Antares (2004)

During a cold, overcast weekend in Vienna, we peer through the drab concrete walls of a high rise apartment building and into the complicated lives its residents in this collection of three lightly interwoven tales of domestic strife. The first story concerns an attractive middle class couple (Petra Morze and Hary Prinz) whose opposing work schedules have caused their lives to become a grinding routine, and their marriage to slowly erode.


Next, we learn about a young grocery cashier (Suzanne Wuest) who is desperately trying to get pregnant for all the wrong reasons. Lastly, we meet a sociopathic realtor (well played by Alex Kiendl) whose emotions can range from smoothly charming to violently abusive in mere seconds, and we become involved in his pathetic attempts to reconcile with his estranged wife (Martina Zinner), as she bravely tries to rebuild her life.


The first narrative is the strongest, featuring a compelling performance by Morze (who is sort of the Catherine Deneuve of Austria) as well as some surprisingly graphic sexuality. Viewers may even feel a bit of a let down when the second story commences, but stick with it, as the momentum is soon restored and we are treated to an ending that ties up all the loose threads in a believable and satisfying way.


Talented auteur Gotz Spielman is clearly influenced by the work of his fellow Austrian Michael Haneke, but Spielman’s filmic stylings are more traditional, and, while there are moments here that will make you gasp, he wisely never delves full-out into Haneke’s brand of drastic, intentionally disturbing realism. “Antares” is reminiscent of an edition of well crafted short stories and if, for instance, John Cheever or Raymond Carver were from Eastern Europe, the results would look something like this.

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Antares (2004)

During a cold, overcast weekend in Vienna, we peer through the drab concrete walls of a high rise apartment building and into the complicated lives its residents in this collection of three lightly interwoven tales of domestic strife. The first story concerns an attractive middle class couple (Petra Morze and Hary Prinz) whose opposing work schedules have caused their lives to become a grinding routine, and their marriage to slowly erode.


Next, we learn about a young grocery cashier (Suzanne Wuest) who is desperately trying to get pregnant for all the wrong reasons. Lastly, we meet a sociopathic realtor (well played by Alex Kiendl) whose emotions can range from smoothly charming to violently abusive in mere seconds, and we become involved in his pathetic attempts to reconcile with his estranged wife (Martina Zinner), as she bravely tries to rebuild her life.


The first narrative is the strongest, featuring a compelling performance by Morze (who is sort of the Catherine Deneuve of Austria) as well as some surprisingly graphic sexuality. Viewers may even feel a bit of a let down when the second story commences, but stick with it, as the momentum is soon restored and we are treated to an ending that ties up all the loose threads in a believable and satisfying way.


Talented auteur Gotz Spielman is clearly influenced by the work of his fellow Austrian Michael Haneke, but Spielman’s filmic stylings are more traditional, and, while there are moments here that will make you gasp, he wisely never delves full-out into Haneke’s brand of drastic, intentionally disturbing realism. “Antares” is reminiscent of an edition of well crafted short stories and if, for instance, John Cheever or Raymond Carver were from Eastern Europe, the results would look something like this.

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Oyster Farmer (2004)

A charming quirkiness oozes from the sprocket holes of this relaxed Australian production. The quite fit Alex O’Loughlin stars as a seemingly aimless young man who manages pull off a very clever robbery, and then high tails it to a remote area of New South Wales to let the heat die down a bit and to await the delivery of a very important package.


From his redoubt on the Hawkesbury River, O’Loughlin becomes involved with an earthy and only semi-legal community of sun baked oystermen, the deep ruts on their faces filled with a black, gritty sweat. We learn much about the techniques of oyster farming, and the back breaking toil required to supply the world’s demand for these tasty bivalves.


And although O’Loughlin has wandered into an area of excessive testosterone, there are two female inhabitants who capture his interest. First, his boss’s estranged and sensual wife (Kerry Armstrong) who cleans his wounds after a dog attack in a scene brimming with eroticism, and a slightly nutty postal clerk (Diana Glenn), who he finds both suspicious and irresistible.

Writer/director Anna Reeves does a fine job of managing both the pacing of the film and keeping a consistent tone to the performances, as the cast features a wide array of character actors, including the familiar faces of Jack Thompson and Jim Norton. The film is permeated with a calm, easy going eccentricity, and in many ways is reminiscent of a National Film Board of Canada product. Recommended to those seeking an involving film, but aren’t in the mood for a challenging one.

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Oyster Farmer (2004)

A charming quirkiness oozes from the sprocket holes of this relaxed Australian production. The quite fit Alex O’Loughlin stars as a seemingly aimless young man who manages pull off a very clever robbery, and then high tails it to a remote area of New South Wales to let the heat die down a bit and to await the delivery of a very important package.


From his redoubt on the Hawkesbury River, O’Loughlin becomes involved with an earthy and only semi-legal community of sun baked oystermen, the deep ruts on their faces filled with a black, gritty sweat. We learn much about the techniques of oyster farming, and the back breaking toil required to supply the world’s demand for these tasty bivalves.


And although O’Loughlin has wandered into an area of excessive testosterone, there are two female inhabitants who capture his interest. First, his boss’s estranged and sensual wife (Kerry Armstrong) who cleans his wounds after a dog attack in a scene brimming with eroticism, and a slightly nutty postal clerk (Diana Glenn), who he finds both suspicious and irresistible.

Writer/director Anna Reeves does a fine job of managing both the pacing of the film and keeping a consistent tone to the performances, as the cast features a wide array of character actors, including the familiar faces of Jack Thompson and Jim Norton. The film is permeated with a calm, easy going eccentricity, and in many ways is reminiscent of a National Film Board of Canada product. Recommended to those seeking an involving film, but aren’t in the mood for a challenging one.

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Linda Linda Linda (2005)

With the big gig at their high school’s fall festival just a few days away, an all-girl punk band scrambles to reinvent themselves in this delightful, low key comedy. When their lead singer and songwriter (Takayo Mamura) splits over creative differences, remaining members Kei (Yu Kashii), Nozomi (Shiori Shiroko) and Kyoko (Aki Medea) find themselves with no material and no voice to sing it.


They recruit a shy, introverted Korean exchange student named Son (Du-na Bae), primarily because she is the only person available, and the foursome set out to quickly learn some new songs by pulling a series of grueling all night practice sessions. But for a film about rock-n-roll, Linda Linda Linda is surprisingly quiet and sedate, as director Nobohiro Yamashita paints a loving portrait of the gracious, polite intensity that infuses Japanese educational life.


This is no raucous, take-no-prisoners, hormonally crazed American style high school, but rather a pleasant, focused environment, conducive to learning, where students and faculty treat each other with mutual respect, and that is just one of the many aspects that makes this a refreshing film. Band movies and sports movies are quite similar in that they follow a familiar pattern: Challenge - Preparation - Set Back - Renewed Preparation - Payoff. But the best in each genre take that formula and, through small details, make it seem fresh and new.


That is Yamashita’s triumph here, for as we become more involved in the lives of these charming, hard working young girls, and begin to root for them to achieve their goals, we don’t feel the slightest bit manipulated. There is not a moment here that feels false or forced, and that lack of artifice makes the film’s rousing finale all the more cathartic. Do give this film a try; it’s lovable, funny and even a little bit exhilarating. The only downside is you may have the title song stuck in your head for few days.

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Linda Linda Linda (2005)

With the big gig at their high school’s fall festival just a few days away, an all-girl punk band scrambles to reinvent themselves in this delightful, low key comedy. When their lead singer and songwriter (Takayo Mamura) splits over creative differences, remaining members Kei (Yu Kashii), Nozomi (Shiori Shiroko) and Kyoko (Aki Medea) find themselves with no material and no voice to sing it.


They recruit a shy, introverted Korean exchange student named Son (Du-na Bae), primarily because she is the only person available, and the foursome set out to quickly learn some new songs by pulling a series of grueling all night practice sessions. But for a film about rock-n-roll, Linda Linda Linda is surprisingly quiet and sedate, as director Nobohiro Yamashita paints a loving portrait of the gracious, polite intensity that infuses Japanese educational life.


This is no raucous, take-no-prisoners, hormonally crazed American style high school, but rather a pleasant, focused environment, conducive to learning, where students and faculty treat each other with mutual respect, and that is just one of the many aspects that makes this a refreshing film. Band movies and sports movies are quite similar in that they follow a familiar pattern: Challenge - Preparation - Set Back - Renewed Preparation - Payoff. But the best in each genre take that formula and, through small details, make it seem fresh and new.


That is Yamashita’s triumph here, for as we become more involved in the lives of these charming, hard working young girls, and begin to root for them to achieve their goals, we don’t feel the slightest bit manipulated. There is not a moment here that feels false or forced, and that lack of artifice makes the film’s rousing finale all the more cathartic. Do give this film a try; it’s lovable, funny and even a little bit exhilarating. The only downside is you may have the title song stuck in your head for few days.

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Czech Dream (2003)

Two film school dilettantes embark on a project designed to prove that everyone else is stupid. Their premise is that consumers will believe anything as long as it is presented in a slick advertising campaign. So they create a fictional warehouse store and launch a media blitz promising low prices on everything from TVs to steaks.


On opening day, thousands of people show up hoping to take advantage of the advertised bargains, only to find that the megastore is nothing more than a cloth facade in an empty lot. And this somehow proves the cleverness of the filmmakers.


The amazing thing to this reviewer was the relatively low amount of outrage at the young men; its surprising they weren't forcibly dragged through the weeds. Supposedly this dull and mean-spirited doc is trying to make some comment on how awful it is that Czech society has become so consumerist. Yes, things were much better when Nazi battalions and Soviet tanks roamed the streets of Prague. Grow up.

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