20 Feet From Stardom (M)
Directed by Morgan Neville
This is the untold story of the singers who provide that voices in the background to the songs that create musical legends. Millions know their voices because they usually sing the choruses, but few know their names. This documentary finds out about the gifted singers who are always in the shadow of the superstars of popular music. Sheryl Crow was a back-up singer, as was the latest winner of Australia’s Got Talent. Back-up singers don’t always want to be in the spotlight, but sometimes they find people get credit for their voices by lip-syncing. Interviews with Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, David Bowie and Mick Jagger shed light on the relationship between the stars and those who help them sound good. This fascinating exploration is full of soul, heartache and celebration and is part of the Lotterywest Festival Film. It screens at Somerville 9-15 December and Joondalup Pines 17-22 December.
Night Train to Lisbon (M)
Directed by Bille August
Jeremy Irons returns to form as a constipated Swiss professor Raimund Gregorius whose wife has left him because he is boring. After preventing a young woman from jumping off a Berne bridge, he finds a book in the pocket of the red coat she abandoned. Written by Amadeu de Prado, the book compels Raimund to abandon his dull life and, still holding the coat, to take the night train to Lisbon. With the help of optician Mariana (Martina Gedeck), he hunts for memories of political and emotional intrigue during a dark period of Portugal’s history … while searching for meaning to his own life. Based on the novel by Pascal Mercier, the film is crammed with meandering philosophies like only being able to truly find yourself when you are lost. Apart from the scenery, it is interesting to reflect on how prosaic our lives are in comparison to those who lived through past upheavals.
The Railway Man (MA)
Directed by Jonathan Teplitzky
Scruffy war veteran Eric Lomax (Colin Firth) is an obsessive railway enthusiast. When he meets Patti (Nicole Kidman) on one of his train journeys, he scrubs himself up and they marry. It is only after the wedding that Patti discovers the rages and nightmares that cripple Eric from his time as a prisoner of war. Directed by Australian Jonathan Teplitzky, the film is based on Eric Lomax’s actual memoirs of his time constructing the Thai/Burma railway during WW2. Filmed in Australia, Scotland and in Thailand on the Death Railway, this is an extraordinary story of how we are stronger than we think we are and how love can bring us back from the darkest of places. Unfortunately Eric Lomax died while the film was being edited, but “he was able to shake off the dark shadows that hunted him and to die with heart full on friendship and cake, love and steam trains.”
The Spectacular Now (M)
Directed by James Ponsoldt
Sutter Keely (Miles Teller) is an egotistical adolescent male in his last year at high school, charming everyone, enjoying life and letting the future take care of itself. When he starts an unlikely romance with the class wallflower Aimee Fineky (Shailene Woodley), he slowly begins to see his life differently. Based on Tim Tharp’s coming of age novel, this unsentimental tale shows many of the bumps along the way to adulthood. The likeable Sutter seems under the influence of alcohol most of the time, has a rocky relationship with his single mum and might just be using the naïve Aimee to make his ex-girlfriend jealous. Receiving acting awards at Sundance Film Festival this year, Teller and Woodley carry the film brilliantly.
Lezly Herbert
