FAST AND FURIOUS

(US, 2009, d. Justin Lim)

That's exactly it.

An initial attempt at a robbery involving road tankers and speeding cars along back roads and cliff paths in Santo Domingo is so pacily edited that it gets the adrenalin going at once whether you approve or not.

We are back at the 2001 The Fast and the Furious, having dropped the 'the's' to remind us that Dom (the smiling/humour and charsima free zone, Vin Diesel) and Brian (the tall Paul Walker) are still on different sides of the law and still rivals when it comes to racing their cars through crowded LA streets, out in the desert or though miles of tunnels under the mountains on the border between Mexico and the US. So, for the fans, there is a lot of driving, lots of souped up engines and manoeuvres and crashes and drivers with capital A, Attitude.

As with the previous films there is a final credits warning on the danger of the stunts, the fact that they were performed by experts and under supervision, and an exhortation not to try them.

There is a criminal sub-plot, as had The Fast and the Furious 2. A drug lord has been responsible for the death of Letty (Michelle Rodriguez). Dom is after revenge. Brian is with an FBI agent tracking him down. Yes, the do infiltrate. Yes, they do become drivers. Yes, there is rivalry. Yes, they combine to 'bring him down'. But, we knew all that – it was just the question of how enjoyable it was to follow it all.

It's undemanding action, expertly crafted – except that Diesel is so impassive we presume there is a lot going on inside. And Walker is bestubbled to give him that subversive FBI personal.

PS. It made over a million dollars worldwide in its first week of release. The release was also of pent-up adrenalin in the credit crunch times.

17 AGAIN

US, 2009, 102 minutes, Colour.
Zac Efron, Leslie Mann, Thomas Lennon, Matthew Perry, Sterling Knight, Michelle Trachtenberg, Hunter Parrish, Melora Hardin.
Directed by Burr Steers.

Apologies to Zac Efron.

While he did a good song and dance turn in Hairspray, we have basically seen him only in the 3 High School Musicals – where he became an icon for teeny and tweeny boppers with little demand for of display of acting talent.

17 Again shows his acting skills. He is surprisingly effective.

The boppers have their first moment when the first words we see on the screen are High School and there is shirtless Zac throwing baskets. The target audience is immediately on side but others were wondering.

We know the plot before we go into to the cinema so it is a matter of finding out how Matthew Perry as the older Michael O'Donnell (really only a cameo performance) would revert to 17 again in the form of Zac Efron. We have seen the beginnings of his marriage to pregnant Scarlet and his loss of the championship game and his rather drab life from then on, marriage failing and two uninterested teenage kids.

The thing is that Efron is quite credible as a thirty seven year old in the body of a 17 year old, listening to his children's problems and helping them to self-esteem, supporting his about to be divorced wife, active in the school, not only at sport where he excelled but, surprisingly in the sex education class where he explains some traditional moral stances. We actually believe that the man in boy's form is sensibly and emotionally acting out, 'if only I knew then what I know now'.

Leslie Mann is credible as Scarlet but a lot of the show is stolen (or almost) by the humorously oddball performance by Thomas Lennon (also seen in a key cameo in I Love You, Man) as a millionaire computer geek, at his geekiest, Michael's best friend but pretending to be his father and being obnoxiously surprising in making a play for the school principal.

Yes, a variation on the Vice Versa story but the screenplay is better than usual and Zac Efron makes it work.

1.Vice-versa stories? Popular? The characters, reversal of roles? Adult perspectives? Children’s perspectives?

2.The average American town? Homes? Homes and gardens? Jobs? School, sport? Real? The musical score? Songs?

3.A Zac Efron vehicle, the background of high school musicals, the basketball opening, his dancing, Efron as seventeen, as thirty-seven and looking seventeen, persuasive as an adult in adolescent form?

4.The 80s high school, basketball, the team, the coach, the nerd and his spoiling the photo? The crowds, the parents, the cheerleaders? The match? Mike as popular? Scarlett and her presence, enigmatic, Mike following her, the pregnancy, his leaving? The effect on his life?

5.Michael as an adult, the two children and their being alienated from him, Scarlett blaming him for the collapse of their marriage? The papers for the divorce? Scarlett and her friend Naomi and her advice? Mike at work, expecting the promotion, not getting it, it being given to young women? His feeling put-upon? His talks with Ned? Staying with him? The return to the school, looking at his photos, the talking with the janitor, seeing the janitor on the bridge, falling into the river?

6.His wish that he could have his time over again, in the whirlpool, his being transformed? The idea ‘if I knew then what I know now…’, his returning home, Ned’s shock, their elaborate laser fight? His plan? Ned as father, Mike as son? Preparing for the interview?

7.Mike as seventeen again, the clothes for the interview, his good behaviour, his adult behaviour with the principal, going shopping, meeting Alex, bound in the toilet, freeing him, talking with him, becoming a friend, coaching him in basketball? Getting self-confidence? Scarlett and her double-take? His being in the class, the discussion about condoms, handing them out, Stan and his macho reaction, Mike’s speech, the girls’ response, Maggie’s reaction? The girls attracted to him? On the basketball team, the coach still present? His throwing the big party, at the house, getting out of control, Ned and his reaction?

8.Stan, his look, the clashes with Mike, the violence, Mike and his talking to him, spinning the ball and his basketball prowess, being bashed? Mike and his resistance? Maggie going out to the parties? Maggie being dumped, Stan and his attitude, his talk with Maggie, his talk with Mike at the party?

9.Scarlett and Naomi, Scarlett and her freedom, the difficulties, going to court, the yard as a dump, Mike’s failure to fix things? Scarlett transforming the yard, landscaped, Mike and his help? Dancing with her? Coming to the party, the kiss? The reaction of the children? His going to court, his reading the letter, its having only the address? The final match, Scarlett present, leaving, his going with her? Love and a future?

10.Alex, the butt of bullying, the cheerleader and his attraction, the party, Mike’s encouragement? Maggie, her infatuation with Stan, her deceptive behaviour, attitude? Her coming to her senses? Talking with Mike?

11.Ned, in himself, as a boy, spoiling the photo, his adult success, computers, copyright? Rich, living in a fantasy world, all the things that he bought, the cluttered house? The swordfight with Mike? Becoming his father, the overt flirting with the principal, her reactions, his continuing to push, turn up, the date, their talking elf-language from The Lord of the Rings, going home, discovering the party, the principal and her whistling for discipline? The bond between the two?

12.The typical adolescents of the 80s, permissive, twenty years later, change of attitudes or not?

13.Mike, his learning, having his life over again, new chances, his bemoaning his life and his regrets, discovering that he should do the right thing? The happy ending?

WHISKY

Uruguay, 2004, 95 minutes, Colour.
Andres Pazos, Mirella Pascual, Jorge Bolani.
Directed by Juan Pablo Rebella and Pablo Stoll.

Why would a rare Uruguayan film claim ‘Whisky’ as a title? Well, it seems to be the equivalent of ‘cheese’ for Uruguayans when they are asked to smile for a photo. Not that there are many smiles on the characters in the film - although the audience will be smiling quite a lot. Two young writer-directors have given us the portrait of two very lonely people, locked in the daily repetitions of their factory routines. We smile at the day after day rituals but, actually, they are very sad. Jacobo is a 60 year old sock manufacturer. Marta is his taken-for-granted loyal assistant (aged 48). She, at least, does have a little joy in her life as she goes to the movies each evening.

When Jacobo’s brother comes to Montevideo from Brazil for a memorial service for their mother and brings some of his liveliness and exuberance, Jacobo dowses almost everything with glum cold water while Marta (whom he has employed to pose as his wife for the weekend) becomes more animated in his presence. Will this visit make any change in their drab lives?

Nicely done and a chance to see a film from Uruguay.

1. The awards for the film? Popular success? A rare film from Uruguay?

2. The Montevideo settings, the streets and the shop, the beach resort, the sea? Authentic atmosphere? Musical score and mood?

3. The title, the word to say for smiling when a photo is taken? The forces smiles for the photo? The irony of the title?

4. The opening, Marta waiting for Jacobo to open the shop, looking at the watch, the opening, the beginnings of the routines in starting the factory, the making of the socks? The repetition for other days? The film ending with the same repetition? The effect of this repetition and illustration of character?

5. Jacobo, age, experience, the factory, relying on Marta, fixing the blinds, drinking the coffee? The plan for his mother’s gravestone? His brother coming, deciding to pose as married to Marta? Going shopping, the discounts, the photo? His going to the airport, receiving his brother? Introducing Marta? At the house, the laconic conversation? His sour attitude, ironic comments and behaviour? The ceremony, the aftermath? Going to the sea, the meals, the time together? His not enjoying it? Seeing his brother off? The return to the same old things – no change?

6. Marta, her age, devotion, the same routines, supervising the women, smoking? Her agreeing to the plan? Her personal life, going home, going to the movies? Cleaning up the very dirty house, making it less ramshackle? Her posing as the wife? Her interest in the brother, responding to his jokes, the conversations? Her return to the routine – but the enjoyment of the experience with the brother?

7. The brother, his long absence, his factory, bringing gifts of socks, their being much more colourful than Jacobo’s? the ceremony? His enjoying the company, trying to brighten things up? The detail of life in the house, the holiday? His return?

8. A droll perception of human nature and its changes – and the unwillingness to change and to be stuck in routine?

A WALK IN THE CLOUDS

US, 1995, 102 minutes, Colour.
Keanu Reeves, Aitana Sanchez Gijon, Anthony Quinn, Giancarlo Giannini, Debra Messing.
Directed by Alfonso Arau.

Tries to appeal to the audience for romances. However, despite being directed by Alfonso Arau, best known for his complex `magical realism' in Like Water for Chocolate. There are some lyrical sequences here, especially with the vine harvest, and some nightmares, but the screenplay is a touch too obvious and too stolid. So is Keanu Reeves as the hero. However, Aitana Sanchez Guion is vivacious as the daughter of a Mexican winegrowing family (with Giancarlo Giannini as her father and a scene-stealing Anthony Quinn as grandfather). The film is nice and its heart is in the right place but it opts to stay with a fairly surface niceness. Like chocolate for chocolate boxes.

1. A romantic film? Traditional? Straightforward and emotional? Not ironic? This kind of film in the 1990s – in an age of critique and cynicism? The popularity of this kind of romance?

2. The period, post-World War Two? San Francisco? Soldiers being demobbed? The Californian countryside, the vineyards, the haciendas, the small towns? An authentic atmosphere for the story?

3. The title, the reference to Paul, after the war, hopes, ambitions? Fulfilment?

4. The plausibility of the plot: the focus on Paul and his military experience, his relationship with his wife, the gap between the two? His job, salesman for chocolates? His travels, the encounter with Victoria? Her pregnancy, his deciding to pretend to be her husband? The reception in the family, suspicions, his support of her, falling in love? The resolution of his own marriage? The fire in the vineyard? Despair, the hopes for the future? The musical score?

5. Paul, his military service, his nightmares about the bombed orphanage? His being disturbed? The return, Betty and her wariness? On the road, his job and prospects? In the bus, with Victoria, sensing her plight, helping her? The impact on the family, suspicions, his ability to keep up the pretence? The gift of the chocolates? The relationship with Don Pedro? The other members of the family, Don Pedro Junior? The mother, the brothers and sisters and the extended family? Life in the house, his respecting Victoria? Helping her? The grapes, the crushing of the grapes, his participation? The build-up to his decision, his having to leave, going to Betty, finding her with another man? The break? The return, the reconciliation, his love for Victoria, wanting to marry her? The fire, the desperation, his help? The root, giving it to Don Pedro, hope for the future?

6. Victoria, her condition, her disillusionment with the baby’s father? Her studies, her return home, the possible shame? Her response to Paul, to the pretence, going about the ordinary things at home? Her attitude towards her father? Paul and his fitting in, life, work? His departure, her being left on her own, her gratitude towards him? The return, the wedding, a future?

7. The Aragon family, Don Pedro as the patriarch, the Anthony Quinn style? At home, ruling the family, decisions? His wife? The other children? Victoria and her having gone to study? The family property, the grapes, the crushing, production? His suspicions of Paul? The chocolates? Gradually accepting him? Paul’s going, the return, the fire, despair and hope? The sketches of the other members of the family, the Hispanic background, style, patriarchy?

8. Betty, the war marriage, the breakdown, another man, her sadness in breaking with Paul, the divorce?

9. The presentation of people in the town, their way of life, in the house, communal, the extended family, meals? The codes of honour, pregnancies, marriage? The pressures on Paul and Victoria? The experience of the fire, the extent of its devastation? The build-up to the future?

WHAT BECOMES OF THE BROKEN HEARTED?

New Zealand, 1999, 103 minutes, Colour.
Temuera Morrison, Clint Eruera, Rena Owen.
Directed by Ian Mune.

What Becomes of the Broken Hearted is based on the novel by Alan Duff. It is a sequel to Once Were Warriors, the celebrated New Zealand film of 1994. Once Were Warriors won awards everywhere with its powerful look at Maoris living in suburban Auckland, the struggles within families, the effect of alcoholism and unemployment, the importance of going back to traditional Maori religious and cultural roots.

The film made an international actor of Temuera Morrison who had appeared in New Zealand films and in New Zealand soaps. Rena Owen also made a powerful impact.

The first film was directed by Lee Tamahori, this film directed by veteran Ian Mune. It lacks the power of Once Were Warriors, focusing, as it does, on Jake’s journey. This gives Temuera Morrison a chance for a tour-de-force performance, following up his estrangement from his wife Beth (Rena Owen) and his struggles with his son. The film continues the portrait of the struggle of urban Maoris in late 20th century New Zealand.

1. The expectations of the film, as a sequel to Once Were Warriors? The similarities? The differences? The Maori themes, family and race issues? The style of treatment?

2. The film in itself, the portrait of Jake, within his cultural context, in Auckland? His relationship with his wife, with his son? His own spirituality journey?

3. The authentic atmosphere of Auckland and the suburbs, the areas where Maori families live? The world of drinking and pubs? Work? The work sites? The gangs? The musical score and the songs?

4. The song and its use as the title of the film? Indication of themes?

5. Jake’s story, audience knowledge of him in the past, his character, in the family, his cultural traditions, his drink, his violence? Audience sympathies or not? The screenplay giving sufficient information about him? The past relationship with Beth, their struggles, bringing up the family, his drinking and violence? Sonny and his reaction to his father?

6. The portrait of Jake, in himself, tough, continually angry? The rages and bashings? Yet the light touch, his humour, singing? His relationship with Rita, sexual?

7. Jake and his relationship to Nig Heke, to Tanya? The fights? The shooting? The reasons?

8. The information for Jake, the cook, anger? Maori bullshit? His going, Sonny’s anger, Beth coming, her thanks?

9. His being excluded, the fighting at the new place, the friends and the car breakdown? The jug hunt? The work site and the party? His getting better?

10. Tanya and the sign at the funeral, motivation, relationship? The gangs, the robbery, the plan? In herself, her story?

11. The portrait of Sonny, his relationship with his father? Mook and his support, with the comic touches? The relationship with Tanya? Joining the gang? The bashing, the money, disillusionment?

12. The gangs and their ethos, the reasons for the gangs in Auckland, the young men, lack of work, angers? The leaders and their codes? The effect of prison, changing characters? The possibility of help?

13. The shooting and its aftermath?

14. Beth, her absence from the film, her relationship with Jake, fond memories, harsh memories? Her visit? Jake and Beth, the drive, the pursuit? Hurt? The death? Fighting to save their son?

15. The New Zealand of the 1990s, the city, the place of the Maoris? The Maori traditions, cultural? Oppression? Maoris as warlike people? in themselves, the gangs, angers? The humane hopes of this film for the future?

THE WHOLE TEN YARDS

US, 2004, 98 minutes, Colour.
Bruce Willis, Matthew Perry, Amanda Peet, Kevin Pollack, Natasha Henstridge, Frank Collison.
Directed by Howard Deutsch.

With all the best will in the world, it is impossible not to say that this is a very silly film. There was some entertainment in The Whole Nine Yards, the tale of a fashionable but nervous dentist whose wife hires a killer to eliminate him – and who then finds that he actually lives next door to a hitman. Matthew Perry capitalised on his kind of jittery, awkward smiling persona from Friends. Bruce Willis was all crooked smiles.

Here they are again in a plot that twists and turns with very little signalling – and which has to be explained to the dentist (and to us) by the hitman at the end. It is to do with the father of the gangster that Willis killed in the first one, only now we find there was a kind of family relationship and the father, just out of jail, is not happy. The dentist’s wife (formerly the hitman’s wife) is abducted. The hitman’s new wife, who was the killer hired in the first one to get rid of the dentist, wants to do a hit and wants to get pregnant. It may spoil the ending to know that everyone’s wishes are fulfilled – with an extra $280, 000,000 that none of them really need. It is all presented in a silly sitcom kind of way.

1. The popularity of The Whole Nine Yards? The quality of this sequel? Characters, situations, comedy?

2. The Mexican and Los Angeles settings? The 1960s? 2004? The style in Mexico, affluence in the big cities? The world of gangsters? The musical score?

3. The title, its American tone? Achievement – or not?

4. The quality of the dialogue? Characterisations? Thin, silly?

5. The intricacies of the plot? In relationship to the original, Jimmy as a killer, Cynthia as his ex-wife, his relationship with Jill, her being a contract killer, Oz and his being a dentist? His being caught up with this group? The repercussions of the first film, the killing, the money, the concealing of Jimmy’s death?

6. Bruce Willis overacting as Jimmy, appearance, on the farm, domestic, cleaning, cooking with the hens? The relationship with Jill, wanting to be pregnant, wanting to be a contract killer, failing? His support of her, reprimanding her? The lifestyle? The memories of the relationship with Laszlo, with Yanni? The torn dollar note? The phone calls with Cynthia? The plan? The awkwardness, the killer’s coming for him, the escape with Oz, the clashes with Oz, the clashes with Jill, her pulling the gun on him, his drinking, in the bed with Oz? The irony of the plan, the contact with Cynthia? The confrontation with Strabo, his death? Their being taken by Julie, the confrontation with Laszlo? Jill in on the act, the pretence, the happy ending – with even more millions? Credible comic performance as a serial killer?

7. Matthew Perry’s coming style as Oz, the dentist, in love with Cynthia, the phone calls with Jill, supportive? At work, Julie as his assistant? The hoodlums coming for him, his taking them to Jimmy? The clashes with Jimmy, Cynthia being abducted, his puzzlement at Jill’s behaviour? The violence, the shootings? Strabo’s arrival, the guns, the shoot-out, the phone call, the plan for Strabo for Cynthia? The dentist’s office, being chloroformed? His not being in on the plan, the final car drive and everything explained to him?

8. Cynthia, relationship with Jimmy, love for Oz, the abduction, the discussions with Jimmy, the plan, her searching for the note, with Laszlo, with his mother? Her turning the tables?

9. Jill, her ambitions, wanting to be a mother, sense of failure, support from Oz? Her confrontation with Jimmy, his spurning of her, her coming in, the shooting – and her being part of the act? Her being pregnant?

10. Laszlo, bringing up the two boys, tearing the dollar in half, his imprisonment, his coming out, wanting to avenge Yanni’s death, Strabo and his ignorance, his hitting him? The toughs? The plans, the surveillance, finding Jimmy, the chase? Abducting Cynthia? The plan for Strabo’s exchange? His death? The confrontation with Jill, his being shot in the foot, the police arriving?

11. The thugs, their stupidity, Strabo and his being dumb, ugly, his ambitions for sexual prowess? His death? Julie and her wanting vengeance, her betraying Oz and the group?

12. The situations, the dialogue – a successful blend of comedy and action or not?

WISHMASTER

US, 1997, 90 minutes, Colour.
Tammy Lauren, Andrew Divoff, Robert England, Chris Lemmon, Jenny O’ Hara.
Directed by Robert Kurtzman.

Wishmaster is also know as Wes Craven’s Wishmaster since the celebrated producer-director acts as executive producer for this film.

The film takes up ancient Eastern themes, those associated with Zoroastrian religion, especially the One God of Good Whose Shadow Creates Evil, Tginns who live between the two worlds. While there is some foundation for this in ancient religions, it is elaborated for the 20th century – and for horror films.

The film opens with a tour-de-force special effects sequence set in the 12th century in Persia. Director Robert Kurtzman has been the make-up supervisor for many celebrated films. Here he pulls all stops out. The film then moves to the present, in an American city, where the jewel created by a master magician in Persia to entrap the Tginn is stolen and wreaks havoc on people’s lives throughout the city. Once again, there are plenty of gory special effects. However, Tammy Lauren is a vigorous heroine as she is partly possessed by the Tginn who takes on human form, enticing people to make wishes and fulfilling their wishes in the worst possible way. Finally, there is a confrontation – with the intrepid heroine thinking up her third wish: that the man who caused the accident by drinking whereby the jewel was loosed was not drinking on the job. Everything returns to two days earlier and back to normal.

1. The popularity of this kind of horror film? The special effects and gore? The frights? The reworking of ancient mythologies for contemporary terror?

2. The prologue in Persia, the magician, his helplessness, the special effects and the gory deaths, the Tginns and their power, the king and his fear? The magician fashioning the jewel and entrapping the Tginn?

3. Contemporary US, the city, docks, tennis courts, homes, museums, laboratories? An authentic feel for the extravagance of the horror story?

4. The dropping of the statue, the drunken workman, the death, the jewel loosed, it being stolen, pawned, brought to the auction house? Alex and her examination of it, taking it to Josh? The dire repercussions, his death, the release of the Tginn, his taking possession of Alex?

5. Alex, her skills at her work, her background, care for her sister, her not rescuing her parents from a fire when she was young? This haunting her? Her sister worried about her? Her reaction to Josh and his death? Her going to see Beaumont, the questions about the mythology, his explanations? Her further pursuit, with Nick, and his being confronted by the Tginn? The build-up of knowledge, the discussions with the professor, her having to confront the Tginn at the basketball? The party, the massacres, the pursuit of the Tginn, the corridor of statues and their coming alive, the deaths of the security men? The finale, her sister caught in the flames in the picture? Using her wits, refusing to wish – and then finding the wish that solved everything? Her changed life, better relationship with Josh, a future?

6. The Tginn, his release, getting people to make wishes, destroying them, appealing to their greed like Josh, appealing to their vanity like the saleswoman, going through, literally, the security guard? Drowning the security man? The malice of the Tginn? His human appearance, charm? His confrontation of Alexandra, wanting her to wish? The party, revealing his true face, the massacres? The final confrontation, his being defeated and returned to the jewel?

7. Beaumont, Robert England (and a contrast with his Freddie Kruger performances)? His care only for his statuary, his meeting with Alex, the explanations? The party, the monster from his mouth?

8. The professor, her haughty stances, helping with the drama? Her finding Alex a friend? The explanations, leading her on with the vivid explanations? Her own death at the hand of the Tginn?

9. The auction house, Nick and his work, his mother dying in the plane crash and leaving a million dollars? The security guards, the museum?

10. The fantasy aspect of this kind of ancient mythology – reworked to give people frights in the 20th and 21st centuries?

WOMAN OF THE DUNES

Japan, 1964, 124 minutes, Black and white.
Eijy Okada, Kyoko Kishida.
Directed by Hiroshi Teshigahara.

Woman of the Dunes is considered a classic Japanese film from the 60s, nominated for Oscar for best foreign film as well as for best director (the first Asian director to be nominated).

The film is striking in its black and white photography, especially the winds and the sands of the dunes on the Japanese coast. The story, in many ways, is simple: a teacher who has collected specimens of insects doesn't reach his bus home and is offered shelter at the bottom of a sandpit. A young widow lives there. He then realises that the rope ladder has been taken away and that he is trapped. He helps the woman shovelling the sand away which would cover her house, and this is repeated day by day. The villagers sometimes bring food and water. As the time goes past, he feels the pressure of his imprisonment, attempts an escape, has a sexual relationship with the woman who gradually mellows after being courteous to him and comes to rely on him. When he is returned after his escape, he accepts his condition, finding a means of producing a small reservoir of water which becomes his obsession. Finally, when the woman has pregnancy pains and is taken to the doctor, the rope ladder is there, he goes to look at the sea but returns and the film, at the end, offers documents to say that he is a missing person.

The film is intense in its portrait of the man and the woman, their relationship and dependency, the malice of the people from the village (especially wanting to be voyeurs of his sexual relationship with the woman, which they refuse). The film also serves as an image of the human condition, people wanting freedom, but eventually succumbing to their comfort zone.

1. The impact of the film, in its time? Oscar nominations?

2. The work of the director, his background as an artist, potter, flower arranger? The artistic style of his compositions, each frame, visual patterns, the winds and the sand? The angle photography, light and shadow?

3. The title and the focus on the woman, the film and its focus on the man?

4. The dunes, the coast, the ocean? The sand on the shore, the dunes, the winds, the striations on the sand? Night and day? The sand and its collapsing? The man trying to get out? The angle of the villagers watching the man and the woman, the house and the pit? The atmospheric musical score – more modern atonal and with mixed styles?

5. The portrait of the man: his collecting the specimens, his enjoyment of his time at the beach, the teacher and his leave? Missing the last bus, the darkness, the old man offering him the hospitality of the house, his climbing down? The woman, treating him as a guest, their not being enough water for a bath? The meals? The rope ladder missing? His hope to get out, the gradual realisation of his imprisonment? The discussions with the woman, shovelling the sand away from the house? His weariness? The lack of water, his growing desperation, trying to climb out? The lowering of the water, his greedy drinking of it? The days passing, the relationship with the woman, the sexual relationship? His hoping that people would miss him, his telling her about his desk, the open book, his documents? Nobody coming to find him? The months passing? The work on the sand? His attempted escape, his device in knotting the cloths, getting the woman drunk, climbing on the roof, getting out?

6. The night, his being lost in the dunes, seeing the lamps, the village people and their putting him back again? His gradual acceptance of the situation? His judgment on the immorality of the salted sand and its potential for the destruction of homes? The woman’s indifference? The village people wanting to observe the sexual encounter, his attacking the woman, telling her to pretend, her refusal? The pains, their coming down, taking her to the doctor, leaving the rope ladder? His getting out, the exhilaration of watching the beach? The water? The fact that he had discovered how to get a small reservoir of water, the physics of it, the mechanism? That becoming his obsession, his coming back, realising he could escape at another time?

7. The woman, widow, her husband and daughter dead? Her accepting her plight, the house and its comforts, the shovelling of the sand? Treating the man as a guest? The meals, the hospitality, the eventual sexual relationship? Her resistance to the voyeurism of the village people? The discussions with the man? Her pregnancy pains, her being taken to hospital?

8. The people from the village, the old man tricking the teacher to go down to the house? The people bringing the supplies, withdrawing them? Bringing the man back after his escape? The lewd gathering, the masks, the leering? The treatment of the woman, taking her to the doctor?

9. The imagery of the film, the sand and the dunes, the wind sweeping them away, losing track of people? The imprisonment? The image of the imprisonment as a metaphor for the hardships of the human condition?

THE GODDESS OF 1967

Australia, 2000, 119 minutes, Colour.
Rose Byrne, Rikiya Kurokawa, Nicholas Hope, Elise Mc Credie, Tina Bursill.
Directed by Clara Law.

The Goddess of 1967 has become a cult film. Screened at the Venice film festival in 2000, it won the best acting award for Rose Byrne.

The film was written by Eddie Fong, the husband of the director, Clara Law. They collaborated on a number of films in Hong Kong before they moved to Australia in the mid-90s. Some of her Chinese films include Farewell China, Autumn Moon, Temptations of a Monk. In Australia she made Floating Life about migrants settling in Sydney (1996). She also did the documentary, Letters to Ali, 2004, a journey from Melbourne to the internment settlements in Port Hedland.

The Goddess of 1967 is a French-made family car, the Citroen. A wealthy Japanese man wants to own one and comes to Australia. He encounters a bizarre situation, parents lying dead in a house, a blind girl who leads him on a journey through the desert. The journey is a journey of discovery for her, a journey back into her past where she was treated shamefully and abused. For him, there is the challenge of driving with his eyes shut, going into his inner self, having a different journey in a different culture.

With the title and the focus on ‘Goddess’, there are also some religious implications – in some ways the film wants to look into the soul of Australia. There are also themes of belief in God, forgiveness, pain. With its focus on women, the film could be considered also an attempt by the director to look into the soul of Australian women.

1. The title? Its religious tone? The focus on the car and its reputation? A car of the 60s? The contrast between the world of Japanese technology and the world of the Australian desert? The appeal of the film, to Australians, Japanese, internationally?

2. The definition of the car, the Citroen, the Goddess? The claims of the commercials?

3. A Chinese perspective, a Hong Kong perspective? Migrants and absorbing Australian culture of the 1990s? The Japanese perspective?

4. The film as a road movie, the car, the open road through the desert, the Australian landscapes, Australian characters, Australian history? A journey into interiors?

5. The visual style of the film, experimental styles? The Japanese? Australia and the present, the rear projection? Black and white? The past and colour? The experience of life in colour? The importance of the sounds, the musical score, the songs? The voice? The comparisons between Australia and Japan?

6. The 1967 story, the repercussions for later? What the film was saying about the past, abuses, interpretation of the past?

7. The prologue, J.M. and the computer, the word ‘god’, wanting to buy the Citroen? His having to go to Australia? His fear of snakes? His girlfriend? The friend killed? The internet and the car? Going to Australia? The Japanese male, in his context? Out of context in Australia? The time-stop-motion style used for him?

8. The man and his wife, the money, the dance, the girl and the show, the little girl?

9. Culture shock, meeting B.G., seeing the dead people in the house? His dismay? The issue of the car? The ownership? B.G. leading him on, driving, the five days through the desert, the different experiences?

10. B.G., her age, blindness? The impression she made, outgoing, cavalier? The little girl and leaving? The car and the dark? The experience of driving? The issue of trust? The shooting of drivers?

11. The interaction between the two, the stay, the bed and later, sexual issues? The issue of trust? The importance of the lizard story, the dance?

12. The desert, the distances, the driving, the effect?

13. The flashbacks, the history of B.G., her story, her mother, the issue of God and forgiveness, pain, the chastity belt? Lizard and forgiveness? Isolated characters and their having to deal with one another?

14. The return to thirty years earlier, ten years, three years? The abuse? The rape?

15. What had been achieved with B.G. and her journey? Coming to terms with the past? J.M., the change of culture, the car, the learning experience, the encounter with B.G? Their futures?

GOING BACK

US, 2001, 117 minutes, Colour.
Casper van Diehn, Carre Otis.
Directed by Sidney J. Furie.

Going Back did not get a major release. It is particularly American, focusing on Vietnam veterans and their post-war traumas. The film recreates their fighting in Vietnam in 1968, especially in the Tet Offensive. Mistakes are made, innocent people are killed, blame is laid, guilt is hidden.

However, the group returns to Vietnam, to see what happened to the country in which they fought, to meet people, especially a woman they saved but, especially, to confront their leader.

A journalist is making a television documentary about their visit to Vietnam and is incorporating footage taken during the war. This seems a bit far-fetched in some ways as the documentary group films some very strong moments in the confrontations. However, as they revisit the battlefield, the truth emerges of what really happened, especially as some of the men have a built-up hatred for their leader and attempt to kill him. This all acts as a catharsis, an opportunity for one of the men to admit his mistake and to exonerate the leader.

The film was of interest in a retrospective of the Vietnam War, the action there, the effect on the soldiers – and their subsequent lives.

1. The impact of the for an American audience? Vietnamese? For people of other nations involved in the war? The war themes? Trauma? The need for some kind of catharsis?

2. The Vietnam settings (filmed in Vietnam and the Philippines)? The scenes in Saigon, a more modern Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City? The scenes in the countryside, in Hue? The musical score?

3. The title and the indication of the themes?

4. The war footage, familiar from newsreels and from many Vietnam War films? The action, marines under fire, mistakes, traps, the tunnels, the innocent civilians killed, the B52s and the bombings, the mistakes that could be made in the field, wrong coordinates, hesitations? Men and their mutiny against the captain? The confrontation in the fields?

5. The central characters and their return, as a group, their memories, camaraderie? Their agreement to take part in the documentary? Their gung-ho behaviour on their visit? Enjoying Saigon?

6. The antagonism towards Ramsay, his role as the captain, the mutiny against him in 1968, the deaths and their blaming him? His reluctance to join in the documentary? His arrival, the antagonism? His going along with the group? Their beginning to visit the various places, the woman whose life they saved and her gratitude? Going to Hue? The insertion of the flashbacks? The build-up to the final battle scene, their revisiting, the two men with the guns, their running to shoot Ramsay, Ray and his own searching for forgiveness and feeling he couldn't be forgiven, his running to shield Ramsay and being shot? The other man intending to kill himself and Ramsay stopping him? The effect on the man who gave the wrong coordinates, his anguish, confessing that he was in error and that he had to kill the people?

7. The used car salesman, his attitude towards wanting to sell cars in Vietnam, cavalier, the irony that it was revealed that it was he who gave the wrong coordinates, the effect of his confession?

8. The university professor, more sympathetic, knowing the language, talking to the lady whose life they saved?

9. Ray, the minister, wanting forgiveness? His role in the mutiny, leaving the men, taking the blame, being shot?

10. The other two men who wanted to kill Ramsay, harbouring the long hatred?

11. The final reconciliation, the truth being told, their embracing each other, the final salute? The indications that at least this was something which would purge them of their traumas?

12. Katherine, the documentary, accompanying the group, on-screen, the questions, her learning about the group through the documentary-making? The attraction towards Ramsay, their night together? Her witnessing the confrontation in the field? Her agreeing to lose the material filmed of the shooting and the reconciliation? Her cameraman, his observations, joining in the discussions, the men telling him that he had not been there? The young man in the group, the son of one of their killed comrades?

13. The continuation of the Vietnam War story in American films, the need for a continual reassessment and understanding the place of the war in 20th century American history?