Corroboree (2007)

Corroboree (2007). Corroboree: Directed by Ben Hackworth. With Conor O'Hanlon, Rebecca Frith, Natasha Herbert, Susan Lyons. A beautiful young man has been summoned to an eerie meditation retreat by a dying theatre director. The young man has been given a tape of instructions; over a weekend he must perform scenes from the director's life. He visits different rooms encountering five actresses who all portray key women in the director's life. They rehearse the boy to play the lead role in an as yet 'unmade film'. The dying director watches young boy's progress as he searches to inhabit the director's identity. It's an Alice in Wonderland tale and an unpredictable journey of self discovery for all concerned…

“I donu0026#39;t think this is the finest piece of cinema , but itu0026#39;s definitely one of the strangest things Iu0026#39;ve seen in a while. Not fully original in concept but completely different in execution, if that makes sense. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIt sets its standard (I think a high one) at least in terms of it achieving what it sets out to do) and maintains a graceful and lyrical quality throughout. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe script is particularly hard to follow, and seem purposefully obscure at times (at least as far as recent preoccupations in world cinema go). I didnu0026#39;t struggle with this but found myself dipping in and out of understanding which as far as I can tell, expanded the film universe to bring my own daydreams and musings to the story. I guess that is a way of viewing a film and I quite enjoy doing that as much as being told a good story. Itu0026#39;s a different kind of movie experience and for that, Iu0026#39;m thankful. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI think thereu0026#39;s an irreverent immaturity about the scriptu0026#39;s obscurity and it seems broadly relevant. This is the writeru0026#39;s and directors first work. But there is no sign here that the filmmakers are lacking in talent, simply time and resource and some of the production limitations do show on the screen in particular shots, scenes etc. Having said that the general level of artistic integrity was maintained throughout.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSome of the dialogue (particularly real life dialogue, outside of the u0026quot;performed scenesu0026quot;) felt too theatrical for my liking. Perhaps stripping it back further would have helped the filmu0026#39;s intention. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIu0026#39;d like to particularly mention the costumes and art direction which were really beautifully rendered. The performances were also very interesting. It is true that some actresses carried their scenes better than others but because the film is about acting it didnu0026#39;t bother me. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI really liked the lead boy. He had a strong presence on the screen even though he was really only playing himself. A hard thing I imagine. Some of his improvised dialogue (as himself) was not so good but all things considered he did an admirable job.”