A WEEKLY FILM NEWSLETTER PROMOTING ARTHOUSE, REPERTORY, ART, SHORT FORM AND EXPERIMENTAL CINEMA SCREENING IN THE CITY OF MELBOURNE

MIFF 71 SPECIAL

Digby Houghton and Andrew Tabacco provide some belated coverage of the 71st MIFF

Afire

Christian Petzold, 2023

DCP Courtesy: Madman Entertainment

Unclassified

Words by Digby Houghton

The oft-cited quote ‘do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life’ pervades the neo-liberal world we occupy today. In fact, time and money have become so inextricably connected that the sublimation of the two has led to a blurring under late capitalism; I receive my Uber Eats food from the comfort of my doorstep clad in my pyjamas from the night before and I have seemingly endless access to a drip feed of social media platforms anytime and anywhere. This conflict presents itself as a challenge for artists and creatives for which the fusion of time and money is, if anything, unconducive. The central point of tension driving Christian Petzold’s Afire. Writer Leon (Thomas Schubert), a writer preparing the final draft of his book ingeniously titled “Club Sandwich”, while on holiday with his friend Felix (Langston Uibel). 

Leon is invited by Felix to his beachside home under the pretence it would only be only the two of them. However, soon after arriving Leon is thrown into a room with Felix while Nadja (Paula Beer) very audibly, through the paper-thin walls, has sex. Mishaps aside, Leon is an aloof, simplistic man who can’t fathom a world outside his own reductive perspective and he frequently rejects offers to go to the beach or indulge in anything resembling leisure; his excuse is his “work”, which hinders his productivity as a writer. Leon is frequently caught asleep in piles of paper or with his head inside an open book reinforcing the notion that Leon’s overworked personality lead him to a life increasingly devoid of leisure, wherein basic bodily functions like sleep are made redundant. 

Petzold evokes stages of a topsy-turvy world, where Nadja, who serves ice-cream on the beach, can live modestly and ominous signs of the end of the world present themselves throughout the film. It’s this kind of stasis between the real and the unreal which makes Petzold’s films so enticing and enthralling. Earlier works like his 2020 film Undine featured water as a backdrop for exploring history and mythology whereas Afire turns its attention to the scorching sun staging a backdrop for Petzold who explores the elements. Leon is a contemptible and unlovable protagonist resembling something more of an anti-hero but Petzold’s aesthetic provides a critique of the 21st century artist, one which is confronting. 

La Chimera

Alice Rohrwacher, 2023

DCP Courtesy: Palace Films

Unclassified

Words by Andrew Tabacco

La Chimera was one of the more polarising films at Cannes this year and seemingly just as divisive with the very busy midweek afternoon crowd at the Forum. Alice Rohrwcher’s sprawling magical realist epic about a band of modern day grave robbers is a complex yet profound film that tethers the line between masterpiece and farce.

For those familiar with Rohrwacher’s work and especially her last film, Happy as Lazzaro (2018), the oddities and quirks of La Chimera will feel similar if not slightly exhausting as it enters the second hour. But for the uninitiated, like I was when I watched Happy as Lazzaro in 2018, the film will introduce a whole new layer of charm and mystery which is seemingly missing from the films of top tier auteurs like Rohrwacher. 

La Chimera is led by an English actor Josh O’Connor, who plays a brooding gravedigger with a special, if not magical ability to find buried Etruscan graves using a ‘Y-shaped stick’ - à la Russell Crowe in The Water Diviner. O’Connor’s Arthur, or ‘The Englishmen’ as many of the locals call him, is a quintessential mysterious foreigner character; with a volatile temper that swings from rage to tenderness, an uncertain his past which includes a lost love and constantly sports a stained linen suit reminiscent of Brendan Fraser in The Quiet American or Joe Alwyn in Stars at Noon. But his job title isn’t the only thing that separates this brooding foreigner from the two aforementioned spies. For all intents and purposes, The Englishman is more family than foreigner to his band of cross dressing thieves and shares a deeper connection with the gang’s matriarch Flora (Isabella Rossellini).

Arthur’s innate connection with the afterlife or the otherworldly both haunts and drives Rohrwacher’s meandering narrative. Arthur is haunted by loss, especially that of his love, but his connection with the afterlife has granted him his unique gift. As Rohwacher’s takes the viewer on a tour of this strange and almost alien version of Italy’s underbelly, which is filled with misfits, crooks, schemers and nonas, the tour is bordered by a tight and at times thrilling archaeological heist romp. This is what makes Alice Rohrwacher so special, where other films dealing with magical realism fall too far into the world they’ve created, Rohrwacher’s films hold an almost classical narrative structure, and instead inserts the magic and mystery into a more recognisable story. La Chimera may feel slow and odd to many viewers, but with Rohrwacher’s innate ability to interweave her thematic oddities with warmth and humour and most importantly, a cohesive narrative. I suspect that even viewers of Icon Distribution’s new QAnon film Sound of Freedom (which is currently number 1 on the Aus box office charts) would feel something, if not confusion, after watching this film.

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WEEKLY FILM LISTINGS

AUGUST 24 - AUGUST 30

ACMI

The Blue Caftan
Maryam Touzani, 2022

Screening Friday, Saturday and Sunday

Thelma and Louise
Ridley Scott, 1991
Screening Saturday 26 August 3pm

GODDESS SUNDAYS

Polyester
John Waters, 1981

Screening Sunday 27 August 2pm 

ARTIST FILM WORKSHOP

KENNETH ANGER: TUESDAY 29 AUGUST

Rabbit’s Moon
Kenneth Anger, 1971
+

Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome
Kenneth Anger, 1954
+
Scorpio Rising
Kenneth Anger, 1963

ASTOR CINEMA

The Wicker Man: The Final Cut
Robin Hardy, 1973
Screening Thursday, Friday and Saturday

Jurassic Park
Steven Spielberg, 1993
Screening Saturday 26 August 2pm and 7pm

Sorcerer

William Friedkin, 1977
Screening Sunday 27 August 4pm

Oppenheimer

Christopher Nolan, 2023

Screening Sunday 27 August 6:30pm

BBBC CINEMA (GALLERYGALLERY BRUNSWICK)

Closed until summer

THE CAPITOL

CHECK MIFF PROGRAM FOR DETAILS!

CHINATOWN CINEMA

Never Say Never
Wang Baoqiang, 2023
Screening Daily

Ransomed
Kim Seong-Hun, 2023
Screening Daily

One and Only
Dong Chengpeng, 2023
Screening Daily

The White Storm 3: Heaven or Hell
Herman Yau, 2023
Screening Daily

Lost in the Stars
Rui Cui, Xiang Liu, 2023
Screening Daily

CINÉ-CLUB (Carlton)

Closed for winter

CINEMANIACS (ACMI)

No screening this week

CINEMA NOVA

Shin Ultraman

Shinji Higuchi, 2023

Screening Daily

-

Asteroid City
Wes Anderson, 2023
Screening Daily

Chevalier
Stephen Williams, 2022
Screening Daily

Alcarràs
Carla Simón, 2023
Screening Daily

Sisu
Jalmari Helander, 2022
Screening Daily

Talk To Me
Danny and Michael Philippou, 2023
Screening Daily

Barbie
Greta Gerwig, 2023
Screening Daily

Oppenheimer
Christopher Nolan, 2023
Screening Daily

Carmen
Benjamin Millepied, 2022
Screening Daily

Dalíland
Mary Harron, 2022
Screening Daily

DOGMILK DEGUSTATIONS: @ Miscellenia

Stay tuned for details on Season 3.

FRENCH FILM CLUB

No screening this week

GAY24

No screening this week

HITLIST (9 Gertrude St, Fitzroy)

No screening this week

LIDO / CLASSIC / CAMEO

Rose Gold

Matthew Adekponya, 2023

Screening Daily

Asteroid City
Wes Anderson, 2023
Screening Daily

The Miracle Club
Thaddeus O'Sullivan, 2023
Screening Daily

Chevalier
Stephen Williams, 2022
Screening Daily

Sisu
Jalmari Helander, 2022
Screening Daily

Talk To Me
Danny and Michael Philippou, 2023
Screening Daily

Barbie
Greta Gerwig, 2023
Screening Daily

Oppenheimer
Christopher Nolan, 2023
Screening Daily

The Miracle Club

Thaddeus O’Sullivan, 2023

Screening Daily

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One

Christopher McQuarrie, 2023

Screening Daily

THE MELBOURNE CINÉMATHÈQUE (ACMI)

Quai des Orfèvres
Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1947
+
Razzia sur la Chnouf

Henri Decoin, 1955

Double screening from 7pm

MELBOURNE HORROR FILM SOCIETY

Bone Tomahawk

S. Craig Zahler, 2015

Screening at Longplay on Tuesday 29 August

MELBOURNE UNIVERSITY: SCREENING IDEAS

No screening this week

PALACE BALWYN / BRIGHTON /COMO / KINO / PENTRIDGE / WESTGARTH

About My Father
Laura Terruso, 2023
Screening Daily

Asteroid City
Wes Anderson, 2023
Screening Daily

BlackBerry

Matt Johnson, 2023

Screening Daily

Godland

Hlynur Palmason, 2023

Screening Daily

Strays

Josh Greenbaum, 2023

Screening Daily

The Miracle Club
Thaddeus O'Sullivan, 2023
Screening Daily

Chevalier
Stephen Williams, 2022
Screening Daily

Alcarràs
Carla Simón, 2023
Screening Daily

Talk To Me
Danny and Michael Philippou, 2023
Screening Daily

Barbie
Greta Gerwig, 2023
Screening Daily

Oppenheimer
Christopher Nolan, 2023
Screening Daily

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

James Mangold, 2023

Screening Daily

Driving Madeleine

Christian Carion, 2022

Screening Daily

SUN CINEMAS YARRAVILLE

Asteroid City
Wes Anderson, 2023
Screening Daily

BlackBerry

Matt Johnson, 2023

Screening Daily

Strays

Josh Greenbaum, 2023

Screening Daily

About My Father
Laura Terruso, 2023
Screening Daily

The Miracle Club
Thaddeus O'Sullivan, 2023
Screening Daily

Talk To Me
Danny and Michael Philippou, 2023
Screening Daily

Barbie
Greta Gerwig, 2023
Screening Daily

Oppenheimer (In 70mm!!)
Christopher Nolan, 2023
Screening Daily

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

James Mangold, 2023

Screening Daily

THORNBURY PICTURE HOUSE

Asteroid City
Wes Anderson, 2023
Screening Sat, Mon and Wed

Sanctuary

Zachary Wigon, 2023

Screening Thurs, Wed

Barbie (Final Screenings)
Greta Gerwig, 2023
Screening most days

The Last Rider

Alex Holmes, 2023

Screening on Saturday (Fundraiser)

Jurassic Park

Stephen Speilberg, 1993

Screening Saturday

Elemental

Peter Sohn, 2023

Screening Sunday

Oppenheimer
Christopher Nolan, 2023
Screening Sunday

Past Lives

Celine Song, 2023

Preview screening Saturday (Sold Out)

UNKNOWN PLEASURES (BILL MOUSOULIS + CHRIS LUSCRI)

No screening this week