Launceston Film Society

PG

Answering an ad for a summer job, quiet 17 year-old Ben Marshall meets aging Dame Evie Walton who’s looking for help about the house. But when she takes him out for a picnic, and then reveals she wants him to drive her to Edinburgh for a speaking tour, Ben is just itching to make some noise.

The pair, who clearly have a lot of history together, work brilliantly side-by-side, Grint’s shy reserve playing hilariously against Walters who’s in fine form as the foul-mouthed aging Dame. Walters relishes the eccentricities of the part, as she always does, and revels in pushing the boundaries of taste without ever alienating her audience. Indeed, Walters may be one of the only actors in the world capable of making an audience fall in love with someone who’s just the other side of sensible.

One of the finest British films of the year, Driving Lessons is a powerful calling card for Grint, who’s just turned 18. Of course, to give the actors all the credit would be to do a disservice to Jeremy Brock, who directs his script for the first time after sticking to the writing on films like Mrs. Brown and Charlotte Gray. There’s a distinct taste of the Richard Curtis school of British filmmaking at play in Driving Lessons, but Brock sides with serious drama over the syrupy variety and that choice goes a long way to making the film what it is; there’s a real substance to the film that’s brilliantly affecting.

Origin: United Kingdom 2006

Director/s: Jeremy Brock

Cast: Rupert Grint, Julie Walters, Laura Linney, Tamsin Egerton, Michelle Duncan

Running Time: 98 minutes

Source/s: Joe Utichi/Rotten Tomatoes

Compiled by: Mark Horner

MA 15+ (Strong themes)

Director Tom Tykwer takes Patrick Süskind’s best selling novel about a tortured soul’s search for the magical elixir of happiness, and allows us to get under his skin. In 18th-century France, Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is alone in the world.

A peculiar child who rarely speaks, Grenouille is alienated from others but blessed with a remarkable gift. His sense of smell is so refined, so attuned to every blade of grass and blossoming flower, that it’s tragic when he’s sold into servitude to a tannery at the age of 13 and surrounded by the foul odours that accompany his work. But there comes a day when Grenouille does an errand in town and discovers the object that will transform his life: perfume.

After an apprenticeship with a once-renowned perfumer Grenouille sets out to find a perfect perfume. When he discovers the most intoxicating scent he has ever experienced–the natural fragrance of a beautiful young girl–he learns that the only method to preserve her innocence and fresh beauty will require murder. Plaguing the countryside with a series of gruesome killings, Grenouille must stay one step ahead of the authorities until he captures the final ingredient for his greatest perfume–the essence of a beautiful redheaded girl whose wealthy father earnestly protects her. Only then, he believes, will he earn the attention and adulation that his extraordinary talent deserves.

The marvellous production design offers sharp contrasts between the grime of 18th Century Paris and the breathtaking beauty of Grasse’s lavender fields in bloom. Rachel Hurd-Wood is the best thing in the film, closely followed by Alan Rickman as her dad.

Origin: Germany 2006

Director/s: Tom Tykwer

Cast: Ben Winshaw, Dustin Hoffman, Rachel Hurd-Wood, Alan Rickman

Running Time: 141 minutes

Source/s: Hollywood.com
Compiled by: Jack Morton

MA 15+ (Infrequent strong coarse language)

Taking a controversial subject for many Australians, co-writer and director Michael James Rowland adopts a different, yet engaging approach to the story of refugees arriving illegally in Australia.

The journey starts on a remote West Australian beach when an Indonesian fishing boat unloads a group of Cambodian and Iraqi men. After walking over dunes towards a promised, yet non-existent bus to take them to Perth, many of the men are quickly recovered. However, three are overlooked in the round-up and these unlikely travelling companions are left to their own devices. Not so far behind and yet in no real hurry is the Australian Reservist Army.

Inspired by several true stories the film attempts to capture in a very human way the stresses and tension of different ethnic groups struggling to survive together in a foreign environment after being compelled to seek a better life elsewhere.

This film won the Audience Award at the Sydney Film Festival and was the Australian film that opened the Adelaide Film Festival.

Origin: Australia 2007

Director/s: Michael James Rowland

Cast: Kenneth Moraleda, Sri Sacdpraseuth, Rodney Afif, Glen Shea

Running Time: 101 minutes

Source/s: IMDB, Margaret Pomeranz, luckymiles.com.au

Compiled by: William H. Doudle