Richard Roxburgh Tagged Articles at Cinematical

This week, there are a few solid DVD choices that are already floating around the Cinematicalverse. You can check out Erik's review of the Cloverfield DVD, my review of the Charlie Wilson's War disc, or Peter's indie picks, which includes the somber but enjoyable Starting Out in the Evening. However, there's one release that hasn't been discussed yet:

Romulus, My Father
When the film got its limited release in February, it came and went without a bang -- pulling in less than $3,000 (according to IMDb), even though it hit a few million in the Australian box office. But with the names and performances behind it, this film, based on Raimond Gaita's memoir, deserves another look.

Eric Bana stars as Romulus, balancing out the truly disappointing Lucky You, and proving that there's more to the actor than his less-loved one-two punch of Hulk and Troy. There's Franka Potente as his wife, Christina -- a role which allows her to be more than Bourne's fallen paramour, or an energetic, red-haired Lola. And rounding out the small family is Kodi Smit-McPhee, who plays Raimond. While he's under the radar now, that will surely change once he gets in front of mainstream audiences with The Road. (There's some solid acting chops in that kid.) But there's also actor Richard Roxburgh (The Duke in Moulin Rouge) making his directorial debut.

The Australian Film Institute Awards -- the Aussie Oscars -- have been announced, and it looks like a majority of the the big winners came from the same two films. I guess it's a pretty open race over there in a year without a new Crocodile Dundee film. But seriously folks, I kid the Australian people! I kid because I love. The big acting winners were Eric Bana (Hulk, Troy, Munich) and Joan Chen (Twin Peaks, Lust, Caution). Bana won for his role in Richard Roxburgh's Romulus, My Father -- which was also named Best Picture of the Year. Romulus co-stars Run Lola Run's Franka Potente and tells the story of "a post World War Two migrant family dealing with isolation in Australia and a mother struggling with mental illness." Oooo, sounds like a fun one! You can read Monika's not-too-impressed review of Romulus here.

Chen won Best Actress for The Home Song Stories, in which she plays "a glamorous Shanghai nightclub singer who struggles to survive in 1970s Australia with her two young children." Sheesh! I guess the depressing films get the same praise Down Under that they do here in the states. Get the family together, pop some popcorn, and have a little double feature with these two good timey Saturday night flicks! The Home Song Stories also won awards for: Best Direction (Tony Ayres), Best Screenplay (Ayres again), Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Costume Design, Best Original Music Score, and Best Production Design. How exactly did it miss Best Picture?

The big screen is about to get a taste of (more) war and dysfunction:

• In the wake of guns, redaction, and other war films, we're about to get a taste of some military scrubs. The Hollywood Reporter has announced that Oscar winner Terry Sanders' latest documentary, Fighting for Life, has been picked up by Truly Indie for a US theatrical release. The doc focuses on three interweaving stories -- the doctors/nurses/medics who work in Iraq, wounded fighters, and USU med students aiming to become military doctors. Sanders has been at this for eons -- he won his first Oscar in 1955 for the short A Time Out of War. If experience is any indication, this should be a notable film to check out. Truly Indie will get the documentary in theaters this March.
• During TIFF, I got to see and review Richard Roxburgh's feature directorial debut, Romulus, My Father -- a slow, albeit decent family drama. The film is based on the memoir by writer Raimond Gaita, and covers his young life as his dedicated father (Eric Bana) struggles to be a good father to him while his mother (Franka Potente) does all she can to flee from the responsibility of motherly duty. Now Variety reports that Magnolia Pictures has nabbed distribution rights to the Australian drama. Prexy Eamonn Bowles says: "Eric Bana is a great actor, and this was a great performance from him; I think people will respond to it very strongly." While the film will hit the big screen at some point, it seems, Magnolia is planning to first release it to lucky HDNet Ultra VOD subscribers first.

Like any fun but exhausting activity, you're anxious for it to be over, but then you miss it when it is. In what seemed like a blink of the eye, TIFF 2007 has wrapped. Eastern Promises nabbed the People's Choice prize, and the wonderful My Winnipeg grabbed top Canadian honors. (Rejoice!) But there was still lots of fun, great films, and some fest craziness that came before the awards were handed out.

My favorite story from TIFF came from a friend who had gone to see Starting Out in the Evening. She loved the film, and said that the end had made her teary-eyed. Impressed with Frank Langella's performance, she walked up to him as she was leaving the theater and told him so. "Are you crying?" he asked, and then wiped her tears away. That Frank is a slick, slick man.

On Wednesday, The Last Lear Q&A with Rituparno Ghosh was cut short when someone pulled the fire alarm. As is usually the case when the bell starts ringing, everyone ignored it and we continued the discussion. (How often do people actually pay attention to those things from the get-go?) Then, mid-sentence, Ghosh was cut short and we were told to exit the theater immediately, because it wasn't a drill as they initially assumed. Whoops. At least it didn't happen during the film. Pisay, on the other hand, had a few technical problems -- thankfully, it was a digital screening, so we didn't end up missing anything.

Simple and understated, Romulus, My Father begins with Romulus Gaita (Eric Bana) and his son, Raimond (Kodi Smit-McPhee). A light bulb sways in the black of night, and the father attempts to teach his son about life. He is holding a handful of still and lifeless wasps. As the warmth of the light passes over them, they stir, and he brings the insects back to life in front of the amazed eyes of Raimond. The lesson is simple: with warmth, life will thrive. It is an ideal that the elder Gaita models his life upon, and while it continues to fail him in his own life, he is fueled by Raimond taking the lesson to heart.

Coming from Raimond Gaita's noted memoir, Romulus, My Father follows the writer's young life in 1960's Australia. His family has emigrated from Eastern Europe, and now find their life divided. Father and son live alone in the country, receiving only sporadic visits from unreliable wife and mother Christina (Franka Potente). Romulus allows this because he loves Christina, and believes that she needs him. Raimond is an ideal kid, one who remains optimistic and loving in the shadow of his mother's absence. It is, however, an optimism that is continually challenged as his father is beaten by the hardships that life hurls at him time and time again.

Hurray for U.S. distribution! Those ever-elusive Weinstein boys have acquired the U.S. rights to Like Minds, the Aussie/British thriller produced for roughly $8 million. Pic, which will make its worldwide debut at the Melbourne International Film Festival, stars Toni Colette as a forensic psychologist who is assigned by cops to determine whether there is enough evidence to charge a 17-year-old in the shotgun death of his schoolmate. Written and directed by Gregory Read, the film also stars Richard Roxburgh and newcomer Tom Sturridge. No word yet on when Like Minds will head our way.

In related news, Zietgist Films have snatched up all U.S. rights to Iklimler (The Climate). The Turkish-French production, which took home the Fipresci Award at this year's Cannes Festival, is a deep relationship drama that revolves around a husband and wife (played by real-life spouses Nuri Bilge Ceylan and Ebru Ceylan) and their deteriorating marriage. Written and directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan, pic was shot entirely on HD video with plans to debut it here in the States sometime this fall.