ELVIS : Tuesday 28th June 2022.

I saw the M Rated 'ELVIS' at my local multiplex this week, and this Australian and US Co-Produced biographical musical drama film is Co-Written for the screen, based on a story, Directed and Co-Produced by Baz Luhrmann whose previous film making credits take in his debut 'Strictly Ballroom' in 1992, 'Romeo + Juliet' in 1996, 'Moulin Rouge!' in 2001, 'Australia' in 2008 and 'The Great Gatsby' in 2013. The film had its World Premier screening at the Cannes Film Festival on 25th May where it received a twelve minute standing ovation. Released in Australia and worldwide last week, it was originally scheduled to be released in early October 2021, before being delayed to early November 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and then later to last week. It cost US$85M to produce, has so far grossed US$52M from its opening weekend and a further US$13M since for a worldwide total so far of US$65M, and has garnered generally positive critical acclaim.

The film opens up in 1997 with Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks) on his death bed recalling his memories of how he first discovered Elvis Presley (Austin Butler) and how he led him on the path to worldwide superstardom as his manager, mentor, guardian and custodian. The film then takes us back to the late 1940's and a young Elvis (Chaydon Jay) had a largely poverty driven upbringing in Tupelo, Mississippi with his parents Vernon (Richard Roxburgh), who had served jail time, and Gladys (Helen Thomson). Elvis finds his personal means of escape and his own lifeline in music, and in particular gospel music, which he falls under the spell off as a young boy. In his late teens he is often ridiculed by his peer group because of his strong leaning towards African American music to be heard bellowing out from the clubs and bars on Memphis' Beale Street where the likes of B.B. King (Kelvin Harrison Jnr.) and Little Richard (Alton Mason) hang out at 'Club Handy'.

Parker grew up around the carnivals and travelling fair's turning a dollar on the gullibility on his audience night after night. He is also managing Hank Snow (David Wenham) and his son Jimmie Snow (Kodi Smit-McPhee) but as soon as Parker hears Elvis belting out his debut song on the radio he becomes determined to track the singer down and manage his affairs from here on in. Parker eventually meets and persuades Elvis to let him take control of his career by having Vernon and Gladys sign a contract with Vernon appointed as Elvis' Business Manager which begins a meteoric ascent. 

However, not all of the public is impressed with the young entertainer, labelling him 'Elvis the Pelvis' because of his trademark hips and legs wiggle. Many parents fear that his music is corrupting their children, especially the young and impressionable daughters, and racist politicians also attack him. He is asked to downplay the wiggle and stand up straight, not gyrate his hips, and wear a suit with tails onstage, which he does once under the guise of 'The New Elvis', but his fans rebel against this demanding they want 'The Old Elvis' back. After a violent incident at a stadium concert, Elvis finds himself facing a possible jail term because he gave the fans what they wanted to hear and see. However, it is suggested that Parker persuades the government to draft Elvis into the US Army in 1958 as a way of avoiding any further legal proceedings. During his time in the Army on a posting to Germany, Elvis learns that Gladys has died of alcoholism. He is distraught by the news and almost inconsolable. Parker comforts Elvis and Vernon in their hour of need and says to Elvis that while he is overseas seeing out his Army service that he will take care of all of his affairs and need not worry about a thing. 

While stationed in Germany, Elvis meets Priscilla Beaulieu (Olivia DeJonge), and upon his discharge, he resumes his career-making concert tours and Hollywood feature films while Parker's control of his life takes on an even stronger grip. Elvis is devastated by the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968 and Robert Kennedy also in 1968, and wishes to become more politically outspoken in his music while Parker merely wants him to sing family friendly frivolous songs that will be No.1 best sellers. He hires Jerry Schilling (Luke Bracey) and Steve Binder (Dacre Montgomery) to resurrect his ailing career (which they described as being 'in the toilet'), much to Parker's disliking. Schilling and Binder orchestrate Elvis' 1968 Comeback Tour which has massive television success and reestablishes the singer right back to his former glory years. 

The International Hotel is set to open on the Las Vegas strip, and while Elvis has plans to tour Europe Parker has other ideas. He downplays touring Europe based on the cost involved that would heavily eat into any profits made and the security risks associated with travelling to foreign lands. Instead, Parker suggests that The International Hotel would offer Elvis a six week residency at no cost, because they need a big name act to help establish the new hotel as a gaming and entertainment destination, and quickly. Afterwards, Parker says, he can tour overseas. But afterwards never comes, as Parker who is now heavily in debt to a casino for his gambling addiction, secretly and without any consultation with Elvis commits the singer to a residency term of five years in exchange for US$5M for Elvis, plus an unlimited line of credit and the waiving of all debts owed by Parker. 

Elvis puts his all into his sell out stage shows at The International Hotel, but eventually grows tired of Parker and attempts to fire him, only to be sued by the latter for more than US$8M for expenses incurred since day one of their relationship. Elvis chides Vernon as his Business Manager saying that he was supposed to oversee all of his finances, but Vernon only responds with the fact that he will have to sell Graceland and that sum will leave him broke and destitute. A vicious argument ensues between Elvis and Parker as he is about to leave for the airport and embark on a European Tour, but afterwards Elvis has to concede that he has no choice but to maintain his management from Parker, and instead embark on a fifteen city tour of the US instead. Ultimately, they grow apart and rarely see each other afterwards.

Following this, Elvis's life spirals on a seemingly ever downward trajectory as Priscilla takes their daughter Lisa Marie and leaves him over his prescription drug addiction, which grows even stronger after she is gone. They divorce in 1973. Later, as Elvis is about to board his private plane and bidding farewell to Lisa Marie at the airport, Priscilla jumps in the back of the limo and the pair share a private and tender moment. Elvis says to his former wife that he is approaching his fortieth birthday and that no one will remember him when he is gone. As the pair part company and Elvis boards his plane he mouths the words 'I will always love you' to Priscilla. Elvis died from a heart attack on 16th August 1977 at the age of 42. 

The final scene is one of Elvis's last shows which depicts him as being bloated and pale looking, while singing 'Unchained Melody' at the piano, with real footage from the concert as key moments from his life are shown, with Parker passing away old and alone in 1997. The closing credits reveal that Parker's financial and contractual abuse of Elvis was the subject of litigation by the Presley Estate after Elvis' death. Parker spent his last years gambling away his money on casino slot machines, while Elvis remains the best-selling solo artist of all-time and one of the most beloved entertainers in music history.

I sat in a packed out cinema theatre half full of baby boomers who would have been around in the '60's and '70's to see the real events unfold, with the other half being millennials who would have been there for the entertainment and education factors and to see the legendary King of Rock 'n' Roll writ large on the silver screen. What was unusual was the applause this film garnered from the gathered audience when the end credits rolled, which is telling in its own right! Unlike his previous 'The Great Gatsby' which for me was all style with little substance, in 'Elvis' Luhrmann has delivered an extravagant spectacular biopic that has style and substance in equal measure and that will keep you glued to the screen for all of its 160 minute run time. Austin Butler lives and breathes EP and his performance is near perfect in terms of his looks, his singing, his gyrating, his dancing and his persona in a role that we are unlikely to find as convincing this year. As for Tom Hanks in his fat suit and prosthetic face and nose made up to resemble Col. Tom Parker in all his manipulative, controlling illegal alien personality, it was at times hard for me to see behind the Mr. Nice Guy image that Hanks more often than not portrays in his film roles. That said though, I learned a lot about EP's Manager and their 20+ year relationship that turned toxic towards the end, even though Elvis kept coming back to him time after time like a lost puppy no matter how harshly he was treated. 'Elvis' is a brash film that will keep you pondering the King's life, and all of its twists and turns, ups and downs long after the credits have rolled. It's memorable for a whole bunch of reasons and has Luhrmann's trademark glitz and glamour written all over it while attempting to explain how a little kid growing up poor in Tupelo came to become the most successful solo music artist of all time and as popular still today some 45 years after his death, as he was when he was alive. 

'ELVIS' merits four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps. 

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

DANGER CLOSE : THE BATTLE OF LONG TAN - Tuesday 13th August 2019.

'DANGER CLOSE : THE BATTLE OF LONG TAN' is an MA15+ Rated Australian Vietnam War film, which I saw earlier this week, and is Directed by Kriv Stenders whose previous film making credits include 'Red Dog', 'Kill Me Three Times', 'Red Dog : True Blue', 'Australia Day' and the made for TV movie remake of 'Wake in Fright' most recently. Made for US$35M the film charts the story of of the Battle of Long Tan on 18th August 1966 which took place in a rubber plantation near Long Tan, in South Vietnam, during the Vietnam War. The action was fought between the Viet Cong and People's Army of Viet Cong units and elements of the 1st Australian Task Force, with both sides claiming victory in the aftermath. The operation had ended by 21st August. The film has garnered mixed Reviews since its release last week. The term 'danger close' is a military term which refers to close air, artillery, mortar, and naval gunfire support and is included in the method of engagement of a call for supporting fire from a distance which indicates that friendly forces are within close proximity of the target.

As the film opens up it is mid-August 1966 with career officer Major Harry Smith (Travis Fimmel) of Delta Company, 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, on operation in Nui Dat, Phuoc Tuy Province in South Vietnam. He is distracted from writing a letter presumably to his wife and young family back home somewhere in Australia, by mortar and rocket attacks on his camp in the early hours of the morning. Smith we soon learn is an ex-Special Forces man, and is seemingly done with babysitting green, still wet behind the ears young conscripts from Australia and New Zealand most of whom are no older than twenty-one years of age.

Smith ventures into the tent of his commanding officer Brigadier David Jackson (Richard Roxburgh) seeking a transfer to the frontline and his former regiment but his request is given short shrift and instantly rejected, instead sending him out the next morning to locate enemy positions. Before he goes, Smith calls in to his tent a recently arrived and cocky private, Paul Large (Daniel Webber), and quite literally almost throttles him, for inadvertently firing off a single round from his rifle while on watch that night, and therefore running the risk of revealing their location.

Other soldiers including Sergeant Bob Buick (Luke Bracey) command more respect from Smith than the young Private, and as soon as Smith separates the company into patrolling scouting platoons, Buick finds himself under fierce enemy gunfire and in command, pinned down with a useless shot out radio. Meanwhile, the men on patrol are all mightily hacked off because they're missing out on a concert back at base camp featuring the specially flown in none other than Col Joye (Geoffrey Winter) and Little Pattie (Emmy Dougall) who all have to be flown out pretty damn quick smart when the ensuing exchange of mortar bombs and gunfire gets a little too close for comfort.

The story then goes back and forth tracing the skirmishes between four separated and isolated platoons all coming under intense gunfire from a relentless enemy while attempting to establish radio contact with each other; their HQ base where Brigadier Jackson and his subordinate officer Lieutenant Colonel Colin Townsend (Anthony Hayes) argue over whether to dispatch reinforcements which would potentially leave their HQ base exposed to attack; and a crew of artillery men overseen by Bombadier Ray Ngatai (Uli Latukefu) manning short range mortars and responding to shit scared radio operators in the field with coordinates with which to bomb the advancing enemy forces with pin point accuracy and so preventing our boys from being overwhelmed.

There's an air of disobeying orders that seems to be a recurring theme throughout the film. Tensions between Smith and Private Large come to an apex when Smith calls down an artillery bombardment on Buick's position as they face off against overwhelming Viet Cong odds, and, when the dust has settled and the platoon are all presumed dead Large shoves his commanding officer to the ground, enraged that he could give such an order. Smith, in turn, refuses an order to withdraw from Lt. Col. Townsend because it would mean leaving his men behind and as far as Smith is concerned it's one in, all in! Lt. Col. Townsend in turn refuses a direct order from Brigadier Jackson to remain at the camp and safeguard it against enemy attack, instead making a secret getaway to aid those succumbing to an ever advancing Viet Cong in the final contact. And six men make a swift getaway in two helicopters during a monsoonal downpour while risk getting shot down to deliver much needed back-up ammunition to Smith and his men, much to the chagrin of Townsend and Jackson. 

And so as the final battle of Long Tan rages over almost four hours of monsoon drenched blood and guts in a rubber plantation on 18th August as 108 largely inexperienced, Australian infantry men fight for their very existence against almost overwhelming odds, and a 1000+ strong battle hardened and relentless Viet Cong and North Vietnamese soldiers that advance in wave after wave. With their ammunition running out, their casualties mounting and the enemy amassing for a final assault, the whole thing came to an abrupt climax just as night was falling, when a fleet of armoured personnel carriers came barrelling through the woods three hours after the bloody battle had begun and ninety minutes after Smith had requested reinforcements. With their machine guns blazing, the Vietnamese fled, those that didn't perish in the rapid gunfire that is.

The next day, the men are seen clearing the Long Tan battlefield of their dead and wounded and taking a roll call of the survivors. We learn that eighteen Australian soldiers were killed during those intense four hours but casualties on the Vietnamese side ran into the many hundreds, with three taken prisoner. However, both sides claimed victory that day. Smith is told by one of his subordinates that he should head back to HQ for a debrief, but he stoically replies with no, I'm staying . . . to aid in attending to his men - the living, the wounded and the dead.

As the end credits roll, we learn that in May 1968 the members of Delta Platoon were awarded the US Presidential Unit Citation for gallantry by Lyndon B Johnson for extraordinary heroism in action against an armed enemy. South Vietnam awarded them the equivalent. The Australian military hierarchy however, took until 2016 to fully acknowledge the actions of the soldiers by honouring for the first time ten men and upgrading awards for the three previously honoured - an act of vindication lobbied for twenty years by Smith himself.

'Danger Close : The Battle of Long Tan' is probably the most significant Australian battle of the Vietnam War, known by the soldiers who were down in the mud that day clinging to their lives, by their families and loved ones, and by those others serving on the periphery, but to those back home in Australia and watching from much further afield, it has little or no significance in reality. However, don't let this fact detract you from seeing this film, which will no doubt please the veterans from that intense firefight that finally after some fifty years their story has finally been told, and with a high degree of accuracy with the real Major Harry Smith, now aged 86, consulting to the film throughout the production process. Kriv Stenders has here crafted an authentic looking film with Queensland's Gold Coast studios and hinterland towns doubling up as the Vietnamese jungle, the staged battle scenes are intense and effectively realised, and the performances are grounded and believable. This film reflects pure and simply the Australian perspective of Long Tan, and does nothing to portray the faceless yet relentless Vietnamese enemy, the reasons for being there, and the conflicts, disputes and interpretations aired subsequently by the Vietnamese as to their numbers of soldiers who fought and their subsequent body count remains a subject of some conjecture. Some of the dialogue and the emotional heft behind it is by the numbers, and exactly as to be expected from a film such as this, but nonetheless this is a movie that needed to be told and should resonate with audiences as an accurate account of a telling moment in Australian war time history. Also starring Stephen Peacocke, Matt Doran, Alexander England, Nicholas Hamilton, Aaron Glenane and Lasarus Ratuere.

'Danger Close : The Battle of Long Tan' merits three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

BREATH : Tuesday 8th May 2018.

'BREATH' which I saw earlier this week is an Australian film Directed, Co-Produced, Co-Written for the screen and stars Aussie Simon Baker, who is perhaps best known for his lead roles in TV's long running series 'The Guardian' and 'The Mentalist'. Based on multi-award winning author Tim Winton's international best selling book of the same name, the film saw its Premier at TIFF back in September last year, went on release in Australia last week, and in the US in early June. Based and filmed in and around the Western Australian coastal town of Denmark in the Great Southern Region, and the Directorial debut for Simon Baker, Tim Winton who also collaborated on the Screenplay stated that 'The Great Southern region has had an enormous impact on my life and work so I'm very pleased this film is being shot on the beaches and streets and forests that inspired the book'.

Set in the early 1970's in a remote Western Australian town, the film charts the story of two young impressionable teenage lads Bruce 'Pikelet' Pike (Samson Coulter) and Ivan 'Loonie' Loon, (Ben Spence) who by accident discover a love of surfing and of the ocean. Pikelet is the more grounded, caring, responsible and respectful young teenager of the two, who comes from a stable family unit, a supportive mother (Rachael Blake) and father (Richard Roxburgh), a good home, and attends school dutifully. His best mate Loonie on the other hand is a rebellious, devil may care, opinionated, outspoken bulletproof wild child who from time to time gets beaten up by his Dad.

When they are first introduced to the surf down at a secluded beach by a bunch of older surfer dudes, they are aghast at the motion of the water and the surfers almost 'dancing on water'. From that time they are hooked, and their first self teaching lessons are on old styrofoam boards that they carve a hole into and insert a fin which they seal with melted candle wax. Such is their enthusiasm to give it a go. They soon yearn to graduate to proper fibreglass boards, and through working odd jobs save up enough cash to purchase two well worn second hand boards from a dubious local.

And out they go, soon getting noticed for their commitment and enthusiastic approach by Sando (Simon Baker) a somewhat dishevelled surfer who makes big wave riding look like a walk in the park. Sando offers the boys a ride home in his truck and offers to let them stash their boards at his place which is just down the road to save them from lugging their cumbersome boards to and from home everyday on their bikes. Initially, they take Sando for just another local hippie surfer type living in a ramshackle beach hut tucked away in a clearing in the forest.

At Sando's place they are also introduced to Eva (Elizabeth Debicki) - Sando's partner. Initially she is moody, unwelcoming and distant, saying that she is from Utah while limping back up the stairs. Sando meanwhile, takes the two young lads under this wing as a mentor, picking them up and dropping them off at their homes for surfing trips to a different spot when conditions permit, teaching them about different surf breaks, the ocean currents, wave conditions, surfing techniques and the philosophy. He even gifts the boys a wetsuit each.

One day when returning to collect their boards at Sando's place, Eva placed a box containing old surfing magazines with Sando on the front cover of numerous publications. They come to realise that Sando was a former international surf champion, a fact that he is keen to gloss over. At the same time, Sando reveals that Eva was a former down hill ski champion, who suffered a very bad knee injury which put an end to her skiing career, for which she is still undergoing surgical treatment. This explains her frosty temperament.

As the year progresses, Pikelet continues to attend school responsibly but is often distracted by thoughts of his new found love of surfing, and the advances of Queenie (Miranda Frangou) a girlfriend, of sorts, although that relationship is somewhat one sided. Loonie breaks his arm as  a result of being thrown down the stairs at home by his father. This puts him out of the surfing action for six weeks, and sidelined while Sando and Pikelet live the surfing dream. One day while out in a particularly big surf break alone, Sando challenges Pikelet to a right of passage to which the young lad gingerly agrees and ultimately proves himself, while a dejected Loonie looks on secretly from the beach.

As Sando continues to take his two young charges out to often remote and more dangerous surf breaks so Pikelet becomes increasingly mindful of the associated dangers, despite the 'encouragement' offered by their mentor. Loonie on the other hand is completely reckless and fearless almost to the point of self destruction which garners him more favour with Sando. This leads Sando to take a leave of absence with Loonie to explore the surf breaks and beaches of Thailand, leaving Pikelet stranded at home.

With Eva home alone, Pikelet soon forms a close bond with her, offering him another right of passage into manhood which becomes a regular thing while Sando is away. He becomes more infatuated with Eva even saying that he loves her, which she shrugs off instantly saying that it's the sex that he's in love with, and that he's way too young to even know the meaning of the word. On their last encounter Pikelet notices Eva starring in the mirror and stroking her stomach, which he has noticed is somewhat bulging. He asks if she is pregnant to which she responds positively. Is it mine he asks, to which she responds with a no, but Pikelet is unconvinced. He runs off to take solace in the surf, in which he is dumped on by a giant wave and loses his board - one given to him by Sando previously.

Later, Sando and Loonie have returned from their surfing odyssey, and meeting Pikelet out of school, Sando announces that he is going to be a father. Pikelet congratulates him, in a stilted manner as though he suspects that Sando knows more than he is letting on. Sando says that his board was retrieved 25kms out to sea by a fishing boat and returned to him, and that surf is going to be up on Sunday morning and that he'll pick up the boys at dawn and to be ready. On the morning Loonie is sat next to Sando in the truck, keenly awaiting for the arrival of Pikelet. When he shows he declines to join them, sparking their derision, to which he retorts that just because he declines does not make him fearful or any less of a surfer, and they should accept that he has the right.

A closing voiceover of a now adult Pikelet says that he lost contact with his good friend Loonie but had heard that he wound up dead, face down in the surf with a bullet in the back of his head as a result of a drug deal gone wrong, and despite his chosen path, he still misses his friend.

'Breath' is a film about surfing, without is being about surfing. Sure there are some memorable scenes featuring vast walls of water down which Sando, Pikelet and Loonie cascade down, and equally impressive shots of the breaking waves taken looking upwards from under the water. Surfing is the glue that binds the central characters together and gives them reason to be united in their pursuit of their favoured pastime. But this is more a film about two young impressionable boys growing up in the early '70's and how their lives are changed forever by two adults, making this a personal, emotional and thoughtful coming of age story with heart and soul, rendering it relatable and believable. For his Directorial debut Simon Baker scores highly and reveals what a multi-talented artist he is both in front of the camera and behind it too. The two other central characters of Pikelet and Loonie are played with much future promise by the two young aspiring first time Actors Coulter and Spence, who bring a grounded realism to their performances that is nuanced and considered. Certainly worth the price of your ticket and worth seeing on the big screen for the surfing shots and the rugged beauty of some of Australia's fine coastal waters, but also too for the engaging story.

This film merits four claps of the clapperboard, out of a possible five.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-