The Revenant Pairs Physical Brutality with Moral Simplicity

Alejandro González Iñárritu’s The Revenant sets out to chart the farthest frontiers of humanity, stranding Leonardo DiCaprio’s bearded, badly-wounded protagonist in the wintery American wilderness and closely observing his desperate quest for survival …and revenge. When The Revenant focuses on the minutiae of survival in the wild – from cauterizing one’s wounds with burning grass…

Knight of Cups (2015)

It’s easy, and not entirely inaccurate, to regard Knight of Cups as the apotheosis of “Malickian.” Terrence Malick’s latest film, centring on the idle thoughts and innumerable conquests of Christian Bale’s Hollywood A-lister (think Coppola’s Somewhere – Los Angeles as purgatory), has all the easily-parodied tropes that have come to define the director’s work. The…

BAPFF: Force of Destiny (2015)

Introducing the Queensland premiere of his latest film – from a career that stretches over more than 20 features – Paul Cox began by thanking his anonymous donor. Force of Destiny, you see, is inspired by Cox’s own experience with liver cancer and a last-minute, live-saving liver transplant, which might be why David Stratton described it…

Revisiting Upstream Color

Revisiting Upstream Color (2013)

My review of Shane Carruth’s enigmatic Upstream Color ended with a statement that it was a film “I’m eager to revisit.” Six months later, the film’s strengths and weaknesses became more apparent. One such weakness: I remain unconvinced by Carruth’s acting. He’s an impressive director, producer, sound engineer etc … but an average actor. I…

Days of Heaven (1978)

Days of Heaven is an immense, impressive picture. Only Terrence Malick’s second full-length, the plot would seem to lend itself to the easy naturalism of his debut, Badlands. A young woman named Abby (Brooke Adams), her boyfriend Bill (Richard Gere) and his sister Linda (Linda Manz) travel to a Texan farm to work on the…