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Reviews
The Father (2020)
As far as my eyes can see, there are shadows approaching me .
Superb. As a health professional and academic, I have worked on and off for many years with people who have cognitive impairment (CI) and have written much on this topic. This movie should be mandatory viewing for policy writers, researchers and practitioners working with older people afflicted with CI. This year, we bid farewell to my partners father in circumstances very similar to those depicted in this movie and in watching it, relived every painful, at times, comical moment right down to the obsessing over his watch!!! What the film and performers capture so well, is the pixelation of thought, the irreversible downward trajectory of functioning, the frustration, the chaos and despair that ensues, all of which are captured in equal measure from the perspectives of the 'afflicted' and the observers/carers.
In Australia, which is a realatively wealthy country, the care of older people, many if whom experience CI, has turned into a major industry, a cold inhumane monster in which the 'care' provided has often been found wanting. Films like this help raise awareness of the personal toll of this condition. It's visual eloquence serves as a suitable contra to the vulgarity of pseudo caring corporates and their insatiable greed.
Total Control (2019)
Aussie drama at its best!
Wow! Wow! Wow! Tell it like is with no punches pulled! About bloody time and with the black fellas up-front too!
The Pacific: In the Wake of Captain Cook with Sam Neill (2018)
What Sam does best.
Sam this is what you are best at. Nuanced, factual, informed, intensely emotional at times, other times, ascerbic and political. Kia ora.
England Is Mine (2017)
Underwhleming but pleasant
Perhaps this film was severely curtailed by not being authorized, or perhaps my expectations were misplaced? As prodgeny of 'The North', a Smith's fan and recently returned from Manchester, the film lacked something? That gritty Northern realism starkly contrasted by that peculiar Northern style of humor that is playful, astute and at time sardonic was there but? Because it was so interior (buildings and people wise) the film lacked a real sense of place. The end should have felt more like a beginning but it didn't.
McMafia (2018)
Brilliant
Great story-line. Contemporary in that it focuses on the global economy/crime. Raises significant ethical/moral issues relevant to our time. Performances, cinematography and direction was impeccable. Have not read the critics reviews. Don't need to. Am quite capable of making up my own mind. This is as good as TV viewing gets. On par with The Godfather...in more ways than one.