Poison Friends
(18th June - State Theatre)
A brilliant but manipulative student guides and cajoles his friends into writing for a purpose. Ultimately, though, he becomes the victim of his own arrogance when their success throws his failure into sharp relief.
I disagree with the program's claim that this film is "so unrepentantly French" because I actually found it to be almost a cross between a British boys club mentality and a serious American college thinkpiece, ie not as French as I expected. Maybe History Boys meets Wonder Boys but not as good or thoughtful or funny as either of those movies.
There were a couple of interesting comments on friendship and writing but ultimately the movie was pretty boring and aimless, flitting from friend to friend without developing much pathos for any of the characters. I think the film said the most about the hero mentality in some people - how some people have a compulsion to 'help' others but ignore their own apparent problems.
Film rating: 5/10
Enjoyment rating: 5/10
The Heavenly Kings
(22nd June - Greater Union #2)
It is only at the end of the film that the audience actually understands the extent to which this mockumentary was 'mock'. Director Daniel Wu, a well-known Hong Kong actor, cobbles together some famous Hong Kong celebrities to form a pop band called Alive. The band do well despite having only one member who can sing. Hilarity ensues.
The clincher is that Daniel Wu really did cobble together some famous Hong Kong celebrities to form a pop band called Alive, for the purposes of making a film about the dying art of real music. The group says that they all wanted to make a film about a boy band but they decided to go one step further and pretend that they were a boy band. Hence all the scenes with the boys' onstage performances is actual concert footage with fans none the wiser to the ruse - until now.
Heavenly Kings is a well-paced mockumentary with a serious message about the state of music in today's culture. The blend of real doco footage and scripted moco footage gave the film a sense of authenticity without losing its humorous edge. Some parts were hilarious (cue the stylist!) and the scattered animation added an unusual touch. On the narrative side, the story arc was too contrived and too neatly resolved but some of the media stunts and offhand comments were gold.
Film rating: 7/10
Enjoyment rating: 7/10
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