Mackay Library Society Films

Admission:

Members: $5.00
Non Members: $8.00

Enquiries: 4940 7536

Email: CQUniversity Library Mackay

Film Suggestions:

We value suggestions for new films from our members. Our policy is that we only screen arthouse/non-commercial films which aren't to be screened locally at the theatres. For any suggestions, please email the Library.

Look both ways (M)

Starring: William McInnes, Justine Clarke, Anthony Hayes, Lisa Flanagan
Directed by: Sarah Watt

Look Both Ways is a solid debut feature, with strong performances and an unusual script. It might focus on themes around death, but it is certainly not all doom and gloom and Sarah Watt cleverly merges humour with the bleak. The combination of animation with live action makes the film especially memorable. Using animated sequences to represent the characters inner thoughts, shows ingenuity. It is a daring approach and elevates what could have been an ordinary film, into an engaging, uplifting experience. This film was also a winner at the 2005 AFI Awards.

(Reviewed by Fenella Kernebone - Movie Show)

Brides (PG)

Starring: Victoria Haralbidou, Damian Lewis
Directed by: Greek director: Pantelis Voulgaris

Opening the Greek Film Festival this year was a film called Brides. It's about a ship full of women traveling to America to an unknown destiny in 1922. Centre to the story is Niki from the island of Samothrace played so subtely and beautifully by Victoria Haralbidou who is replacing her younger sister as a bride for a tailor in Chicago.

Also on board is an American photographer Norman Harris, Damian Lewis. He's put aside his camera to go home and salvage his failing marriage. Moved by the plight of these 700 women, he decides to document their journey. He's enamoured by Niki, and she, in turn, falls for him. Brides is a gentle film that sheds light on the timeless experience of the immigrant.

(Reviews by the Movie Show & At The Movies )

Enduring Love (MA)

Starring: Daniel Craig; Samantha Morton; Rhys Ifans
Directed by: Roger Michell

This adaptation of an Ian McEwan's novel begins on a peaceful summer day in the English countryside which turns to tragedy when a man dies in a ballooning accident.

Among the witnesses are Joe, (Daniel Craig), an academic who was picnicking with his girlfriend, Claire, (Samantha Morton), and Jed, (Rhys Ifans). Over the non-religious Joe's objections, Jed insists they pray for the dead man.

Back in London, Joe becomes more and more discomfited by the unsettling presence of Jed, who phones him, visits his flat, and follows him wherever he goes. Joe's journey, becomes a meditation on how love endures, as well as how one must sometimes also endure love.

(Review by Margaret: David: )

Facing Window (R)

Starring: Giovanna Mezzogiorno; Massimo Girotti; Raoul Bova; Filippo Nigro
Directed by:Ferzan Ozpetek

Turkish-born, Italian based director Ferzan Ozpetek is well known for his films. In this film, Giovanna - who is pretty intolerant towards her husband - contemplates an affair with the handsome guy from across the way. But this element of the film isn't as rewarding as the story of Davide, a survivor of the World War II resistance, and a man with a fascinating past. Massimo Girotti, one of Italy's great actors, died after this film was completed and gives a fine performance as the old man. The movie is worth seeing for his presence alone.

(Review by Margaret David )

The Glenn Miller Story

CQUniversity Mackay Library Society & Conservatorium Friends, Mackay Inc. present A Feast of Glenn Miller in glorious technicolour. Also featuring performances by A Train.

After the film patrons can enjoy hotdogs & apple pie. Proceeds go to the purchase of music & other activities.

Adults $15, Concessions $10, Friends $7, Stud/Child $5
Phone 4940 7800 for bookings

Turtles Can Fly (M)

Starring: Soran Ebrahim; Avaz Latif; Saddam Hossein Feysa; Hiresh Feysal Rahman, Abdol Rahman Karim; Ajil Zibari
Directed by: Bahman Ghobadi

Set in Kurdistan on the border between Iran and Turkey, the film focuses on the day-to-day lives of a group of orphans in the lead up to the US invasion. Featuring extraordinary performances by children, this is a masterpiece of overwhelming drama and visual beauty.

Like many Iranian directors, Ghobadi uses children, not actors to express his concerns and anyone who saw his prizewinning A TIME FOR DRUNKEN HORSES will know how painfully effective his style can be.

The faces of these kids, and their poor, deformed bodies, will stay with you for a long time after this gentle, powerful film is over.

(Review by Margaret David )

Better than sex (M)

Starring: David Wenham & Susie Porter
Directed by: Jonathan Teplitsky

This contemporary romance is insightful and funny, it is the work of writer/director Jonathan Teplitsky and he seems to have a real understanding of women and their sexuality. But his insight into the wariness with which both sexes enter into relationships these days is the real core of the film.

Teplitsky cleverly uses Garry Phillips` excellent cinematography to create a touching intimacy and a sense of real sexiness without a hint of pornography.

(Review by Margaret David )

Live and Become (M)

Starring: Yaël Abecassis, Roschdy Zem, Moshe Agazai, Moshe Abebe, Sirak M. Sabahat, Roni Hadar, Yitzhak Edgar, Rami Danon, Meskie Shibru Sivan, Meskie Shribu Sivan, Mimi Abonesh Kebede, Raymonde Abecassis
Directed by: Radu Mihaileanu

Radu Mihaileanu (Train of Life) directs this magnificent, epic story of an Ethiopian boy who is airlifted from a Sudanese refugee camp to Israel in 1984 during Operation Moses. Although he grows up and thrives as an adoptive son of a loving family, he is plagued by two big secrets: He is neither a Jew nor an orphan, just an African boy who survived.

Live and Become highlights a much neglected piece of history that raises the issues of racisms and identity and is essentially the story of a boy displaced by poverty, and for that alone it is well worth watching.

(Review by The Movie Show )

Manual of Love (M)

In the manner of La Ronde, the Italian film The Manual of Love chronicles in four chapters the various stages of relationships seen through the experiences of four different couples.

'This film is such a delight. It's so Italian, it's deliciously wry and funny and sentimental. I couldn't imagine this film in any other language, it just wouldn't work as well. The cast of stellar Italian performers hit just the right note and the Rome locations bring a lovely veracity to these tales of amore, disappointment and recovery.'

(Review by Margaret David )

The Caterpillar Wish (M)

Starring: Susie Porter, Wendy Hughes, Robert Mammone, Victoria Thaine Director: Sandra Sciberras

Set in the coastal town of Robe in South Australia, the film is about 17 year old Emily, (Victoria Thaine), who lives with her single mother Susan, (Susie Porter). Emily is quietly desperate to identify her unknown father. When she's led to believe that the local policeman Carl, (Phillip Quast), may be the father she craves, it is devastating for her relationship with Carl's son Joel, (Khan Chittenden).

The Caterpillar Wish deals with elemental themes - the question of our identity, where we came from, and the relationships that continue to shape who we are. This is a story of ordinary people who have given up on the hope that their life could change for the better - this winter, one wish will change everything.

This is yet another Australian movie that is adding to the credibility of the industry.

(Review by Margaret )