and, the award of the Ecumenical Jury in Cannes.

The action takes place in Tehran, 2022, the Women, Life, Freedom Movement, protests, police brutality, arrests, death sentences, on the occasion of the death in custody of the young Kurdish woman,Mahsa Amini, and her not covering her hair properly. The film has been written and directed by celebrated Iranian director, Mohammad Rasoulof, who served prison time because of official disapproval of his films and themes, who made this film secretly, carried it with him when he escaped from Iran and moved to Germany where postproduction was completed.

This is quite a long film, initially focusing on a government official, an investigator hoping to be a judge and provide a much better lifestyle for his wife and two daughters, but faced with a moral dilemma about death sentences and commands by prosecutors. He is a devout man, completely loyal to Allah and his understanding of Islamic law and to the state.

However, the first part of the film focuses on his wife, also strict, devoted to her husband, apprehensive about any dangers to his career, demanding with her daughters and not revealing details of their father’s life and work. Soheila Golestani’s intense performance is impressive.

Then the protests, the official condemnation of the young protesters, especially women against the wearing of the hijab, the director inserting actual footage from the protests and riots. The drama for the film heightens when one of the daughters gives her college friend some accommodation, despite the mother’s protest, but the student then is violently beaten, buckshot wound to her eye– and the challenge to the mother, a very careful scene with some tenderness as the mother tends to the wounded young woman.

One of the key issues of the film is the official handing of a gun to the father, and then its disappearing, a threat to his career when the authorities will think he is lax and careless, his making demands on his family, even taking them to a ‘therapy session’ with a skilled interrogator.

As his situation worsens, he takes the family to his old birthplace, his becoming more and more paranoid, including an effective episode where two protesters film and pursue the family. There is a highly melodramatic ending, the issue of the gun, his treatment of his wife and daughters, and their response to him, with the gun and the father’s collapse as well as that of the disillusionment of his wife.

Iran is always in the headlines, its political connections, considered part of the “axis of evil”, its official religious stands as the Islamic Republic of Iran, connections with terrorism in the Middle East, stories of harsh and unjust imprisonment, the morality police and their interventions. Which indicates that this should be a must see film.

There is a verbal prologue to the film which serves as a metaphor for Iran and for the action of the film:  

"Ficus Religiosa is a tree with an unusual life cycle. It seeds, contained in bird droppings, fall on other trees. Aerial roots spring up and grow down to the floor. Then, the branches wrap around the host tree and strangle it. Finally, the sacred fig stands on its own."

MACBETH

UK, 2025, 114 minutes, Colour.

David Tennant, Cush Jumbo, Cal MacAninch, Noof Ousellam, Moyo Akande, Casper Knopf, Jatinder Singh Randhawa, Rona Morison, Brian James O'Sullivan, Ros Watt, Benny Young

Directed by Max Webster; Capture directed by Tim Van Someren.

For just over 400 years, Shakespeare’s Macbeth, The Scottish Play, has been regularly performed. And, there have been several film versions including those by Orson Welles, Roman Polanski, filmed stage versions with Kenneth Branagh, Ralph Fiennes, and the basic plot being used for several gangster films like Joe Macbeth and Geoffrey Wright’s version updated to Melbourne.

In the last decade there have been Justin Kurzel’s version with Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard as well as Joel Coen’s version with Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand.

But, here is Macbeth with a Scottish accent. And a number of the other characters as well. And it is a striking performance, especially with his accent, by popular film and television star, David Tennant. At the outset, he makes Macbeth’s character his own and doesn’t let go. Sometimes, Lady Macbeth seems to dominate in interpretations. However, here she is played by Cush Jumbo, strongly intense but never dominating Macbeth himself.

The rest of the cast is an ensemble, often standing in a row at the back of the stage, then emerging and taking on quite a range of characters. And there is a racial mix in the cast as well as two actresses taking on male characters, especially Ross and Malcolm. And amongst the ensemble are musicians playing on stage.

And, considering the stage, it is a white square, surrounded on three sides by the audience (wearing headphones so that they hear the Shakespearean language well and extraneous sounds are excluded). At times there can be some props carried on stage including the weapons. And, at the end, behind the stage there is a colourful nature panorama. The minimalist staging of the play works particularly well, making demands on the imagination of the audience.

But, one might say the triumph of this version is the decision to use close-ups throughout the film, bringing the audience so close to Macbeth himself, to Lady Macbeth in her scheming as well as in her guilty madness, to all the characters. But, best of all is the decision to have Macbeth, David Tennant, frequently in close-up, looking and speaking straight into camera, intense, confiding in us the audience, trying to make us complicit in his decisions, in his regrets, in his ruthlessness, in his ultimate disillusionment.

This certainly makes this version of Macbeth worth seeing, brief, running under two hours, on the move, intense for performers and for the audience.

This version has another special surprise. Often the Porter sequence is omitted.

It is intended are some comic atmosphere/relief before the full tragedy descends on us. In this version, the director has decided to do some stand-up comedy, touches of broad appeal, the comedian as the Porter, Jatinder Singh Randhawa, engaging with the audience, asking about their headphones, joking but eventually moving into the Shakespeare text. Quite a memorable interlude.

The director of the play is Max Webster, significant in the UK his creative work. However, there has to be a credit for the director for the “Capture” of the play for the screen, Tim Van Someren. His use of the close-ups has been praised, and, often, the camera looking straight down on stage and characters, keeping the camera moving for the action, a sense of stillness for the soliloquies and the reflections.

This version of Macbeth reminds us of the richness of Shakespeare’s language and the quotations we remember, the political complexities of the plot, the psychology of the downfall of an ambitious man and his supportive wife – there can be many more versions.

MARIA

Germany, 2024, 124 minutes, Colour.

Angelina Jolie, Pierfrancesco Favini, Alba Rohrwacher, Haluk Bilginer, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Stephen Ashfield, Valeria Golina, Caspar Phillipson.

Directed by Pablo Larrain.

It is almost 50 years since the death of famed opera singer, Maria Callas. She died in 1977, aged 53. Franco Zeffirelli made a film of the last week of her life, Callas Forever, with Fanny Ardant. Fanny Ardant collaborated with documentary filmmaker, Tom Volf’s documentary, 2017 documentary, Maria by Callas.

This is a film for both older audiences and younger audiences. It will offer older audiences the opportunity to remember, to listen again to the many arias throughout this film, the voice of Callas herself. The film will offer to those younger, who don’t remember her, a vivid portrait.

The film was written by English screenwriter, Steven Knight (Pretty Dirty Things, Peaky Blinders and many films and television series) but, importantly, was directed by the Chilean, Pablo Larrain, directors of significant political films but also two other biographies of significant 20^th century women, Jackie (Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis) and Spencer (Princess Diana). Interestingly, there is the common denominator of Aristotle Onassis in Jackie and Maria.

And the choice of Angelina Jolie. She moves quite majestically through the film, often sweepingly, not only a prima donna, but one might say the sola donna, proud, sometimes arrogant in her interactions with people. The main focus is on the last week of her life, opening with her death, flashbacks of the previous week but, of course, flashbacks to past performances and achievements, and memories of her relationship with Onassis, and the insertion of an episode of meeting Jacqueline Kennedy at a party, present at the birthday where Marilyn Monroe sang (and some acid comments on her voice), and an icy encounter with JFK. (Callas in fact sang at this occasion.)

However, the main supporting characters here are her to devoted servants, her butler and her housemaid of many years, played by Italian stars, Pierfrancesco Favini and Alba Rohrwacher. We look at the ways she interacts with them, as she speaks to them, always superior, but a deep affection and sometimes dependence on them.

There is also the device of her wandering around Paris, stopping at various locations, flashbacks to performances, especially an orchestra playing in the rain, a scene from Madame Butterfly… And, during this wandering, there is a young filmmaker, Kodi Smit McPhee, called Mandrax, the drug that she was taking for support, her interactions with Mandrax, her conversations, his response, final hallucinations as she reviews her life.

This is a portrait of Maria Callas rather than a biography, an opportunity to listen again, to appreciate, to wonder at the complexities of personality for figures in the public eye.

1. Audience knowledge of and admiration for Maria Callas, her voice, performance, career? What is knowledge of her life, mother, the war, criticisms of being fat, her emergence, her husband, the encounter with Aristotle Onassis, life with him, separating from him, her loss of her voice, her final years?
2. The work of the director, his portrait of Jacqueline Kennedy, of Princess Diana, and the into cutting off the two women and their lives with Onassis?
3. The framework of the film, the opening with Maria Callas’s death, her assistance standing around, the flashback of the seven days, the flashbacks within flashbacks, her performances, black-and-white photography, Angelina Jolie and her voice, the lip syncing with Maria Callas’s voice, the locations and her memories, her tablets, the filmmaker and her hallucinations, the conversations? The clash with her doctor? Of the theatre with the pianist, the technician in the spotlight, the journalist and his later confrontation?
4. The importance of Ferrucio and Bruna? With Maria Callas for so many years, butler, housekeeper, with her in Paris, Bruna and the meals, the conversation, The ratio and the moving of the piano, concern about the doctor, that Maria Callas’ beck and call, her treatment of them, her dependence on them, their loyal service? The memories of being at her performances in the past? The concern in the present, her death?
5. The film offering an overview of Maria Callas’ career, born in New York, her mother, the German soldiers, in Venice, the initial success, the visualising of the various concerts, the buildings in Paris, the performance in the rain with the orchestra, Madame Butterfly, her success, the decline? For testing her voice, but wanting to listen to her records? The final aria?
6. Her personal relationships, the glimpse of her husband, at the party, the encounter with Onassis, his estimation of himself, rich and powerful, his infatuation with her, the invitation to the yacht, going with her husband, the beginning of the relationship, Onassis’ love for her, her moving away, not marrying, the issue of children, not wanting to be controlled? But her final visit to him?
7. The contrivance of the scene at Kennedy’s birthday party, Marilyn Monroe’s happy birthday song, her comments of Marilyn Monror and the voice, the encounter with Jackie Kennedy, the yacht, the discussions with Kennedy himself, her estimation of himself and the relationships?
8. The device of the film, the director and the name of the drug, Mandrax, the interviews, his responses, initially stolid, mellowing, the various scenes and interviews? The device, the hallucinations from her drugs? Herself revelations?
9. The prima donna, the diva, her arrogance, treatment of people, the fan who had missed her performance and her treatment of him, the attack on the intrusive journalist, the conversation with the man at the bar and her music?

• The film as a portrait rather than a biography? Angelina Jolie’s performance? The sequences of actual Maria Callas during the final credits – more smiling and genial and throughout the film?

WAVES

Czech Republic, 2024, 130 minutes, Colour.

Vojtech Vodochodsky, Ondrej Stupka, Tatiana Pauhofova, Stanislav Majer,

Directed by Jiri Madi.

An important Czech film, important for audiences in the Czech Republic but of great interest beyond. It takes us back to the era of the Soviet Union, a reminder of Stalinist repression in the prologue to the film, deaths and imprisonments, censorship and suppression. But it also takes us into the atmosphere of change in Europe in the middle of the 1960s, the freedoms in the West, the infiltration into Eastern Europe – some exhilaration and some dire consequences.

This is the story of Czechoslovakia, 1967-1968, a movement of dissent, of openness, desire for freedoms, the radio campaigns on radio Czechoslovakia and fearless broadcasters. These radio waves are the waves of the title. Then there is the emergence of Alexandder Dubceck, from Slovakia, his talk of freedoms, his election as Secretary General of the Communist Party, the fall of the President for corruption, a new Presidente and the sweep of exhilarating change.

The pride of the period is re-created, the radio, the studios, the technology – but the focus is on two brothers, Thomas, technician and his younger brother, Pavel, caught up in the protests, at the end of police brutality. The main story is that of Thomas, quiet, protective of his brother, but invited by the key broadcaster to work in the studio, his becoming more and more involved, but put upon by the secret police for information.

With the exuberance of the freedoms (and listening to Western songs and their lyrics, dancing to the rhythms…), Moscow is not pleased and relying on countries of the Warsaw Pact, there is an invasion of Prague, the putting down of the uprising, violence in the streets, prayers in the churches, but Radio Czechoslovakia, with the help of Thomas, maintaining encouraging broadcasting throughout the invasion.

Released in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Waves is not only a reminder of the past, of repression and popular uprising, but also a perspective on contemporary Russian politics and world responses.

1. The impact for a Czech audience? In countries which were part of the Soviet Union? Audiences who remember 1967-1968? A historical record and drama for those born later?
2. The title, waves, radio waves, broadcasting and its influence, its impact in Czechoslovakia, the potential for change, for support during the Soviet and Warsaw Pact invasion? Authorities and their fear of radio, freedom of speech, need for censorship and approval of texts?xxxxx all the and
3. The prologue, the Stalinist era, the statistics of deaths, imprisonments, the atmosphere of the Soviet Union? In the aftermath of World War II? The Eastern European countries, the development, stripped communism, the exclusion of the West and its capitalistic and modern culture? If the changes by 1967…? Czechoslovakia and its film industry at the time, Oscar-winning films, Mueller’s foreman and his departure to the US and Oscars?
4. The drama enabling the audience to appreciate the changes in 1967, the movement for change, the role of radio, the role of demonstrations and protests and brutal police putdowns, the authorities and the harsh application of the law, censorship, deprivation of freedoms? The style of life in Eastern Europe? The influence of Moscow?
5. The drama of the two brothers, the background of their parents deaths, Thomas and his technical skills, older, concern about app Pavel, demonstrating, his brother’s concern and phone calls, Pavel being beaten? His wanting to go to the audition for me la wiener, Thomas forbidding, is actually going, the tension in the room, the phone calls, Thomas answering the phone, bought into the interview and getting the job?
6. Thomas, his age, personality, concern about his brother, his job, technical skills, Hoffman as his boss, urging him to take the position, his unwillingness, the authorities approaching, his going to the office, the interview with me la, his collaboration with the other technician? The fact of keeping this all a secret from Pavel?
8. Wiener, his background, ideas, the background of his family and children, daring, the broadcasts, check radio and the international studio, the journalist, the stories, their being suppressed, the censorship, the manager and his intrusions and interviews? The range of journalists, the personalities, courage and daring, Vera and her African experience, stern? Thomas observing? The issue of the letters condemning the broadcast, sending Vera and Thomas to meet the students, the discovery of the fake letters?
9. The various tapes, interviews, the importance of the bank account of the Pres’s son, the phone calls to France, recordings, exposure, leading ultimately to the Pres’s press conferences, his resignation?

• The emergence of Alexandre Deb, from Slovakia, his views, freedom of speech, the protesters and the printing of photos, pamphlets, distributing them, the role of the Secret Service and the police, the intrusions?
• Thomas, finding a place at the radio, friends, trusted? The secret police, the approach, pursuing Pavel, confronting Thomas, the threats against Pavel, his giving the clue, the New Year’s Eve party, the secret police, finding the tape, the arrest of the journalist? The interrogation about Vera, the irony of his telling them about the French language, the recipes hidden in her stove?
• Thomas, with Vera, her sternness, the party, the mellowing, the dancing, the sexual encounter? His finally telling her the truth, her walking away from him? Her being appointed to Tokyo?
• The role of Hoffman, the boss, his party loyalties, his pleading to Thomas, urging him to get information? With the Russian invasion, calling Thomas, forbidding any news? His involvement in the broadcasts, trying to close them down, the final offer to Thomas and Thomas rejecting it?
• The experience of 1968, the new Pres, his name of freedom, as party secretary, the introduction of ideas and styles from the west, the various songs throughout the film? An easier atmosphere? The democratic socialism?
• The Soviet invasion, the journalist going to Moscow, telling Prague the suspicions, condemned as fascists? The cutting off of the communication to the embassy? The invasion, the tanks, the plains, during the night, the reaction of the people, protests, stopping the tanks, the fires, the vicious response? The scene in the church, the priest and the people, St Francis prayer? Listening to the broadcasts?
• Malone, picnic, his collapse, the brain tumour, hospital? The role of the others maintaining the broadcasts, continued descriptions of the invasion, Vera at the microphone? The attack on the station, Vera and the others taking refuge in the Italian Embassy, continuing to broadcast, the BBC?
• The role of Thomas, enabling the continued links, the connection to the Army radio, the desperation, the timing, the technicians, the continued broadcasts, Hoffman and his anger?
• Thomas, enabling the broadcast, the soldier with his gunfire aimed at him, the manager of the station and his drinking and defiance? Thomas going home, the arrest, in the cell, let go?
• Georgia, in Moscow, six days of negotiations, failure of the Spring uprising?
• The irony of Thomas and his reporting to the secret police and their checking him out as an agent enabling him to promote the connections and the continued broadcasts?
• The effect of the personalising of the story with the two brothers, Pavel returning and the decision to stay – but audiences knowing that it would be more than two more decades before the collapse of the Soviet Empire?

KINDA PREGNANT

US, 2025, 97 minutes, Colour.

Amy Schumer, Will Forte, Jillian Bell, Brianne Howey, Lizze Broadway, Urzila Carlson, Chris Geere, Damon Wayans Jr, Joel David Moore, Jackie Sandler, Duke McLeod.

Directed by Tyler Spindel.

Quite a facetious tone in the title. And, there is quite a lot of facetious humour throughout this comedy (a variation on a romantic comedy). But, with the addition of “pregnant”, there are also some serious themes.

Before venturing on watching Kinda Pregnant, audiences might like to know that it comes from the Happy Maddison Studios, Adam Sandler’s studios, and this is very much a comedy with serious overtones in the popular Adam Sandler style. In fact, Sandler’s wife, Jackie, appears as a yoga instructor. The film is directed by Sandler’s nephew, Tyler Spindel, his previous film for his uncle was The Out-laws.

But this is also an Amy Schumer film, her kind of comedy style, sometimes down and out, often wishful thinking, touches of concern about her appearance.

This time, she is Lainey, seen in the prologue as a little girl playing with her best friend Kate, and the game is giving birth, energetically. Lanie’s main wish is to become a mother. Skip to the present. She and Kate teach in a high school, some precocious brats in the class, of course, discussions about Romeo and Juliet. Lainey is all excited, invited to a dinner, sure that her partner is going to propose, all eagerly psyched up. Actually, he does propose (he is a smug cad) – but not at all what Lainey was hoping for. She goes into a spin.

So, comedy. But, shopping with Kate, Jillian Bell, who is now pregnant, she steals a pregnancy belly from a shop – and, in a range of circumstances, she becomes kinda pregnant. She goes to yoga classes and actually  meets a very friendly mother, Megan, Brianne Howie. And who should be Megan’s brother, Josh, but the man she met by chance at a coffee shop and who was kind to her, Will Forte.

So, we can anticipate what is going to happen, when Lainey is at school and not pregnant, and when she is meeting with Megan, even babysitting, attending other classes, and pregnant. There are complications are school, especially with the hard-boiled counsellor, played by stand-up comedian from New Zealand (accent and all) Urzila Carlson, contrasting with the ultramodern and flighty teacher, Shirley, who is pregnant!

So, romance with Josh, complications at school, all coming to a head at a lavish baby shower. And, the continual wondering about how she is going to tell the truth and what will be the consequences.

At times the comedy is very broad, plenty of innuendo, a number of topical cinema and television references, and the satire of a sex scene which moves the censor’s classification from M to MA.

Allowing for all that and depending on one’s mood, there is quite a lot to enjoy.

1. The tone of the title? Facetious, ironic? The touch of the serious? This for the style of the film throughout, characters, situations, issues?
2. The comedy principally for the female audience? Identifying with characters and situations, pregnancy, birth, children and family? And the role of men and husbands? The different impact for the male audience?
3. The production company, Adam Sandler, his style of American comedy, aspects of realism, surrealistic humour, jokes, innuendo, topical references, a succession of episodes and events building up a narrative, the past and the styles of stand-up comedy?
4. Amy Schumer and her career, comedy, style, self-image, stand-up comedy?
5. The title and the theme of pregnancy, serious admiration for pregnancy and birth, children, the impact for women, those wanting to be pregnant, those not wanting to be pregnant, and the gallery of mothers throughout the film, the central characters, and the women at the yoga and psychology workshops?
6. The prologue, Lainey and Kate, playing, giving birth, the conversation, giving ground for their friendship?
7. Lainey, in her 40s, at school, Romeo and Juliet, Liam and his crass remarks, Brett and his interventions, Dave and the invitation, expecting the proposal, going to the apartment, the dress, the dinner, the proposal for the threesome, the girlfriend arriving, the cake, her screaming and the scene? Disappointment? And the comic reaction with the class?
8. Lainey, disappointed, going for the, coffee trying to avoid Shirley, talking with Josh, bonding, the discovery that he was Megan’s brother, living in the garage, happy in meeting him, the garage, the date, the ice skating rink, his bad experiences, the sexual encounter – and the farcical aspects of the sex sequence? His continued support, the truth and his disappointment? Garage door sequence, trying to persuade him to forgive Lainey? And the scene with the family who would witness the sex as well as other episodes, passing by?
9. Kate, married, pregnant, sharing with Lainey, Mark and his seeming disregard and preoccupation? The two working at the school?

• The character of Fallon, New Zealand accent, counsellor, vaping pot, the oddball opinions, her behaviour, lesbian, friendship and advice?
• Shirley, the younger generation, oddball, pregnant, her boyfriend, dancing and 21^st-century style? The bond with Fallon, with Kate and the sharing of the baby shower? Antagonism towards Lainey?
• Lainey, shopping with Kate, seeing the baby belly, stealing, pretending to be pregnant, going to the yoga class, the meeting with Megan, Megan friendly, at home with her husband, the young son and his mischievous behaviour? Friendship, the invitation to dinner, the boy with a knife and puncturing the fake pregnancy belly? Lainey always managing despite all kinds of impossible moments, skating, the splits…? Lainey and her loneliness, sadness, desperate for being pregnant? The enjoyment of looking after Megan and Steve’s son, reading to him, the joy of babysitting?
• The psychology class, with Megan, the carry on, the reality and the satire about pregnancy and psychological condition?
• Encounter with Dave, with the girl, seeing her pregnant, her saying triplets, his relief that they were not his? The satire on the callow self-seeking and self gratifying male? Contrast with Mark, absent-minded, yet loving? Steve, the family man, the humour?
• Lainey confiding in Fallon, helping her out, Shirley overhearing, spreading the rumour that Lainey was considering an abortion?
• The lavish baby shower, Shirley and her announcement, Megan and Steve present, Lainey’s speech, admitting the truth, the consequences?
• Lainey back to ordinary, lonely, being present Kate her, Mark present? The news that Megan had had a baby?
• The truth confrontations, the truth for Megan and the reconciliation? And the continued support of Kate?
• And the reconciliation with Josh – and the vehicle, the mad careering and crashing through and the up in the air ending for audiences to speculate on?

SEBASTIAN

UK/Finland, 2024, 110 minutes, Colour.

Ruaridh Mollica, Hiftu Quassem, Jonathan Hyde, Ingvar Sigurdsson, Dylan Brady.

Directed by Mikko Mäkelä.

Sebastian is a challenging drama, a British film directed by a Finnish director. Its central character is played by a British/Italian actor, Ruaridh Mollica, with a supporting cast of Scandinavian actors and a strong performance from Jonathan Hyde.

The film is sometimes graphic and explicit in its scenes of sexual encounters.

Max is from Scotland, a talented writer, a short story in the British magazine, Granta, now working on his novel, encouraged by fellow writers with interviews from literary editors. He is highly ambitious for a successful career.

Max is homosexual. He decides to do some research for his writing, setting himself up online as an escort. He meets up with the various men, the sexual encounters, payment. And he begins to write about these encounters, in the third person, his friends and editors not suspecting his activities.

Max creates an online persona for himself, Sebastian, and as the film develops, there is the character of Sebastian, friendly, accommodating, sexually active. But there is also the writing obsessed Max, and the challenge to his two personalities when he encounters a retired writer and editor, Jonathan Hyde, and forms a personal relationship even while observing his behaviour and writing.

Ultimately, some overreaching of himself, criticisms from the friends he lets down, the editors suggesting that the writing is becoming tedious, another encounter with a client which leads to violence and his exposure, stranded in Amsterdam, having to face up to himself, his hopes, some integrity. The audience is not sure that this will happen.

1. The title, the working name, Max and Sébastian?
2. The London settings, flats, offices, editorial rooms, literature occasions? The contrast with Sebastian’s work, hotels, rooms, clubs? The Amsterdam sequences, clubs, the streets? The musical score?
3. The double character drama, the touch of Jekyll and Hyde? Max, his age, Scottish background, family and contact with his mother, his skill in writing, his ambitions, the publication of his story in Granta, further stories and encouragement, the publishing firms and editors and their discussions and encouragement? His friendship with Amna? Her work, comments, affirmation? Acknowledging himself as a gay man?
4. Going online, his decision about his story, creating the name of Sebastian, enrolling himself, the photos, the provocative descriptions? His decision to act as an escort rather than just observing? His encounters, the initial encounter with the older man, the relationship with the client, the discussions, the sexual activity, the aftermath? The encounter with Daniel, married, his response to Daniel, Daniel appreciating that he did not lie about himself?
5. Seeing him of the typewriter, his creativity, bringing the manuscripts for consideration, the variety of responses, from Amna, editors, the believing he was observing and writing creatively? The shift to writing in the first person, as Sebastian?
6. The development of the manuscript, the encouragement of the editors, the publishing plans, the prospect of money, added to the money coming in from the clients? The editors and their criticisms, wanting it more personal, the validity of the criticism that in his becoming more settled as Sebastian, companionship, the audience was losing interest?
7. The encounter with Nicholas, literary background, age, manner, teaching, reticent, the gradual relationship? Sebastian and his response, his being changed in this relationship? But still observing? And encountering Nicholas at the literature function? The discussions with Nicholas, about his writing, Nicholas and his encouragement, and Nicholas revealing his story, his literary work, editing, and his long-term relationship, the death of his companion?
8. The dilemma for Sebastian/Max, which name to introduce himself with? To continue as an escort? The next meeting with Daniel, the sexual aspects, his reticence, Daniel discovering the truth about him, the violent response? Ousting him, not giving him his wallet, Max wandering the streets, at the bar, the encounter with the young man, asking for money, the young man spitting on him?
9. Ringing for the money, his return to England?

• His prospects, the truth about himself, the relationship with Nicholas, the friendship with a, the development of his writing?

SEPTEMBER 5

Germany/US, 2024, 95 minutes, Colour.

Peter Sarsgaard, John Magaro, Ben Chaplin, Leonie Benesch, Zinedine Soualem, Georgina Rich, Corey Johnson, Marcus Rutherford, Benjamin Walker.

Directed by Tim Fehlbaum.

September 5,1972 was a significant date for terrorism in the 20^th century, the Munich Olympic Games, the attack on the Israeli team in the Olympic village, the terrorists, the transition to the airport, the deaths.

The theme was taken up by the American telemovie already in 1976, 21 Hours at Munich with William Holden as the German police chief. Documentary maker, Kevin MacDonald, won the Oscar, 1999, for One Day in September, interviews with many participants, including the last terrorist survivor, Jamal Al Gashey. Steven Spielberg directed a dramatic recreation of the covert operation to eliminate all involved, Munich, 2005.

This film has a different focus, the television media challenged by the events happening in real life and actual time. It is noted that this was the first International satellite linking televising a world event, more people watching the Games than the moon landing three years earlier.

While the drama does focus on the Israeli team, the attack, the terrorists, the tensions, the audience is taken into the ABC production area, the personnel involved, various responsibilities, directing, camera choices, the need for translation from the German for the Americans. Veteran journalist Peter Jennings, his young days, was inside the Olympic village. And the connection was with television host, Jim McKay – and the film using a great deal of footage of his actual commentary.

Focus is on the technical aspects, the cameras, the close proximity to the village, getting cameras into the village, confrontations by the German police not used to this kind of terrorist situation, incoming information, sometimes accurate, ultimately, at first from  the airport, not accurate at all, and the responsibility of the executives of what was to go to air or not. And, the initial dilemma, should commercial television be screening live-action killings.

Television reporting footage has developed substantially in the succeeding half-century. But, this is an opportunity to go back, to learn about the past, television possibilities and developments, and, in the light of 21^st-century terrorism, especially in Israel, events in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, to be continually alert.

1. The date, 1972, the Munich Olympic Games, the terrorist attack, the disaster, the role of the media, world communication?
2. The focus on ABC television, the studio, the technology, the cameras, the editing, the challenge, the first international networking, the studio opposite the Olympic village, the building with the Israeli athletes? The pace of the production work?
3. Audience familiarity with the situation, the terrorists, the attack on the Israeli team, the initial deaths, the masked terrorists, the transfer to the airport, the initial hopes, the deaths of everyone?
4. The technical effectiveness of this film, the personnel in the studio, the work, times and demands, decisions, positions of cameras, editing and focus, sending the camera personnel out, the police cordons, getting through? Peter Jennings and his position, inside the village, connecting with him? The use of the material from Jim McKay from the time? The connections, his commentary, sense of urgency?
5. The importance of Marianne Gebhardt, language, translation, the German experience, memories of the war, the Berlin Olympics, the action, translating, going out and making contacts, reporting in, giving information?
6. The key central figures in the studio, Arledge in charge, his presence, decisions, intervening, responsibilities, moral issues, issues for the public and the audience? Geoff, (and the actual Geoff being a producer on this film), experience, having to take responsibilities, the timing, the discussions with Marvin? The issue of filming terrorists killing people on live television? The responsibility to the Israelis, to the public? , His French background, criticisms? The African-American reporter, posing as an athlete, moving in and out with the film? The American national athlete, the interview with his father? Including the interview with the athlete? The pressure on Geoff, succeeding in the programming, his decisions, clash with Marvin, the information that the athletes were safe, then the contrasting news?
7. The film not focusing so directly on the athletes, those killed, the terrorists? The glimpses? The situations being described, in the village, the shootings, the uncertainties, to the airport, seemingly safe, and the truth?
8. The significance of this film in the 21^st-century, 50 years after the events? The extraordinary developments in technology and communication? Subsequent history of the state of Israel, the Palestinians, 50 years of clash, occupation of Gaza, the West Bank?
9. The audience with this film and the wide variety of cultural, political, ideological perspectives?

World Day of the Sick, Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes.

Established by St John Paul II,

on this day we remember the sick,

especially of the Chevalier Family worldwide,

but a focus on Australia and our men in care at St Joseph’s, Kensington.