I had so much anticipation with the build up for this year's Melbourne International Film Festival, just because there is always such great, fresh films on display, you feel part of this intensely absorbed community who also trek from one session to the next, and it's one of the best things about Melbourne in winter!
The first of my sessions this year was the new Roman Polanski, starring Ewan McGregor - The Ghost Writer. A political thriller about a writer employed to take over as ghost writer for the British PM's memoirs...after the tragic demise of the first one. Ewan is great in this role, and the twists and turns have your gripped. The final scene leaves you stunned!
A later night screening of a new Aussie film, The Clinic, was next on my schedule, and rattled me! Sign of a good film, if you walk out a little shaken! A story about a young pregnant woman who is kidnapped from the hotel she and her husband are staying in, she wakes in an ice bath with a scar across her belly. She soon finds that she is not the only woman in the rundown farm in the middle of nowhere...and soon the purpose of the makeshift clinic is made clear, and the frights begin! My own clinical knowledge had me disappointed with the portrayal of an Autistic man, but for the purposes of the story and the clear need for some assistance for these scared women, this gaff was overshadowed by the blows and the horror. Loved the ending, with a quote within the lasting frames 'Evolution is a bitch!'
Robin Williams in World's Greatest Dad was my next film, and another disturbing tale. This one directed by Bobcat Goldthwait, which may explain the black, black humour. Laugh out loud moments, inappropriate laughs most of the time, and yet a powerful message about acceptance and fitting in. Dad here is a teacher, and calls on Hemingway at one point, and then points about 'although he did try and scratch an itch at the back of his head with a shotgun'.
*Reviews not as in depth as desired, due to the length of time since viewing!
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