M/C Reviews

Literative: What Lies Beneath � Mistik Lake by Martha Brooks

Reviewed by Kimberley Allsopp

In 1875, a massive immigration of families moved from Iceland to Canada. Today, the descendants who acted as pioneers for others in Iceland make up "the largest concentrated number living anywhere outside the tiny north Atlantic island from whence they came" (181). Martha Brooks is one of the sixty thousand offshoots who still remain connected to the province. This connection is remarked upon in her author's note and acknowledgments in that maternal grandparents (who immigrated as teenagers) were very much in her mind during the writing of Mistik Lake. Brooks's awareness of her family tree pulses through the novel's prose, giving it a fittingly sweet tenderness.

Cinema: 21 Deals a Winning Hand

Reviewed by John Catania

Bio-pics intend to represent real life. The phrase �inspired by a true story� is often a euphemism, suggesting the film bears little relation to truth. But in two hours it is not possible to provide all the details. In film, telling the story with integrity and honouring the spirit of the person and their life, is paramount. In Hollywood, truth is determined by formula and box office.

Film Studies: Theology and Film

Reviewed by Nick Heydon

The cover of Christopher Deacy and Gaye Williams Ortiz's book Theology and Film: Challenging the Sacred/Secular Divide features a photo of James Caviezel's Jesus Christ being directed by Mel Gibson on the set of The Passion of the Christ. That photo foreshadows the major argument of the authors in this book: there is indeed a relationship between theology and film that needs to be acknowledged and discussed.

Young Adult Fiction: She�s with the Band by Georgia Clark

Reviewed by Luise Toma

You know Girlfriend Magazine? They�ve come up with a rather honourable idea: to give teenage girls a series of books they can relate to ,and have a good time with. They�ve come up with a catchy slogan, too. Girlfriend Fiction: real life, real emotions, great stories. Apart from being extraordinary catchy, this also sets the bar fairly high before you�ve even opened the pretty paperbacks.

DVD: The Human Tornado

Reviewed by Michael Dalton

For fans of blaxploitation flicks of the 1970s, you cannot, I repeat, cannot go past Rudy Ray Moore in The Human Tornado. This is a hard movie to classify because there are moments in this raunchy, sex-drenched adventure that will leave you scratching your head in disbelief, editing that will make you wonder if the disc jumped, and scenes of such sheer, delirious, unadulterated camp, you�ll wonder if someone spiked your coffee. You�ll wonder alright, but as you do so, you�ll be laughing in outraged delight, for The Human Tornado has got to be one of the greatest comedies ever put on film.

DVD: A Lovely Way to Die

Reviewed by Michael Dalton

The tagline for A Lovely Way to Die reads �A bodyguard too involved with the body he was guarding�. Enticing enough, but this psychedelic crime adventure from 1968 starring Kirk Douglas and the always superb Eli Wallach seems more an example of crazed, lusty filmmaking. Yes, it rollicks along, and there�s a surprise around every corner, but A Lovely Way to Die comes off more like a vehicle for its star to prove once again what a player he was when it came to essaying a hard-ass.

Theatre: Jane Eyre

A production with bold ideas that occasionally falters in the execution.

Reviewed by Mari Webb

Charlotte Bront�'s Jane Eyre remains a difficult story to bring effectively to screen or stage because of its intense focus on the psychology and inner life of the eponymous heroine. In the original novel we are introduced to Jane as a ten year old orphan, living on the charity of her relatives the Reed family. When John Reed, the son of the house, twits Jane with her lack of status and injures her by throwing a heavy book at her head, Jane defends herself for the first time. As a result, she is promptly sent away to a charity school called Lowood. We follow her fortunes there, and to Gateshead where she is eventually employed as a governess, and falls in love with the master of the house Mr. Rochester, who has a mysterious past, but is one of the few people who seems to understand what Jane thinks and feels. The rest of the story continues to trace Jane's struggle to find a place in her world on her own terms.

DVD: Desert Fury

Reviewed by Michael Dalton

For the most part, Desert Fury has all the trappings of film noir crossed with the western. There's tension here, but it's undermined by the overwhelming Technicolour (rare for the era and the material) and Lizabeth Scott's matching makeup and countless costume changes. It's a shame, because the film would have been more effective in black and white.

Theatre: Salome

Reviewed by Will Noonan

Something about seeing the head of John the Baptist on a platter has meant that I�ve never been able to take the story of Salome entirely seriously. The highly enjoyable new Salome by The Rabble at the CarriageWorks Theatre confirms this hypothesis in some unexpected ways, although there is far more at stake here than a cheap laugh. Third in the series of �In Cogito� collaborations between director Emma Valente and co-creator Mary Helen Sassman, this production is by turns cruel, poignant and side-splittingly funny, crossing shades of Wilde with modern Australiana and the Theatre of the Absurd.

DVD: Day of Wrath & Ordet by Carl Theodore Dreyer

Reviewed by Michael Dalton

In my previous reviews of the films of Carl Theodore Dreyer, Gertrud and Master of the House, I discussed the emotional investment that strengthened his narratives. In the recently-released Day of Wrath and Ordet, the emotional mood is once again ubiquitous; this time, he has flavoured them with themes of horror and the supernatural, and to masterful effect. The sense of dread hanging over Day of Wrath�a meditation on witch-hunts�is devilishly claustrophobic, and the power of religious belief allows his masterwork Ordet a celestial finale.