Movies

Sydney Morning Herald

Monday November 10, 2008

Doug Anderson

The Moustache

(2005) SBS, 1pm

Marc shaves off his moustache but Agnes seems not to notice. Nor do his friends and work associates. Are they in cahoots to take the mickey or does changing his physical identity constitute some deeper emotional reduction? Has Marc lost the plot or could Agnes and her ex be conspiring to ringbark his mental stability? He scarpers to Hong Kong for a protracted game of Kowloon ferry pinball before drifting away to mainland China where he regrows the mo (just in time for Movember). Then Agnes appears and everything seems OK. Psychological questions propel an existential film that collapses, with a certain amount of flair and appeal, into confusion. But I liked it. I accept chaos even when it doesn't accept me.

The Magician

(2005) SBS, 10.30pm

An ultra-low budget drama about a Melbourne guy who is - or thinks he is - a hitman. A friend is assigned the task of compiling a doco about Ray Shoesmith and follows him about with a digicam, documenting the days of his life. What is amazing about this piece is it was made in just 10 days on a shoestring budget (somewhere less than $10,000) by Scott Ryan, who wrote, directed and plays the lead. It's good-natured stuff, surprisingly coherent and edgy, with dialogue that is sharp and funny. Whatever it is - and isn't - this film resonates with urgency and a face-slapping veracity that makes a mockery of others with a hundred times its budget and all the resources in the cake shop. Like the Dogme films, it has an unadorned realism that is fresh and honest. Not the best film you'll ever see but one well worth a look.

The Last Days Of Pompeii

(1935) ABC1, 1.35am (Thu)

This is the old school of bosom-heaving from RKO with special effects and some not-so-special acting from the legendary Basil Rathbone, Alan Hale and Preston Foster doing their best to escape deadly torrents of lava vomited by Mount Vesuvius. Foster features as stoic blacksmith Marcus, whose wife and son have been run down by a silvertail's chariot. Swing low! The grieving Marcus becomes a gladiator, mowing down his opponents like Russell Crowe. But he mellows one day after leaving the arena and encountering Flavius, the son of a man he has just dispatched. He adopts the child and pledges to help him achieve his potential. A fortune-teller puts him in touch with Pontius Pilate (Rathbone in overdrive), who suggests a get-rich-quick scheme that results in Flavius being badly hurt. Marcus consults a bloke named Jesus who cures him but he subsequently refuses to intervene when Jesus is carted off for crucifixion, making fatal redemption inevitable. Marcus becomes filthy rich in a gladiatorial consultancy and Flavius falls in love with Clodia, a Christian slave fetchingly played by Dorothy Wilson. Vesuvius goes off and Marcus realises he must save his adopted son and Clodia from the lethal flow of lava. Go the Christians!

© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald

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