| The 2010 New Zealand International Film Festival - our picks! |
| Written by Sian Rafferty |
| Thursday, 01 July 2010 15:20 |
 It’s that time of year again folks, The 2010 New Zealand International Film Festival! The one month of the year when New Zealand gets to sit up there with the big kids like Cannes, Tribeca and Berlin, and bring a few of the bright lights back to our little nook of the woods. This year there is definitely a great selection of the best and brightest from all four corners, and just to make it a bit easier, Coup De Main have compiled a list of the films we are most excited to see. Believe me, there is something in here for everyone... For those brimming with home-grown pride - ‘PREDICAMENT’. New Zealand’s foray into comic territory is furthered in this new retelling of a Kiwi cult classic ‘PREDICAMENT’, by New Zealand literary antihero Ronald Hugh Morrieson. This is a tale of bored Taranaki teenager Cedric Williamson, who alongside accomplices Mervyn Toebeck and Spook, hatch a plan to exact revenge on the town property developers which have swindled Cedric’s hapless father out of his land. From director Jason Stutter, ‘Predicament’ is shaping up to be another dark kiwi comedy, which blends bloody murder and suspense, with good old number 8 wire. And starring some of New Zealand’s most legendary characters, spearheaded by Tim Finn and Jermaine Clement - along with Hayden Frost, Heath Franklin and Rose McIver (from 'The Lovely Bones'), as up and comers ready to be thrust into the spotlight - ‘Predicament’ is definitely a strong home-grown choice to bookend this fine festival. For the provocateur – ‘GAINSBOURG’. No one does the ‘devil may care' rock star artist like the French; a nation as famous for their thoroughly European innate charm, as their infamous disdain for anything not French. ‘GAINSBOURG’ is the biopic of French Icon Serge Gainsbourg, who could perhaps be described as the lovechild of Casanova and Mick Jagger, and tells the life story of the 60's pop star who set the French National Anthem to a reggae beat, and seduced a legion of iconic beauties including Bridget Bardot and Jane Birken. Sex, drugs and rock n roll has never looked so chic. For the wide-eyed armchair explorers - ‘OCEANS’. In recent years nature has turned to Hollywood to promote her cause, often recruiting our most worldly sages like Morgan Freeman and Al Gore, to guide gently towards awareness. However, with ‘OCEANS’ another cause is perhaps promoted - awareness of the beauty which perhaps 99.9% of us will never witness ourselves. Indeed, narrator Pierce Brosnan seems to encapsulate this alien world perfectly when he says "it’s like nature has given anything a try". With the latest camera technology, 10 000 leagues under the sea has never seemed so close to home. For the misguided twenty somethings - ‘BEESWAX’. ‘BEESWAX’ follows the lives and trials of identical twins: wheelchair-bound vintage shop owning Jeannie and Lauren, who share the same face, only with different bodies. Both struggle with direction and indecision in their lives as Jeannie battles her estranged business partner and friend Amanda, and Lauren contemplates moving overseas. With characters which you could bump into on the street, one thing which has been noted about this film is the sense of realism it conveys: that heavy mist which fogs so many young people’s lives as they work out their place in it all. For the backpackers - ‘WAH DO DEM’. Ever since last year’s festival undercover gem ‘Unmade Beds', we have been hunting for the next indie discovery, full of life, colour and music. Made on a shoestring budget, ‘WAH DO DEM’ follows the expedition of broken hearted hipster Max - recently dumped by Norah Jones none the less - he jettisons straight out of New York and into a Jamaican paradise (or so he thinks). Encountering every degree of the human spirit, from malicious to miraculous, Max gets to really see the true Jamaica in all its glory as he ventures across this foreign land. For the tortured artist – ‘THE RED SHOES’. Restored to glorious colour by film preservation hero Martin Scorsese, ‘THE RED SHOES’ tells a tale of a passionate ballerina trapped between two great loves: the man in her life and dancing. The film’s title refers to a grotesque story by Hans Christian Anderson, where dancers are driven to death when they dance with a pair of shoes. Like Anderson’s story, impassioned ballerina Vicky Page cannot see life without dance. Step back into a world where love, pain and success, battle in the life of a young dancer.  For the unashamedly curious - ‘THE RUNAWAYS’. I imagine the audience of ‘THE RUNAWAYS’ will be chiefly made up of different bodies of viewers. The first comprises of people who grew up, or are at least interested in the music and notoriety of this feisty female band of the seventies. The second category, which I am reluctant to say is probably the one I most identify with, are the people at the cinema to satisfy their curiosity. In particular, this is to answer one main question: ‘Does Kristen Stewart actually deserve the fame and fortune she has garnered over the past couple of years, without seemingly ever having to actually show she can act?’ Sure she had glimmers of promise in ‘Into the Wild', yet this seems to have been countered by the huge mass mess of the Twilight Saga. It’s going to be difficult to divorce this thought from appreciating the movie in its own right. But then along with Dakota Fanning’s peaches and cream public persona, Stewart’s grungy ‘Stick It To Them’ attitude could be the very reason she was cast in the first place. For the inspired revolutionary – ‘HOWL’. Allen Ginsberg’s momentous and chaotically honest retelling of society - ‘HOWL' - was put on trial for obscenity which fractured the seemingly peaceful balance of fifties society. As a member of the anarchistic ‘Beat Generation’ (which among others included Jack Kerouac), Ginsberg moved to deconstruct the facade of ‘normal’ American culture, and this film, reflecting that idea, questions the role of the poet in social revolutions. Casting James Franco ('Spiderman', 'Milk') as Ginsberg is fitting, as Franco with his Ivy League education and unpredictable role choices, has never really fit into the conventional Hollywood star role. The 2010 NZ International Film Festival launches in Auckland on July 8th and runs until the 25th... Auckland Jul 8 - 25 l Christchurch Jul 29 - Aug 15 l Dunedin Jul 23 - Aug 8 l Gisborne Oct 28 - Nov 10 l Greymouth Oct 4 - 10 l Hamilton Aug 12 - 29 l Kerikeri Nov 11 - 24 l Masterton Oct 13 - 27 l Napier Aug 18 - Sep 5 l Nelson Sep 9 - 23 l New Plymouth Sep 2 - 15 l Palmerston North Aug 5 - 22 l Tauranga Aug 26 - 8 l Wellington Jul 16 - Aug 1 l Whangarei Nov 4 - 17. For more information, go to the official NZIFF website HERE.  |
