Funerals & Snakes

The world of Harry Potter takes on an Orwellian tone in The Order of the Phoenix, episode 5 in the Hogwarts soap, which sees the magic bureaucracy in London desperate to keep a lid on the news of Voldemort’s return.

If that last sentence didn’t mean very much to you then you will have a hard time enjoying the latest Harry Potter as very few efforts have been made to appeal to the tiny minority of us who haven’t read the books or seen the films. I shouldn’t really complain too much - the Star Trek universe is one that has always appealed to me and therefore I get pleasure immersing myself in it. It’s no different here, except this time I am not in the club.

For an outsider, though, this Harry Potter is not a hugely enjoyable experience. The young actors, despite lots of practice by now, haven’t got any better (poor Rupert Grint as Harry gets found out every time they point the camera at him). Daniel Radcliffe as Harry doesn’t seem to be able to carry the weight of the emotion or the action and Harry himself still seems like a bit of a wimp to be honest.

Which brings us to the story-telling, supposedly the series’ strength. Generally, screenwriters will tell you that introducing a new character half way through a film purely to solve a problem for the hero two scenes later is pretty poor form. Maybe it’s a weakness from the books, or a general difficulty with episodic fiction, either way its terribly unsatisfying for a neutral.

The picturesque seaside suburb of Maroubra in Sydney’s inner city is the setting for the compelling documentary Bra Boys, narrated by Russell Crowe.

Nestled between the sewage farm and Australia’s biggest prison, Maroubra was settled as state housing in the early 20th century, replacing the local tent slums. Despite the idyllic beachfront setting Maroubra is more South Central LA than Oriental Bay and, like any kids in the ‘Hood, the only way out is usually via a casket, a prison van or sport. Two of the four central characters, the Abberton brothers, made it as pro surfers (eldest Sunny is the writer and director) and some of the lunatic surfing footage is pretty exciting.

But Bra Boys is more than a surf movie: in its 90 minutes it veers from social history to family drama and then finally to political commentary, and the Boys’ story justifies every twist and turn. It gave me a lot to think about.

Printed in Wellington’s Capital Times, Wednesday 18 July, 2007. The Bra Boys review was cut for space reasons which is a shame as I think its worth seeing.

About 13 years ago I found myself transfixed by an image on a television news broadcast of a seven-year-old girl trapped on a bridge. With her family she was trying escape the Rwandan genocide and escape to Tanzania before the border was closed to refugees. The confusion and panic was overwhelming and before she could get through officials shut the gate with her family on the Tanzanian side, the Tutsis who wanted to kill them all on the other side, and her in the middle, looking for someone to help her.

I often think of that little girl, and the agonizing fear and uncertainty on her face, which is why films like All The Invisible Children have the ability to rip the heart right out of me. The film is a UNICEF-supported collection of short films about the unrecognised plight of children in the world. From child soldiers in Sierra Leone to entrepreneurial scavengers on the streets of Rio, these are children whose miseries are the direct the result of the actions of adults, even parents.

Directed by luminaries like Emir Kusturica, John Woo, Spike Lee and Ridley Scott, these are films that have a heavy point, sometimes too heavily made. The agit-prop purpose of the project means that enjoyment isn’t really on the agenda but a copy belongs in every school in the country and it served to reinforce to me, at least, that any human activity that isn’t for the children ain’t worth shit, really.

More children being abused for the aggrandisement of adults appear in the Australian mockumentary Razzle Dazzle, a welcome return from the recent World Cinema Showcase. In it, the world of child dance contests is given a good roasting with the help of a jolly cast led by English comic Ben Miller. He plays Mr Jonathan, a dance teacher who believes that his choreography has the power to change the world, if only the judges would recognise his talent for merging issues like global warming with 80’s English pop music and sequins. The usual rogues’ gallery of pushy parents, lonely administrators and garish judges are on display and I have it on good authority, from someone who might be described as an expert witness, that it nails its subject matter perfectly.

Another film getting a brief return from the Showcase is the easy-going documentary Wordplay, about crossword puzzles (specifically the New York Times’) and the people that puzzle every day, including the Indigo Girls, former President Clinton and a very funny Jon Stewart. The climax is the final of the National Crossword Championships in Stamford and it is almost as gripping as that other non-sports sports movie Spellbound, though the contestants aren’t anywhere near as cute. Wordplay is a perfectly acceptable way to while away an afternoon but I still have no desire to even look at a real crossword puzzle, let alone try and fill one in.

Next week, in addition to reviewing the usual roundup of releases I’ll be previewing the 36th Wellington Film Festival, which kicks off on Friday the 20th of July at venues all over town.

Printed in Wellington’s Capital TImes, Wednesday 11 July, 2007.