BABS

UK, 2017, 90 minutes, Colour.
Samantha Spiro, Jaime Winstone, Nick Moran, Zoe Wanamaker, Honor Kneafsey, Leanne Best, Luke Allen- Gale.
Directed by Dominic Leclerc.

Babs of the title is English comedian and actress, Barbara Windsor.

The film uses the device of Barbara Windsor, age 50, working on a pier with nightly performances, and with a younger partner. She wanders in and out of the area, into the theatre, seeing the past in her mind’s eye but also having discussions with the presence of her father.

This gives the audience the opportunity of having Barbara Windsor’s perspective on her life and career, as well as seeing it in flashbacks. Honor Kneafsey is particularly good as the precocious young Barbara, at home, auditioning, singing The Sunny Side of the Street and doing a cartwheel. By 15 she is performing.

Samantha Spiro is very good as the older Babs. However, many audiences, including this reviewer, have difficulties with Jaime Winstone in the key sequences for Barbara Windsor’s life. Barbara Windsor was petite. Jaime Winstone is not petite. And her voice sounds rather raucous.

Barbara Windsor made many mistakes in her life, growing up in the East End, her father being violent towards her mother, her testifying in a court case against him, his walking out, being supported by her mother. However, she got entangled with a local gangster, Ronnie Knight and becoming pregnant, getting an abortion (and three later abortions). She also had a brief association with the Krays.

Theatre director Joan Littlewood, with a key performance here by Zoe Wanamaker as Joan Littlewood, was interested in Barbara, auditioned her, trained her, directed her in a film, Sparrows Can’t Sing for which she was nominated for a BAFTA, directed her on stage and took her to Broadway, where she got a Tony nomination, for Oh What a Lovely War.

Her agent persuaded her to take part in the Carry On series – and there is a humorous sequence in this film where she encounters Kenneth Williams, antagonistic, standing up to him, their becoming friends.

Despite everything, Barbara Windsor, named a Dame by the Queen in 2016, has remained in the public eye, especially with appearances in Eastenders over 30 years.

1. The status of Barbara Windsor in UK entertainment? Stage, television, cinema, Eastenders? Her long career?

2. Audience knowledge of her, her background, life, struggles, career?

3. The structure of the film: the pier, Barbara and Scott, Barbara at 50, one night appearances? The opportunity to look back over her life? Her memories coming alive, the presence of her father in dialogue with him, with her mother, with the characters? The flashbacks and the chronological narrative of her life? The effect of the 50-year-old watching her past? The audience sharing it?

4. The actresses portraying Barbara Windsor, at 50, Jaime Winstone as a young woman – how like Barbara Windsor, how different, appearance, body, voice? The young girl portraying her?

5. Barbara, her background, born in the 1930s, growing up in the 40s, the father going to war, as a bus conductor? At home, his anger, violence? Walking out? The court sequences, the judge interrogating Barbara, her telling the truth, her father walking past her? Out of her life? Her mother, initially wary, supporting her, auditions, performances? The Sunny Side of the Street and her performance, cartwheel? Always using this song in memory of her father? Success?

6. Barbara growing up, the coronation year, audition, on the stage? Her singing, comic presence? In clubs? The agent and his suggestions?

7. The encounter with Joan Littlewood, thinking her the cleaner, the audition, Joan Littlewood liking her, the nickname? The energetic training, assuming of the characters, Barbara not liking this, confronting Joan, walking out, the agent, her return? With Lionel Bart and her singing? Her going to Broadway and the Tony nomination?

8. Film scripts, the encounter with Jayne Mansfield? The film with Joan Littlewood? The BAFTA nomination?

9. Her personal life, the encounter with Ronnie Knight, going out with him, pregnancy, the truth about his wife, the divorce, his being arrested, her visiting him in jail? Getting out, at home, cooking for him? The further arrests? His proposal, her not wanting to be married? Pregnancy, the abortions? Her finding him with the other girl, leaving him?

10. The Krays coming to visit her, the one night stand, their club, used for Joan Littlewood’s production?

11. America, the flirtation with the composer? Coming home?

12. Her father, her life, marrying again, her going to visit, the hostility of his new wife? Her trying to keep contact, the wife blocking the contacts, her visit and her father rejecting her?

13. Getting older, the mistakes in her life, looking back – and a cheerful look back at her life? With Scott, the toy boy, the bond, the fish and chips, facing a future together?

14. Her autobiography, the scenes with her in the film, with Kenneth Williams? Her verve, the long career in Eastenders?

THE KING MURDER

US, 1932, 67 minutes, Black-and-white.
Conway Tearle, Natalie Moorhead, Marceline Day, Dorothy Revier, Don Alvarado, Huntley Gordon, Maurice Black.
Directed by Richard Thorpe.

There is no major reason – or, even, minor reason - to see this small-budget, Poverty Row supporting feature from early 1932, rather creaky in its film style, dialogue that is conventional.

The plot concerns a scheming woman who blackmails rich men and who is murdered. There is some complication in the number of people who can be suspects – as well as the confession of the actual murderer and the method that he used.

Actually, the film is based on a true story concerning a Dot King, a blackmailer and victim who was murdered in 1923. Commentators note that the story is also the basis of The Canary Murder Case as well as the 1948 The Naked City.

Richard Thorpe was at the beginning of his career, many small films in the 1930s, bigger budgets in the 1940s and 20 years on some spectaculars like Quentin Durward and The Knights of the Round Table.

SINISTER HANDS

US, 1932, 65 minutes, Black and white.
Jack Mulhall, Phyllis Barrington, Crauford Kent, Mischa Auer, Louis Natheaux, Gertie Mesenger, Lloyd Ingram, James P. Burtis, Phillips Smalley, Helen Foster, Lillian West.
Directed by Armand Schaefer.

Sinister Hands is not essential viewing by any means. It is a small supporting feature from the early 1930s, one of the so-called Poverty Row small-budget films.

The setting is a gathering at a wealthy estate, with some outdoor sequences including tennis but very much a dialogue film, more like a filmed play.

The film opens with the touch of the sinister, a wealthy woman in the thrall of a fake Indian guru (played by character actor Mischa Auer). He makes various predictions as he reads into the woman and her concerns – but is, of course, after her money. Her husband is unwilling to give her the money and she clashes with him. He has been doing some shady financial deals, supervised by his seemingly straightlaced secretary. There are some financial advisors, their flirtatious wives. The wealthy man is flirtatious himself. There is also an ex-criminal intent on marrying into the wealthy society as well is a butler who is also a crook and has spent time in jail. And there is also a respectable judge who assists the chief detective in his investigations.

The film introduces all the characters, with their interactions. There is a session with the guru, the lights going out and, when they go on again, the wealthy host is dead. The detective goes through each of the suspects, quite methodically and listing them for the benefit of the audience, of all the characters and why they should be suspects. Later, there is another murder.

But, because audiences who have been brought up on the books and the film versions of Agatha Christie novels, it is probably pretty clear that the villain is the ever-supportive judge!

SHADOWS OF THE ORIENT

US, 1935, 69 minutes, Black and white.
Esther Ralston, Regis Toomey, J. Farrell Mc Donald, Sidney Blackmer.
Directed by Burt Lynwood.

Interesting in the light of perceptions of Chinese presence in the United States, especially on the West Coast, during the 1930s. While there were memories of migrations of Chinese for the building of the railroad as well as during the gold rushes, the film centres on the Chinatowns of the big cities, gambling, illegal smuggling, art dealings, illegal entries – as well as of the thrillers including Charlie Chan.

A rather lively Esther Ralston is Iola, the daughter of a judge who is caught in a raid on an illicit Chinese gambling den but is rescued by a suave art dealer, Sidney Blackmer (character actor and to be a villain in many films over the coming decades, including Rosemary’s Baby). The police are investigating but the detectives are getting old, especially character actor J. Farrell Mc Donald doing a variation on his usual performance, this time rather ignorant, put as an associate to a younger detective, Regis Toomey, slow on the uptake but ultimately doing a reasonable job. It is surprising to see Regis Toomey, for many decades a character actor, in a leading hero role.

As regards the police, Toomey’s Bob Baxter is up-and-coming, interviews Viola, is attracted to her, saves face with her judge father, especially in answering the media pack. When she gives a clue about the art dealer, he impersonates an expert and gets to the social where he again meets Viola. It emerges that everyone concerned has a pilot’s license.

The audience has seen a pilot jettisoning his cargo of Chinese when in danger from the authorities – and, when he demands his money, is killed while informing the police.

The art dealer is, of course, the boss of the illegal smuggling enterprise, needs a pilot, Bob being interviewed but being unmasked as an undercover agent, with Viola flying down to Mexico unwittingly to retrieve the Chinese and fly them back. She is to be left as a hostage but realising the truth, rushes to the plane and takes off with her cargo, Bob also flies off in his plane, the art dealer also take into the air in pursuit – which, for audiences who liked the prevalent aerial sequences in the films of the time, gives an opportunity for three planes, shootings, pistols and machine guns and a crash.

And, everything in order at the end.

CORSAIR

US, 1931, 75 minutes, Black and white.
Chester Morris, Thelma Todd, Fred Kohler, Ned Sparks, Emmett Corrigan, Frank Mc Hugh, Frank Rice, Mayo Methot.
Directed by Roland West.

Corsair is the name of the boat with overtones of piracy – in the seas of the West Indies, contemporary Pirates of the early 1930s involved in bootlegging.

The film is interesting in its critique of Wall Street, being released soon after the fall of 1929. There are some scenes of frenzy at the stock market in those years, ruthlessness in the attitudes and behaviour of the tycoons, especially in oppressing poor investors.

However, the film opens with the excitement of gridiron matches in the celebration of the sports hero, John Hawkes, played by Chester Morris early in his career. He is latched on to by the daughter of a Wall Street tycoon, Thelma Todd. She persuades her father to give Hawkes a job but when he is commanded to come down hard on the poor woman, he quits.

What is he to do? Get revenge on the tycoons by arranging with his football friend, Frank Mc Hugh, to get a ship, the Corsair and become involved in bootlegging – actually robbing cargoes of alcohol owned by the tycoon and selling them back to him! He is helped in his enterprise from the inside is accompanied by an unusual couple played by Ned Sparks and Mayo Methot.

Eventually, there is confrontation between the ships owned by the tycoon and the Corsair, some setups, exposure of the traitors, explosives instead of alcohol with the destruction of the Corsair.

John Hawkes confronts the tycoon, has his revenge, is not interested in the money – and has some confrontations with his femme fatale would-be girlfriend who has inveigled herself and her fiance, a silly-ass type, on-board for the showdown. But, there is a romantic fadeout.

Actually, some of the behind-the-scenes events are possibly more interesting. Humphrey Bogart’s wife, Mayo Methot appears as the secretary. But, Thelma Todd was murdered in 1935 and the killing never solved, suggestions of links with gangsters and nightclubs – and the connection with the director of this film, Roland West, Thelma Todd’s boyfriend. In fact, this was his last film, his leaving Hollywood and, allegedly, a deathbed confession about the murder.

TOMORROW AT SEVEN

US, 1933, 64 minutes, Black-and-white.
Chester Morris, Vivienne Osborne, Frank Mc Hugh, Allen Jenkins, Henry Stephenson, Grant Mitchell, Charles Middleton, Gus Robinson.
Directed by Ray Enright.

This is a murder mystery which opens effectively with an art dealer being killed by a jealous rival, the camera pointing on the victim and not identifying the killer – except for an ace of spades card.

The two central characters are travelling on a train, she falling asleep while reading the detective story, he the author of the story. When he explains he is trying to get an interview with the art dealer, she explains that her father is his assistant. Which gets him into an interview.

Chester Morris is the author and Vivienne Osborne the daughter. The film is early enough for several veterans of the succeeding years, supporting character actors, Henry Stephenson as the art dealer, Grant Mitchell as his assistant, Allen Jenkins and Frank Mc Hugh as some inept police officers. There is a role for African- American actor, Gus Robinson.

Almost immediately, there is a murder, the assistant who has looked particularly suspicious since his first arrival. Which means that the finger points to the rather disarming art collector, the dignified Henry Stephenson. And, of course, at the end, he is the villain, surreptitiously killing people with a blade inserted in his walking stick.

The film is effective in having a murder on board a small plane, six people and two pilots. Two of the people are the local marshals, Jenkins and Mc Hugh, who & most of the time in banter which may have been appealing at the time but seems pretty lame in retrospect – however, these are characters they portray in many films and they are comfortable with the consistent patter, and ultimate claims of solving the mystery.

Since there has been a prediction that the art collector will be murdered at 7 o’clock in the evening, there is tension at his mansion in Louisiana, especially with the arrival of the coroner to examine the dead body, the death of one of the pilots, and various threats – as well as the arrival of the genuine coroner.

The novelist then is able to unmask and challenge the killer, fight with his African- American assistant, while the false coroner turns out to be a crime bureau investigator. Surprisingly, the fadeout is some banter between the two police officers rather than happy reunion, romantic style.

The film was directed by Ray Enright, veteran during the 1930s into the 1950s with quite a range of genre films.

I LIVE IN DANGER

US, 1942, 67 minutes, Black-and-white.
Chester Morris, Jean Parker, Elizabeth Risdon, Edward Norris.
Directed by Sam White.

This is a rather routine supporting feature from the early 40s, directed by Sam White who directed such features during the 1930s and 1940s. It is also a star vehicle for Chester Morris who had made a name for himself in the 1930s and was featured on screen especially as Boston Blackie. Jean Parker had also made her mark in the 1930s. Elizabeth Risdon was frequently seen and as a mother character.

The film focuses on the media. Chester Morris portrays a rather daredevil reporter, initially seen at a fire, supported by his always-eating friend, but getting his high from the dangers rather than any human interest. He is interested in a position in London but there is a strong rival.

In the meantime, a convict is being released from prison and becomes involved in the shooting of a gangster. In the background are several gangsters but, especially, a crooked DA.

A crisis occurs after the reporter has been isolated and goes on air to give a description of a boxing match which in fact has been postponed – which he gets out of by telling the audience that this is what might have happened. Off the coast, a liner has caught fire and is going down, subject of extensive rescue. The reporter is more interested in interviewing a shell-shocked older women, distraught children. He also rescues a young woman whom he recognises, presuming that she is the girlfriend of the gangster. He takes her home and looks after her – she continually looking for a notice for rendezvous with the gangster and everybody assumes died in the ship fire. She is his sister.

The reporter follows the young woman, is ready on air to describe the arrest of the alleged killer who is imprisoned, tried and condemned to death. The young woman is disillusioned – but is cared for by the reporter’s mother.

The reporter has change of heart, especially as he is continually challenged by his associate for not having any human interest in people. He tracks down information, incriminating the DA, pursues the shooter to a shaft and records a confession.

Plenty of action in the short running film.

LA DANSEUSE/ THE DANCER

France, 2016, 108 minutes, Colour.
Soko (Stephanie Sokoilinski), Gaspard Ulliel, Melanie Thierry, Lily- Rose Depp, François Damiens, Louis- Do de Lenquesaing, Amanda Plummer, Dennis Menochet.
Directed by Stephanie Di Giusto.

The Danseuse/ Dancer of the title is Mary Louise Fuller who came from the American West, out there with her French prospector father, roping the cattle at a rodeo yet with an interest in dance. When her father is killed by men who think he has found gold, as he has boasted, there is nothing left for her to do but return to mother (Amanda Plummer), a staunch member now of the Temperance League, in Brooklyn. It is 1892.

However, this is really a Parisien story. The young Mary Louise does do auditions for dance in New York – although at first she finishes up at a photo studio of suggestive pictures – but has a talent for sketching and designing elaborate dance movements. She auditions, dances. A rather decadent French count befriends her – but she takes his money, leaving a note, and sailing to Paris.

Soko (stage name for dancer, Stephanie Sokolinski) is a very good choice for Mary Louise who changes her name to Loie. She is physically strong, continually exercising, enabling her to perform dance movements which take a toll on her body. Undeterred, she makes an impression at the Folies Bergere and is hired for performance.

Part of the attractiveness of the film is seeing her perform, metres and metres of diaphanous material, her ability to swirl them, athletically moving but aesthetically beautiful, audiences and reviewers likening her performance to flowers.

There are complications in her personal life. She collapses at the Folies Bergere but recovers. Gabrielle (Melanie Thierry) becomes her assistant, friend and confidante, supportive in management. And the count, Gaspard Ulliard, divorces his American wife and returns to Paris, devoted to Loie and she, in complicated ways, devoted to and dependent on him.

But her ambition is to do her dancing at the Paris Opera and, despite the initially snobbish reactions of the director, she is given permission to perform. More and more material, more and more mirrors, more and more lighting, more and more costs.

A further complication in the plot arrives in the form of the young Lily- Rose Depp as Isadora Duncan (whom many audiences may remember far more than Loie especially through documentaries and the feature film which starred Vanessa Redgrave in 1968). Instead of seeing Isadora as a rival, which in her scheming way and ingratiating manner, she is, Loie allows herself to be seduced by Isadora.

There is a physical and emotional toll on Loie , her having to wear dark glasses to protect her eyes, a brace to protect her shoulders, a collapse of. Nerves.

Will Loie triumph at the Paris Opera?

2016 saw another very interesting film about theatre in Paris at this time, Monsieur Chocolat, the comedy in mime of a black comedian with a white comedian and the surfacing of racial issues of time.

1. The film based on a true story? 19th and 20th century? The United States background? Success in France? Theatre and dance?

2. The title, with reference to Loie? Her origins, in the West of the United States? Interest in dance, the opportunities, her creativity? Development, design, performance? The cost to her?

3. The American West, rugged, the town, the rodeo, the farms, the snow and the seasons? The contrast with Brooklyn, the tenements, the streets? Temperance League and meeting places? Theatre? Photo studios? Dance and performance?

4. The contract with Paris, the Folies Bergere, the Paris Opera? Apartments, Paris and the early 20th century?

5. The musical score, as background to the narrative, the music supporting the dancing?

6. Loie and her initial collapse, people’s reactions? The flashbacks, the explanation of her origins, development, resuming the narrative and its continuing?

7. Loie, her age, from the West, with the calf and the rope, her being dragged, the men laughing at her? Yet a strong young woman? The father, the French background, French and English? The celebration, his being attacked, his rash comment that he had found gold, the violence towards him? His death? Loie getting her possessions and returning to Brooklyn? The impact of her father on her?

8. Brooklyn, 1892, the tenements, the harshness, the Temperance League, the influence of her mother, the other women? The moral tone? The hall, the meetings, singing? The accommodation and strictness?

9. Loie, the desire to dance, in herself, her ambitions, a strong woman, going to the acting audition, finding it a photo session, her posing, the Temperance league and the reaction to the photo, permissiveness? Her capacity for drawing, the creating the designs for the dances and performance?

10. The encounter with the Count, his marriage, decadent, living in America? Loie and her reaction? The visits? His interest, the effect on Loie? The money, her taking the money and leaving the note?

11. Sailing to Paris, her hopes, opportunities? Going to the Follies, the director, the audition, her plans? Lights, mirrors, cloth and design? The characteristics, the flowing materials, the lights, her gymnastic performances? Rehearsals, performance, the response, the favourable reviews, likening her to flowers? Her collapse?

12. Gabrielle, their meeting, her role at the Follies, the boss, the attraction between the two, working as an assistant, her efficiency, support? Success? Her personal life, devotion to Loie? Moving with Loie to the Opera?

13. Dancing in Paris at the time, the support of the Lumiere Brothers, Toulouse- Lautrec? Present society?

14. Loie and her troupe dancers, in the country, the rehearsals, racing through the countryside? The performances?

15. Loie and her desire to work at the Opera? The risk, the plans, the discussions with the director, the pressure on him, his acceptance, his concern about costs? Increasing costs? The rehearsals? The effect on Loie’s health, the interview with the doctors, the lights and the effect on her eyes, wearing the glasses, the pressure on her shoulder, needing to wear the brace? Her continually exercising? The dresses, action?

16. The arrival of Isadora, young, in herself, from America, admiring Loie? The contrast in style with Loie? Loie attracted to her, giving her opportunities, advancing her career? The rivalry and jealousy of Isadora? The pressure on the deal is, Isadora and her playing people? The count and his warning to Loie? Isadora, seductive, Loie’s response? The blackmail for the expensive contract? Her departure, audience knowledge of her future?

17. The count, returning to Paris, his divorce, in the headlines, his decadent life, Loie relying on him, wanting to repay the money, their interactions, the personal nature, sexual, Loie going to him, lying together with him? Her performance, his getting in the car, the crash?

18. The risk, Isadora’s disappearance, Loie and her health, building up to the performance, nerves? On stage, performance, her fall, coming to the front of the curtain, the applause, the audience welcoming her, her walking amongst them?

19. Portrait of her career, achievement, of someone being herself – but at what cost?

AFFAIR IN MONTE CARLO

UK, 1954, 75 minutes, Colour.
Merle Oberon, Richard Todd, Leo Genn.
Directed by Victor Savile.

This film is based on a novel by Stefan Zweig, Austrian author, prolific writer – with many films based on his works, Letter from an Unknown woman and this film, along with three other versions, of 24 in a Woman’s Life.

The film is colourful but very much dialogue-driven with serious themes. The Riviera location photography in Antibes and Monte Carlo is attractive.
Leo Genn portrays a writer in Antibes, discussing with friends the possibility of love at first sight – especially after the proprietor of the hotel where the group is staying experiences his young fiancee going off with another man soon before the wedding. The guests are sceptical about love at first sight. The author tells them the story of a woman.

Merle Oberon portrays the woman, a widow, going to Monte Carlo with the writer, not interested in gambling but listening to him in his observations about how people gamble and play, concentrating on hands and body language. She notices a young man, Richard Todd, who loses all his money and is obviously in despair. She follows him, has a conversation with him, sees him contemplating suicide on a bridge, offers him accommodation but the hotel refuses and she gives him money to find somewhere to stay.

She is obviously attracted to the young man and he to her. They go for a ride into the mountains. He tells his story, Irish background, gambling problem, teaching fellow students at school in England how to gamble, his father’s disapproval, his going to Paris and stealing his aunt’s jewellery to gamble and Monte Carlo.

In the mountain, explaining I Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts to their driver, they see a church and going. The priest of the church has a reputation as a composer and has performed his work at the Albert Hall. The priest plays the music, invites the couple to lunch, cooked by his mother who is his housekeeper but does not speak English. The priest is hospitable and sympathetic. He assumes the couple is married but the mother does not and gives the woman a gift. The young man returns to the church and makes a vow never to gamble again.

The woman thinks that she can never be with them even though she loves him. She gives him money for a rail ticket for him to go back to Paris. At the last moment, the writer encourages her in her decision to go to the station but the train is pulling out. When she returns to the casino, she finds the young man gambling the money, winning, urging her to wait, following the example of another gambler – but, ultimately, losing and rebuking the woman in bringing him bad luck. She leaves sad.

The writer then introduces his wife to the group at the hotel – and she is the woman.

The themes are serious and intense in performance and dialogue.

AUSTRALIA DAY

Australia, 2017, 98 minutes, Colour.
Bryan Brown, Shari Sebbens, Sean Keenan, Elias Anton, Kee Chan, Isabelle Cornish, Carolyn Dunphy, Daniel Webber, Miah Madden, Matthew Le Nevez, Simon Alrahi.
Directed by Kriv Stenders.

There is quite a lot going on in Australia Day. More than a lot. In fact, there are three stories in one – as well as the background of January 26 in Brisbane.

While Australia Day has been celebrated throughout the country for a long time, there have been hesitations and protests, especially about January 25 being the last day of freedom for indigenous people on this continent. With only 50 years of history of aboriginal rights since the referendum of 1967, there are still many issues that can surface quite powerfully about Australia Day. Then there is the reality of so many migrants, Chinese from long ago and more prevalent in recent times, the post-war European migrants, the Vietnamese in the 1970s and 1980s, and refugees and migrants from Middle Eastern countries… How do they participate in the ethos of Australia Day?

The screenplay for Australia Day takes up race and ethnic issues as well as offering a continuous background, especially from television coverage of celebrations, sunny and raucous, as well as family and picnics. There is a Chinese story. There is a middle eastern story. There is an indigenous Australian story. Throughout the film we begin to see some connections, tenuous in many ways, between the three stories – with a fine, small but significant, connection in the last few minutes of the film.

There is a lot of running in the film, a lot of chasing. A young aboriginal girl is running from the police. A young man from a middle eastern family is being pursued by white locals. A Chinese woman is escaping from sex slavery. This running and chasing motif extends throughout the whole film giving it a dramatic urgency.

Caught up in the Chinese story is Bryan Brown as a farmer whose land has been repossessed by the bank. He has suffered from drought, the effect on his cattle and their destruction. Often in the background – and then, outside the window of his flat in Brisbane, the Minister for Trade is promoting an agreement with China that is to be signed that afternoon. The Chinese woman hails him down in the street and gets into his car.

This kind of story has been prevalent in Australian films, in the important film The Jammed about sex slavery, but also a theme in the recent Goldstone as well as in the background of Top of the Lake, China Girl. The girls are truly slaves, prostituted by ruthless owners. Can an ordinary, decent enough Australian deal with this situation? Despite his being played by Bryan Brown, it seems that he can’t. But he is a man of conscience and must take a stand and make an effort.

The middle eastern story is about young drug dealer, his dominating mother, his upright father, and the younger brother being tangled with a local girl and being pursued by her brothers, one sadistic, the other with a conscience. This is a revenge story. It is also a possible peace and reconciliation story – not explicitly tied to Australia Day but important in terms of the longer inhabitants of the land since 1788 accepting newcomers who are racially, culturally and religiously different. Some interesting comparisons could be made with the Australian film, Down Under, set in the racial riots in Cronulla.

The indigenous story has its heart-rending aspects. Two young girls have been abandoned by their mother who is a drug addict in the Brisbane streets. The father is brutal and they react violently against him, killing him, taking a car, being pursued by the police – in fact, by an indigenous policewoman (Shari Sebbens) who knows them, their grandmother and the difficult family situation. She is asked to stand down from any enquiries in the search for the girl, April (Miah Madden) but she feels that she must, tracking down where the girl might have gone to find her mother, catching up with her at a desperate moment.

While we might have seen these issues in these stories before, they are worth telling again. They are interestingly acted and the film is been directed by Kriv Stenders (the Red Dog films as well as the miniseries, Wake in Fright).

1. The status of Australia Day? January 26th and its suitability? History? Protests?

2. Brisbane standing in for Australia? The suburbs, the streets, city vistas, police precincts, ordinary homes, the brothel, hotels? The musical score?

3. The three stories, the connection? The police and the aboriginal story, Terry and his connection with his son investigating the aboriginal story?? The middle eastern family, the father, taxi driver, giving April the lift and not taking her money?

4. The interconnections between the stories, their placement, editing and peace, tension?

5. The background of the television programs, the visualising of the Australia Day celebrations? The tone? The politician and the trade agreement? Her speeches?

6. Central characters running, the chases, the sense of dynamic?

7. Sonya, policewoman, the car crash, the pursuit of the car, not knowing the two girls were in the car, the effect of the crash, the girl’s death? People running? The taxi and his helping her? April, her age, the brutal father, his death, her responsibility? Her mother, leaving, drugs? April going to the office, seeing the documents, the address, leaving, going to the centre, her mother gone? The streets, the drugs? The impact on April? Her going to the bridge?

8. Sonya, her role as a policewoman, racial issues, female issues and tensions with the men? A sense of guilt? Her being stood down, her continuing the investigation, searching for April? The commands, phone calls, her chasing April, visiting her grandmother and the discussions about custody? To the centre, to the Institute, to the land with the drugs, getting medication and ambulance for the mother? April on the bridge, her talk, warding off the police and their guns? Saving April? Her achievement? The background of Terry’s son and his being part of the investigation and his attitude towards Sonya?

9. The Chinese girl, running, her being pursued? The chance encounter with Terry, getting into the vehicle? Her lack of language, fear of the police? The way she was dressed? Terry and his background, the farm, foreclosure by the banks, wanting to leave it to his son, the phone calls with his son, the son criticising of him because of his devotion of the farm rather than his wife and son? His dropping the girl, seeing her being chased by the young man, his intervention? The violence? His dilemmas? His own physical health, urinating blood? His taking her to the centre? His meeting the old man and the women, paying, seeing the girls?

10. Terry, the Minister for Trade, hearing her on the television, the resentment, his gun, seeing her out the window, his plan, the change, going with his rifle to the brothel, the confrontation, getting the girl to escape, his shooting the man at the brothel, his being shot, his son finding the message and the note in his pocket? His plan to shoot himself at the function for the signing of the agreement?

11. The young man being chased, middle eastern background, the traditional Australian men pursuing him? His story, sexual activity with Chloe, the men and their resentment, pursuing him? Her denying everything, her taking drugs? His being tied up, tortured? The hate, Sean and his character, severe? Tony as his friend? Jason, his plea for helping the young man? The situation, Jason freeing him? His running home, his older brother, the drug dealing, his mother and her strong influence, wanting revenge? The brother taking his friends, the attack on Sean, torturing him? Returning to the house, Jason? The plea to stop the revenge?

12. The father and his driving the taxi, arriving home – and the audience seeing him as the man who gave April the lift?

13. The blend of themes, contemporary Australian stories, contemporary Australian problems?