WET SEASON – ★★★
A film set in Singapore about a teacher and the relationship she has with her student. It tries to create a somewhat sympathetic view towards the relationship, but it didn’t really work for me. Overly long with little to maintain a lasting interest, but the performances were well done.
9TO5: THE STORY OF A MOVEMENT – ★★★★
Fantastic documentary about the women’s movement in America to push for equal rights for women in the workforce. I was aware of the film 9 to 5, but not aware of its origin in the movement and hard work of women before it. Depressingly, despite a push since the 1960s, women are still treated as second class in the workforce. I hope that by the end of 2020, we’ve all had enough time to reflect on the important things in this world, and that by the end of this decade or sooner, the world is a better place. If you’re not doing anything already, consider finding a local union to contribute to, or go directly to https://9to5.org and help out.
KUESSIPAN – ★★★★
Loved this French-Canadian drama about two First Nations girls who are life-long friends, and the exploration of how their lives go in separate directions. The difficulties that face the protagonist were well done, showing the various environmental and societal pressures that place so many barriers to the attempts at achieving their dreams.
ON THE RECORD – ★★★★☆
Should be mandatory viewing for just about everyone, especially young men. The stories that the brave women told about their treatment by men in power were distressing, and certainly lowered my already not very high opinion of the music industry. In this particular case, the added difficulties of being black women coming forward made it all the harder for them. But as they quite rightly pointed out, they were ones who were in a place to be heard. I feel for all the other women whose stories haven’t been told, or haven’t been listened to.
PAPER CHAMPIONS – no rating
After several heavy films I thought I’d finish the day with something lighter. Paper Champions is an Australian comedy filmed in not too far Geelong, about a printer salesman trying to find his confidence (or, as is repeatedly said, “Mana”). The trailer looked great, but it just didn’t launch for me and I stopped about halfway through, There was an awkwardness to the production that just didn’t click. I don’t have the heart to give it a bad rating as I think there was heart in it, and maybe after all the doom of previous films it was just the wrong place at the wrong time.