FILM .... with Tim Milfull
Buck (PG)
Director: Cindy Meehl
Stars: Buck Brannaman, nags
Rating: 4/5
89-minutes, screening from 23 February
I must admit that I baulked a little before heading off to the media screening of Buck – the thought of watching 90-minutes or so of a horse-whisperer going through his paces really didn’t do it for me.
But there has been so much buzz around this film, I had to find out what all the fuss was about. The “buck” of the title is a ruggedly handsome fiftysomething called Buck Brannaman, who has spent all of his adult life working with horses. In the last thirty years, Buck has devoted more than 80 per cent of every year to traveling around the United States teaching horse riders how to work with their horses.
While this sounds like a very niche subject for a documentary, Cindy Meehl’s debut feature is so much more than an examination of the horse-whispering phenomenon – and while we are told that Brannaman played a major role in the making of Robert Redford’s film, The Horse-Whisperer, it is also pointed out, that he is only the latest in a long line of talented horse trainers. The quietly spoken but surprisingly forceful and dogmatic Brannaman has lived a remarkable life, and watching him working with horses and their owners, we learn some surprising lessons about masculinity, humanity, and our relationship with horses.
Meehl decided to make the documentary after attending one of Brannaman’s three-day workshops and learning of the man’s extraordinary background, from his painful childhood being abused by his alcoholic father through to his lonely but apparently very fulfilling life on the road guiding humans to get in touch with their horses and themselves. Buck is an impressive accomplishment: engaging and fascinating in its analysis of the power of one man’s charisma and his ability to overcome adversity, this is uplifting and inspiring filmmaking.
This talented young actor worthy of an Oskar
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (PG)
Stars: Thomas Horn, Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock
Rating: 3.5/5
129-minutes, screening from 23 February
On the evidence, it seems that I might be in a minority, given my reaction to the latest film from Stephen Daldry (The Hours & Billy Elliot). I walked out of the film to hear several of my colleagues bemoan the performance of Thomas Horn and the narrative structure and several other elements of this adaptation of Jonathan Safran Foer’s best-selling novel, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close.
But I found much about the film so very affecting that I was moved to tears more than once in this story about a young boy coming to terms with devastating loss. Thomas Horn plays Oskar Schell, a gifted nine-year-old boy, for whom the jury is out as to whether he has Asperger’s Syndrome, which sits at the more mild end of the scale of autism.
Oskar’s kind and loving parents, Thomas (Tom Hanks) and Linda (Sandra Bullock) adore their child. Thomas, in particular, embraces the challenges of his son’s peculiarities, conjuring up elaborate expeditions and adventures as coping devices to prepare Oskar for adulthood and the wider world.
But when one of the defining moments of the new millennium robs Oskar of his father, the little boy struggles to find meaning in his loss. A chance discovery of a mysterious key leads Oskar to believe that Thomas had one last adventure in mind. Armed with a knapsack full of supplies and a tambourine for protection, the boy heads off on weekly expeditions throughout New York to find out exactly what the key will open.
This is an extremely moving film, and Horn’s performance as Oskar is quite remarkable. Yes, he is annoying and precocious beyond belief, but these are exactly the qualities of his character, and the reactions of those he meets on his adventures range from disbelief and frustration, to compassion and empathy.
Daldry’s film might not be for everyone, but parents especially can be assured that this is a beautiful exploration of how to deal with grief.
THE BINGE
Spotlight on Europe’s best
Windows on Europe Film Festival screening at Dendy Cinemas Portside from 22-26 February
Warrior (M) available through Roadshow from 24 February
The Illusionist (PG) Available through Madman from 7 March
The 2012 Windows on Europe Film Festival opens this week, and offers films from more than a dozen European countries, including Portugal, Slovenia, Finland, and Hungary among others. The opening night film is Ralph Fiennes’s debut feature, Coriolanus, (pictured above) which adapts Shakespeare’s play of the same name in modern Rome, as the titular general (played by Fiennes) plots his overthrow of the city that spurned him.
I also liked Swedish director, Ulf Malmros’s The Wedding Photographer which takes a new look at the story of Pygmalion. But my favourite film of the festival is Garbo: The Man Who Saved the World, a documentary that examines the life of Juan Pujol, the only spy in the Second World War to have honours bestowed on him by both the British and German governments. For more about the films screening at the 2012 Windows on Europe Film Festival, visit www.dendy.com.au
While writer-director, Gavin O’Connor’s latest film, Warrior has very few female characters, this is not just a film for the guys. Tom Hardy plays US veteran, Tommy Conlon, who returns from Iraq and resolves to revive his career as an extreme fighter.
Meanwhile, his estranged brother, Brendan (Joel Edgerton) finds the global financial crisis forcing him to consider his own comeback in a sport that he turned his back on for its ruthlessness and cruelty. Inevitably, both brothers face off against each other in this violent, but emotionally powerful film.
Almost seven years since his first feature animation, The Triplets of Belleville, French director Sylvain Chomet has returned with another absolutely gorgeous animation in The Illusionist, which tells the story of the decline of a vaudeville magician, who is fighting to stay on stage in a world where rock’n’roll is becoming king. This richly detailed, and beautifully realised story is suitable for children and adults of all ages.
