REVIEW: Precious (dir. Lee Daniels)

Cast: Gabourey Sidibe, Mo’nique, Paula Patton, Lenny Kravitz, Mariah Carey

‘Precious’ is the story of an obese African American girl who, at the age of just sixteen, is pregnant with her second child by her own father; she also suffers shocking physical and emotional abuse at the hands of her sadistic and twisted mother. It would be difficult to imagine a more upsetting lead character, nor a more saddening and discomforting story; and yet, quite remarkably, the filmmakers have moulded this story into an uplifting and often funny film.

When her school discovers she is pregnant, Precious (Sidibe) is kicked out and sent home to her crumbling high rise flat where she lives with her mother Mary (Mo’nique). Precious defies her mother’s orders to go to the welfare office and sneaks to an alternative school, ‘Each One/ Teach One’, to register. It is here that Precious meets Ms. Rain (Patton), a softly spoken and patient teacher who forces her small class to write diary accounts and fairytales. Precious, urged on by the support of Ms Rain and her classmates, begins to develop a voice of her own. This is by no means the end of Precious’ journey – she must overcome childbirth, a near-fatal attack by her mother, and the possibility that she has HIV – but she will now face her obstacles with resolution, self-respect, and (most importantly) friends.

It is easy to see, then, that despite the harrowing subject matter, ‘Precious’ manages to pick out the moments of resilience, camaraderie, and selflessness that pervade the story. That is not to say that the film shirks its responsibilities to the context of the story: the relationship with Mary, the sexual abuse, and the general stifling atmosphere (the stained and cold apartment, the stale food, etc) are all laid before us in the same frank and unapologetic style in which the original novel was written. This almost impossible clash of tones and messages creates a truly wonderful emotional journey for the audience; as we swing between hope and despair, we realise that somewhere in the middle lies the hidden beauty of a seemingly mundane life.

There are elements of the script that don’t quite ring true. To begin with, it is hard to believe that a teacher at a soulless and impoverished state school would take the time or care to help one random pregnant student get into an alternative school. Similarly, it is slightly contrived that a group of troubled teenage girls thrown together by an institution would bond in such an unquestioning and trusting way. But while these events might not stand up to the stark and unfaltering realism of ‘The Wire’, they do not feel insincere in ‘Precious’ because the whole film is shot through with a sense that resilience and kindness of spirit will always battle through the apathy of modern life.

The cast are absolutely superb. Carey and Kravitz (surely two of the biggest egos in music) are restrained and respectful of the overall message of the story. Paula Patton is excellent as the kind and quite Ms Rain, who is still too young and hopeful to ignore the plight of her students. Mo’nique is extraordinary as the cruel and barren Mary. Her performance calls for wild, violent swings of emotions, which she pulls of perfectly; but she is at her most terrifying and absorbing in the moments of silence or quiet conversation, when the anger and spite is lurking nearby. Gabourey Sidibe is another wonderful discovery by Lee Daniels. You cannot help but be utterly engaged by her strange appearance and the sulking melancholy of her performance; and then when she suddenly smiles, it is a warm, innocent, and hopeful smile that will move many to tears.

REVIEW: The Boys Are Back (dir. Scott Hicks)

Cast: Clive Owen, Laura Fraser, Emma Booth, George MacKay, Nicholas McAnulty

The Boys Are Back follows Joe Warr (Owen) and his wild son Artie (McAnulty) as they try to overcome the death of their beloved wife and mother, Katy (Fraser). Joe is an English sports writer who followed Katy to Australia after making her pregnant. He is a man's man with a boisterous exuberance; but in losing Katy he has lost his biggest fan, and he is broken and scared at the prospect of living without her.

Artie is unable to register the enormity of his loss on a cerebral level, but he feels it powerfully in his heart. Artie possesses an implacable and passionate energy that saves them both from despair; as Joe writes "just say yes" on their fridge, and they decide to say yes to whatever wild and fanciful whim takes hold of them. They have water balloon fights in the house, eat pizza in the middle of the night, and drive along the beach with Artie hanging on to the bonnet of the car.

It is at this point that Joe gets an unexpected call from his ex-wife in London (it turns out he was married with one child when he followed Katy to Oz) explaining that his teenage son is heading out to Australia to live with him...

Harry (MacKay) is an awkward teenager who could not be more of an antithesis to the Warr's frenetic new lifestyle. But when he is eventually won over by their vivacity the trio realise that, as a team, they stand some chance of achieving happiness. When Harry returns to England after an apocalyptic argument, Joe and Artie follow him to beg for his return. It is in England that Joe is forced to confront his personal demons in order to persuade Harry to return to their new family.

Scott Hicks' adaptation of Simon Carr's novel is certainly a beautiful film. Visually it is quite stunning, and evocative of rural Australia's warmth and vibrance; and the tone is perfect, feeling neither dull and depressing nor insincerely uplifting. There are moments of deeply-affecting and powerful drama, and Hicks even manages to elicit a respectable performance from Clive Owen, one of the most boring and awkward actors around.

But there are inherent flaws that affect the emotional journey of the story and prevent this from being one of the years great films. The film starts out exploring the theme of grief and the effect it has on familial relationships. We see Joe's relationships with his friends and family changing dramatically and worry about how he can overcome his grief. But as the film develops, it becomes a story about his relationship with Harry and his inability to confront the mistakes he has made in the past. At the end of the film we are not really sure he has done either, and despite the poetic beauty and emotional tone, the ending lacks the emotional power the story deserves.

REVIEW: Up In The Air (dir. Jason Reitman)

Cast: George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick

Ryan Bingham (Clooney) is a suave and sophisticated nomad. He lives 10,000 feet ‘up in the air’ and he is as uncomfortable on the ground, staying in one place, as most other people are during take-off. Ryan’s job (he fires people for a living) means that he travels for around 362 days every year. He has a lavish selection of travelling accessories, but his apartment looks more like a hospital room than a home.

But Ryan likes it this way. He is constantly surrounded by people who don’t bother him with their emotional baggage (they are too busy with their physical baggage); he can enjoy fleeting romances with the beautiful Alex (Farmiga) and devour complimentary buffet meals ad infinitum; and he even has a life goal… if he reaches 10 million airmiles he will get a plane named after him.

This contented existence is obliterated by the arrival of a feisty, headstrong college graduate, Natalie (Kendrick) who wants to increase the company’s efficiency by firing people over the Internet (via webcam) rather than sending Ryan and his peers to do it in person. Ryan protests on the basis that this is a cold and heartless way to perform a delicate act… but his real problem is the terrifying prospect of having to work in an office and lose his home in the sky.

Ryan is tasked with showing Natalie the ropes. Arriving at the airport with a cumbersome suitcase, we soon realise that Natalie is the ‘Donkey’ to Ryan’s ‘Shrek’; she is a needy and annoying hormonal adolescent with the backbone of a fifty-year-old spinster. But Ryan graciously shows her how to survive in his bewildering world of departure lounges and connecting flights, and eventually they begin to see eye to eye.

While this relationship provides some light-hearted, but genuine, humour, this really is a thoughtful film about the nomadic existence that so many people seem to lead in this fast-paced modern world. The prospect of having to settle down forces Ryan to consider his options, and he begins a more serious relationship with Alex. He also agrees to go to his sister’s wedding, and it is here that he realises a life filled with attachments and emotional baggage might not be such a hard life after all.

Jason Reitman has proved once again, after Thank You for Smoking and Juno, that he has a masterful eye for thought-provoking, fast-paced comedies. This film is infinitely superior to its US comedy cousin at this festival, The Men Who Stare At Goats. That film is insincere, cheap, and meaningless; Up In The Air works hard to achieve its funny moments, and they are all the more raucous and enjoyable for it.

Nobody other than George Clooney could have played this role. He is a modern-day Cary Grant, not just because of his looks and his demeanour, but because of the public’s constant fascination at his inability to settle down. Clooney, more than any other Hollywood A-lister, is famous for his nomadic and free-spirited lifestyle, and the emotional honesty he brings to Ryan Bingham makes this film feel like a brief glimpse inside Clooney’s own soul.

Saadiyat Island: A shimmering vision of the future

On January 1st – with an insufferable hangover and a throat-clenching realisation that another year was sitting before me, just waiting to be got through – I headed for Abu Dhabi to revitalise my weary skin and rekindle my passion for the Arabic world.

Abu Dhabi is not currently the most inspiring of destinations, and when I wasn’t eating or reading I was searching for some crumbling remnants of pre-oil Arabian romance. This search was in vain, for the past has been obliterated in the gulf and replaced with skyscrapers and giant shopping malls. But a small exhibition on ‘Saadiyat Island’ in the corner of the Emirates Palace made me realise that it is the future, and not the past, that will come to define this indefinable part of the world.

Visit the official website here.

‘Saadiyat Island’ is the proposed cultural province of the Emirates; it is their attempt to coax the Western world’s cultural elite out of their comfortable nests in New York and Paris, and brave the dusty, desert heat. I was sceptical when this plan was first explained to me: Sydney has always struck me as damning proof that no amount of money or architectural prowess can buy culture, and this seemed to me a similar attempt, albeit on a larger scale.

But after wandering around the exhibition I found myself overcome by the passion and determination with which the Emirates have pursued this objective. In the last forty years they have transformed a gathering of bivouacs and pearl divers into a bustling, torrential marketplace of international corporations. They have shifted the planet on it’s axis, and reminded us that if the West is to survive into the new millennium we must appreciate that we are only the ‘West’, and there is now an ‘East’ to be dealt with.

Abu Dhabi is at the centre of this new global commercial and cultural world. They have a vast proportion of the world’s oil, and an ideal location between the US and China for stopover flights and the transfer of commodities. Throughout history, it has been commercial centres and transport hubs that have created great societies, cultures and artistic movements. Egypt, Crete, Ionia, Athens, the British Empire – all of these world-changing societies were founded on commerce and geographical advantage. Maybe now it is time for the Gulf states to lead the world forward, and Saadiyat Island is a magnificent and shimmering statement of intent.

The Island will house a Guggenheim Museum (designed by Frank Gehry, who also designed the Bilbao museum), the first outpost of the Louvre (a project that has been officially and gratefully sanctioned by the French government), an indescribable Performing Arts centre, and outposts of the Sorbonne and New York University to attract young artists and thinkers.

Just watch the short film clip in the ‘Louvre’ section of the website to get an idea of the magnanimity of this project. This is no mere Opera House; Abu Dhabi is shattering expectations, and building a cultural epicentre so epic that the Western world can only ignore it at their own peril. This might be Sydney on a larger scale, but the scale is so large that they might just succeed… and I for one hope that they do.