Archive for August, 2010
RAW: The Special Relationship – Film – 3.5K
Aug 5th
Reviewed By Kosta Jaric
Michael Sheen is making a damn good living out of other people’s lives. After playing reporter David Frost and famed English coach Brian Clough, he has come full circle and returns as the seemingly affable Prime Minister Tony Blair in “The Special Relationship”.
With Dennis Quaid as the unmistakable Bill Clinton, Richard Loncraine directs the finer moments of their relationship during their overlapping terms. Choosing Blair as the protagonist of the two, Sheen is seamless and brilliant in his role. Being the third time he’s played Blair, he’s almost undistinguishable from the real man. Quaid’s attempt at Clinton’s accent becomes a bit of a novelty from the get go, but he does a fine job playing a morally-questionable man (who on screen is shown to be just as deceptive as his successor).
Hope Davis is brilliant as the turmoiled Hilary, taking a leading role during the Lewinsky period, with Helen McCrory is exactly as she was in “The Queen” as Cherie (also written by Peter Morgan). The support cast is also on song (with Jacques Chirac ever the comedian).
The script is tight and creates some interesting moments between the two leaders. In what could’ve been a very dry film (originally made for US TV), the cast and crew have actually made an intriguing behind-the-scenes look at the marriages, friendships and political relationship between the two couples and their countries.
You won’t kick yourself if you miss this on the big screen but it is worth a mid-week peek.
Kryztoff Rating 3.5K
RAW: SALA Ann Newmarch – Flinders Uni Art Museum (State Lib) – 3K
Aug 4th
Cultural Pattern and Human Fragility By Ann Newmarch – Flinders Uni Art Museum (State Library) – Till 29th August
Ann Newmarch’s 25th solo exhibition comprises 16 works and opinion may well divide on their merits. To be sure they are complex, any one incorporating many motifs that span on one axis of thought cultural items like Afgham rugs, rosettes, Italian and Greek monuments and on the other images of war and death such as the silhouettes of rifles, the photo of Kim Phuc fleeing a napalm attack in the Vietnam war and a trader falling to his death from one of the twin towers on 9/11.
There is also a beauty about them in that they hang well together and can sustain individual curiosity as well filling a space on a wall. However, the repetition of the images across all 16 works and overall feel somewhat confound the individual and often distinct titles and commentary associated with each.
Newmarch speaks in the catalogue of how ‘these images grew bit by bit without much consideration for the big picture. I felt like I was dissolving into each area I altered or added (a bit like a quilt, the complexities of each stitch.)’ Janet Maughn speaks of ‘the messages appear not so obviously. These are pictures that reward close inspection of different parts of the picture surface; that hint at relationships and encourage the viewer to make connections across cultures, across time and across events.
Thus the divide on these works is either they are a hotch potch of icons that will resonate from one’s consciousness that holds together as complex and colourful or the trained eye will make out these connections of culture and war and tie them in with their titles. But if the artists didn’t seem to know where they were going, I am unsure why viewers should or would.
Kryztoff Rating 3K
RAW: Fugitive – Robin Hood Retold – Space Until 14th Aug – 4K
Aug 4th
Earlier in the year Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe gave us a cinematic new take on the old Robin Hood tale. Now writer, Matthew Whittet and Windmill Theatre have given us another take. The difference is Fugitive is much better.
Here, Robin (Eamon Farren) returns from an unexplained two year absence, hooks up again with Marion (Louisa Mignone) and along with Wil (Whittet) and bovver boy, Little John (Patrick Graham) take on the forces of evil in the district led by Marty (Carmel Johnson.) Along the way they battle knights, some bad, some incompetent, others invisible and also themselves, often at a frenetic pace.
The interweaving of this traditional Robin Hood story with almost everything else being modern, along with a tale about young people desperately trying to come to terms with their place in the world, is expertly done. The humour builds from Little John’s flatulence problem early on to Geoff Revell’s show stealing roles, first on a horse as a sage, then as the treacherous Guy. It is a great romps.
The impact of the whole off stage crew on all aspects of the production is significant. Richard Vabre’s lighting and Luke Smiles’ sound design keep giving the production vibrant and eccentric edges, always making contemporary what is after all a 1000 year old tale – the scene changes are an excellent example of the team work delivering clever outcomes.
Farren is an impressive stage figure and Mignone handles superbly the various challenges of Marion in a costume that was not exactly flattering.
The Windmill people are calling for young men to flood to see this. They cast their net not nearly wide enough. This is great entertainment for everyone.
Kryztoff Rating 4K
RAW: Mother Africa – Her Majesty’s – Aug 4 – 15 – Preview
Aug 2nd
Created in Germany by producer / director Winston Ruddle, Mother Africa arrives in Adelaide this week for a twelve day season at Her Majesty’s, somewhat surprisingly perhaps, without having ever been staged on their home continent. 
Included in the cast is 12 year old, Yonas Teka, who has created an unofficial Guinness World record of 30 continuous somersault flips, surpassing the previous record of 25. He, like all the other cast members, came through an exhaustive audition process by Ruddle to choose Africa’s most talented. The exception perhaps to that is MC, Bongi Mtshali, who got that particular role because she could best pronounce German when required to at short notice!
Mother Africa has already enjoyed an extended sell-out season on the Gold Coast and this should provide a warming relief to Adelaide circus lovers during the next fortnight as well.