Camino by Birgitte Stærmose, a remake of The Way by Emilio Estevez?

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Camino by Birgitte Stærmose, a remake of The Way by Emilio Estevez?

18 July 2023

Camino, a film by Birgitte Stærmose, film still

Still from Camino, directed by Birgitte Stærmose.

When I first saw the trailer for Camino, the latest feature by Danish filmmaker Birgitte Stærmose, I couldn’t help but see parallels with The Way, trailer, a film made in 2010, by American actor and director Emilio Estevez. At first, some of the similarities made me wonder whether Camino was a remake of The Way, which I saw in 2012, but likely that was my imagination running away with me.

Certainly though, both stories feature a number of commonalities.

The first, and indeed most obvious, is their shared setting, the Camino de Santiago, or Camino, which is sometimes referred to as the Way of St James. The Camino is a network of pilgrimage routes spanning the north of Spain. The networks, or pathways, lead to what many believe is the tomb of Saint James, an apostle of Jesus, a preacher and religious leader, who lived in the first century of the Common Era. Some of the Camino pathways can take weeks to walk.

The family dynamics in both films are also comparable, with a father-adult child estrangement being a central plot point. In the case of Camino, this is discord between a woman, Regitze (Danica Curcic), and her father, Jan (Lars Brygmann). Both stories feature a death in the family, and a subsequent obligation to walk the Camino, or at least part of it.

The protagonists in both movies frequently encounter other Camino walkers, who often seem to be possessed of strong, or colourful personalities. And finally, both stories are comedies, infused with elements of drama and tragedy. But despite these similarities, Camino is not a remake of The Way.

For those who want to see for themselves though, Camino premieres in Australia as part of the 2023 Scandinavian Film Festival, with the first screening taking place in Sydney on Sunday 31 July 2023.

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Birgitte Stærmose, Emilio Estevez, film

Films that influenced Barbie, the movie by Greta Gerwig

17 July 2023

American filmmaker Greta Gerwig shares thirty-three films influencing her new feature, Barbie, and a varied collection it is. Titles include Saturday Night Fever, Playtime, The Truman Show, The Philadelphia Story, Heaven Can Wait, Gold Diggers of 1935, and (of course) 2001: A Space Odyssey.

There’s quite a few films here that I haven’t seen. It seems to me if you’re looking for some film watching inspiration, Gerwig’s list makes for a great starting point.

The fiery brilliance of Oppenheimer was achieved with no CGI

11 July 2023

Oppenheimer, American filmmaker Christopher Nolan’s bio-pic about J. Robert Oppenheimer, the American scientist often referred to as the “father of the atomic bomb”, opens in Australian cinemas on Thursday 20 July 2023.

This is a film that stands to be remarkable for many reasons, but few people would have ventured to say that would be on account of computer-generated imagery (CGI), or, as the case may be, lack thereof. But according to Ryan O’Rourke, writing for Collider, Nolan has said Oppenheimer contains no CGI whatsoever.

Take a look at all fiery explosions we see in the trailer. Is the absence of CGI incredible, or what?

WHAM! The story of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley, by Chris Smith

8 July 2023

There’s an old saying in the place where I reside: if you remember Wham! you were in the eighties.

Wham! as in the out of control mega-successful British pop duo of the late George Michael, and Andrew Ridgeley. A new documentary of the same name, directed by American filmmaker Chris Smith, and produced by Netflix, recounts Michael and Ridgeley’s days in Wham! through archival interviews and footage, and previously unheard audio interviews. See the trailer here.

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Chris Smith, documentary, film, history

Barbie film banned in Vietnam over Nine-dash line map scene

7 July 2023

American actor and filmmaker Greta Gerwig’s new film Barbie, has been banned by Vietnam’s Department of Cinema, on account of a scene depicting a map of the South China Sea. The map in question features the “nine-dash line“, which represents a territorial claim over the waters by China, a claim Vietnam, and indeed an international court, have dismissed.

But Barbie isn’t alone in being banned in Vietnam. Pine Gap, a TV mini-series made in Australia in 2018, was likewise not broadcast for the same reason.

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The Bechdel test, a joke but cool, says Alison Bechdel

5 July 2023

Devised in 1985 by American cartoonist Alison Bechdel, though Bechdel says a friend, Liz Wallace, thought of it, the Bechdel test has become a well-known metric by which to gauge a film. To pass the Bechdel test, a movie must meet the following requirements:

Feature at least two women…*
who talk to each other…
about something other than a man

Think of the last movie you saw. Does it pass? I watched American filmmaker Kris Rey’s 2020 movie I Used to go Here the other night, which does. I last mentioned the Bechdel test when I wrote about a fanciful remake of 2001: A Space Odyssey, about eighteen months ago. While it could be argued the Stanley Kubrick made original passes the Bechdel, if only just, that didn’t appear to be the case for the “proposed” remake. At least, not based on the information available, that is.

But here’s something, in a recent interview for The Guardian with British journalist and author Hephzibah Anderson, Bechdel says the test was never meant to be a tool for assessing a film:

It was a joke. I didn’t ever intend for it to be the real gauge it has become and it’s hard to keep talking about it over and over, but it’s kind of cool.

The Bechdel test isn’t only cool though, I think it’s an essential mechanism for filmmakers to work by.

* another provision states the featured women should be named.

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Alison Bechdel, film

Leslye Headland to direct The Seven Husbands Of Evelyn Hugo film adaptation

4 July 2023

Well over a year after a screen adaptation of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s 2017 novel The Seven Husbands Of Evelyn Hugo was announced, American filmmaker and screenwriter Leslye Headland has been named as director. Reid’s work of historical fiction spent over a year on The New York Times best seller list, after becoming a TikTok sensation in 2021.

The story recounts the life and times of Hollywood Golden Age star Evelyn Hugo, who, at age 79, grants a rare interview to an unknown journalist, Monique Grant. The now reclusive Hugo promises to reveal all to Grant, much to the chagrin, and envy, of Grant’s better known contemporaries. While Grant is as surprised as anyone else at being chosen, Hugo has a reason for selecting her.

So far there is no word on who will be cast, but earlier this year fans of the novel were clamouring for Jessica Chastain to take the role of redhead Celia St. James, Hugo’s foil and friend.

Bill Murray had Asteroid City cameo appearance, sort of

3 July 2023

Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, on set of Wes Anderson's film Asteroid City

A scene from Bill Murray’s “cameo” in Wes Anderson’s film Asteroid City.

American actor Bill Murray has starred in all but two of Wes Anderson’s feature length films. Murray missed participating in Anderson’s latest, Asteroid City, after being side-lined by a Covid infection. Murray had been cast as a motel manager, but Steve Carell was brought in instead at the last minute.

But that didn’t stop the veteran actor, and Anderson stalwart, from making an appearance on the Asteroid City set, after he had recovered. In a “retro” trailer, posted by the New Yorker, Murray can be seen in a specially created role, walking through the township, where he meets Jason Schwartzman, who in this instance portrays someone called Jones.

A Room with a View, a brilliantly romantic film with Julian Sands

3 July 2023

Perfectly made, beautifully acted and pitch-perfect. Charlotte Higgins, writing for The Guardian, of A Room with a View, the 1985 Merchant Ivory film that launched the careers of British actors Helena Bonham Carter, and the late Julian Sands:

The film, in a small way, has followed me. Not unconnected with having loved the film, as a student I did travel around Italy, with a friend, and wandered around Santa Croce, and gazed at the Arno, and took a trip to the hills above Florence, though without, alas for us, romantic incident. On the morning of my 21st birthday I woke up in a house in rural Tuscany to be given, by a friend, a mixtape containing O mio babbino caro, the soaring, glorious aria from Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi that we hear as the film’s opening titles roll.

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film, Julian Sands

Vale British actor Julian Sands, star of A Room with a View

29 June 2023

Julian Sands, Helena Bonham Carter, A Room with a View film scene

Julian Sands and Helena Bonham Carter, in a still from A Room with a View.

The remains of British actor Julian Sands, who had been missing since January this year, after setting off on a hike on Mount Baldy, in California, were located earlier this week. Sands’ disappearance sparked a large search effort, which was hampered by dangerous storms in the region.

Sands was a prolific film and television actor. His credits include The Killing Fields, The Phantom of the Opera, Ocean’s Thirteen, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, to name a few. His breakthrough role however is considered to be that of George Emerson, in the 1985 film adaptation of late British author E. M. Forster’s 1908 novel, A Room with a View.

Made close to forty years ago now, the romance drama, set in Italy and England, was the intersection of an amazing array of acting and production talent. Acclaimed producers James Ivory and the late Ismail Merchant, who collaborated under the banner of Merchant Ivory, produced and directed. Late German novelist Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, wrote the screenplay.

As George Emerson, Sands played a love interest of protagonist Lucy Honeychurch, portrayed by compatriot actor Helena Bonham Carter, which was likewise seen as her breakout role. George was pitched against another of Lucy’s suitors, Cecil Vyse, played by Daniel Day-Lewis, in what was also one of his earlier film performances.

Veteran British actor Maggie Smith portrayed Charlotte Bartlett, Lucy’s older cousin, and chaperon during their trip to Italy. Smith and Bonham Carter would later work together in some of the Harry Potter films. Judy Dench featured in a supporting role as a novelist called Eleanor Lavish.

Denholm Elliott as George’s father, Rupert Graves as Lucy’s brother Freddy, and Simon Callow, as a vicar, Mr Beebe, also featured. New Zealand opera singer Kiri Te Kanawa sang O mio babbino caro, an aria from Italian composer Giacomo Puccini’s 1917 comic opera Gianni Schicchi, on the soundtrack.

While Sands appeared to not be nominated for any awards for his performance in A Room with a View, the film won in three categories in the 1987 Oscars, and four in the British Academy Film Awards in the same year. For anyone wishing to learn more about Sands’ work and career though, A Room with a View, is an essential, and excellent, starting point.

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