Allied: thrills and dangers of life and love

This is a wonderful escapist World War II romantic thriller, produced by Robert Zemeckis. The film opens in Casablanca, with 2 spies played by Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard. Max, a Canadian wing fighter is introduced to Marianne Beausejour, a French resistance fighter. They are given orders to pretend they are married and there is a dramatic irony in how they behave as if they are in love. Cinematography is excellent, with gorgeous sand dunes contrasted against high class parties. The costumes take us back but in a smart and sassy way. The war is an enduring background, and the common German enemy is ever present. The romantic drama is mirrored against some tricky espionage work, a baby being born in the middle of the London Blitz and then the real twist, where it is difficult to decide who or what to believe. Perhaps it also mirrors some the real life challenges for Brad. Nevertheless, I was mesmerised and ever so thankful to be able to walk out to a normal peacetime life!

the film Sherpa packs a punch

I made it to the final screening at the Gold Coast Arts Centre, of this Australian docudrama. The film documents the lead up to and events following a massive avalanche in the Khumbu icefall in April 2014. Australian climber and film-maker Jen Peedom was filming in the region, when thirteen of the dead were Sherpas. This natural disaster released an explosion of unresolved tension built up by years of inequality by western commercial climbing companies. From the outset, sherpas were crucial in the success of western summiteers. Edmund Hillary could not have summited without Tenzin Norgay. Yet Tenzin was never given the same respect as Edmund and this pattern has been repeated over the years. The absolute difference in journeys through the extremely dangerous Khumbu icefall says it all; western clients do it twice while the sherpas may cross between 20-30 times a season. It seems that foreigners can pay out the risk so they have the luxuries they need for their climb. Further, the Nepalese government is taking up to 30% of the profits without delivering pensions or support for the sherpa families. The sherpas realised their power and closed the everest climbing season.

Sydney's 20th art biennale intrigues...

The overall theme says it all... The future is already here - its just not evenly distributed. Then, each site is designated as an embassy with a particular thematic focus. So a section of the Museum of Contemporary Art becomes the Embassy of Translation - and it is here that there are some of the few references to indigenous Australia. I most enjoyed Cockatoo Island, a former convict settlement and shipyard that is being reused for performance and dramatic art. It was designated as Embassy of the Real and there were many unique pieces of 2 and 3 dimensional art displayed within an evocative setting and with amazing views across the harbour to the CBD at key points. For me, the reality was more about using space, history and location to share a message. I was also impressed by the cavernous Carriageworks complex in suburban Redfern; an old train maintenance workshop revived also for drama and art. I was not very convinced by it as an Embassy of Disappearance, because many of the piece were either disjointed or intensely personal and detailed. The Art Gallery of NSW established a dedicated Embassy of Spirits, which while engaging did not inspire or connect with me. The final venue I visited was Artspace in Woolloomooloo, an large open warehouse, transformed as the Embassy of Non-participation. Maybe I tried to see too many places in one long weekend, but there was a recurring theme; many pieces were intricately planned, often influenced by asian cultures and required a lot of time and assistance for engagement. Maybe that is more of a reflection of where Australian art is heading...

Grayson Perry's pretty little art career in Sydney

I have struggled to recognise Grayson Perry as an important British artist and art commentator. I have perceived his attempts to shock as somewhat ironic given his traditional use of the more conservative forms of pottery. More recently, I have been slowly and steadily rethinking my perceptions of this artist. The recent comprehensive exhibition of his work from the early 80's to the present at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney certainly helped. I like the way exhibitions of contemporary artists often include informative and explanatory videos of and by the artists.

On this occasion, I enjoyed seeing the repetitive and highly skilled craftsmanship of creating and illustrating the giant pots that Grayson has made a hallmark of his career. I realise that he has actually worked to individually create each pot as his 3d canvas for his creative messages, which are themselves composed of multiple scenes and images. Often the connection is evident, but there are times when it eluded me - and then I could admire the detailed drawing or collage. I also enjoyed his 2d drawings, especially his copies of mandalas, mind maps and large story boards. Hidden throughout the exhibition were a rage of small and large sculptures which were also intriguing. I really was totally impressed by his full wall tapestries - even though he has them mechanically made, which is yet another ironic twist! But overall, I can see a man who intellectually knows and respects traditions, to a point, and then he bombards us with words, images and connections which challenge the way we view his images. So his rebel message is often more intellectually crafted than is first apparent. However, it is very English and in that way, is somewhat globally naive. I think the more I see his work and understand his preoccupations with sexual and class identity the better I can read each piece.

entranced with a Midsummer Night's Dream

Sometimes Shakespeare is best without words. The basics of his stories are universal. I experienced the twisted and oft times humorous course of love through all my senses at the recent co-production between Queensland and Royal New Zealand Ballets and the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. Mendelssohn's stirring music, together with gothic stage set the scene for a true midnight adventure. The magical woods created safe havens for the fairies, avid adventurers, Puck and Bottom, amidst magic potions, mistaken identities, and lovers trysts. These otherworldly creatures used only their faces and bodies, amplified by the music, and enlivened by wonderful costumes, to express this classic story of love and jealousy.

thankfully, I am (NOT) Pilgrim

There was a strong desire in our new bookclub for a thriller, and somehow we ended up reading the 700 page epic by Terry Hayes. It is an impressive debut novel by a former journalist and screenwriter of Mad Max and other movies. So I learnt from the inside cover that Pilgrim is the codename for a man who does not exist and then I spent the first 200 pages uncertain whether the writer or his key protagonist was Pilgrim. Then I realised that after Pilgrim retired in his 30's from high level US intelligence work, he wrote the definitive book about forensic pathology. And the journey of the book was to uncover the person and the motive for the perfect untraceable murder! Pilgrim must come back to solve the crime he unknowingly guided. I was confronted by an underworld of murder and deception that spanned the globe. The level of detail about changing identities was rather shocking. As were the links between a public be-heading in Mecca, a heroic act during the Twin Towers strike and a billionaire's accidental fall from a Turkish coastal mansion. It was difficult to put the book down, despite it requiring high levels of concentration, perhaps I will still retrieve hidden links as I reflect on it further. It will definitely make an interesting set of movies.

Confronted by the Lady in the Van

This film shares a kind of true story between the English playwright Alan Bennett and the single Miss Shepherd, a woman of uncertain origins who 'temporarily' parked her van in Bennett's Camden driveway for 15 years. It is both touching and confronting. Alan Bennet, played by Alex Jennings, is an introverted writer who seems to be waiting for his life to start. He feels responsible for his aging mother, and while he cannot live with and care for her, he seems to assuage his guilt by looking out for Miss Shepherd, played brilliantly by Maggie Smith. Alan is played by dual personas, the writer who sits and watches life and the one who lives the life to be written about. Ironically, this does not seem to work, because both seem afraid of really living. They are at odds with their colourful neighbourhood of superficial left-wing do-gooders, who prefer to give Miss Shepherd things they don't want, to keep her away. They really do care for her, but are still not at liberty to really live the life they want to.... On the other hand, we do learn a little about the rather twisted life of the eccentric Miss Shepherd, who in contrast, it transpires, is running away from her life. She had been a gifted pianist, was a nun and had been incarcerated in a mental institution. There was always some doubt as to what was causal, and as expected, the catholic church did not come out blameless...