ENTERTAINMENT
RAMS
The brothers Gummi and Kiddi (Sigurður Sigurjónsson and Theodór Júlíusson) have not spoken to each other for forty years. They live on adjoining farms in a remote, bitterly cold valley in Iceland. They are childless GOVIND AND RAINA PRESENT SUTRA: SECRETS OF INDIAN DANCE AT THE and loveless – all they have are BYRON COMMUNITY CENTRE ON SATURDAY WITH A YOGA CLASS AT 10AM ON their herds of long-haired sheep SUNDAY AT THE BRUNSWICK HEADS MEMORIAL HALL (and what gorgeous creatures they are, too). Director Grímur Catch him at the Brunswick Hákonarson does not elaborate as Picture House on Friday. to the reasons for their intractable enmity, other than to allude to the Tickets $10 (including free raffle fact that it was Gummi who was ticket) available via Eventbrite and the beneficiary of their parents’ brings a 3,000-year-old tradition on the door (if not sold out). Tix on will – he is primarily concerned to life onstage through live brunswickpicturehouse.com. 6pm with the circumstances of their dance and film, gorgeous changeless lives. Disaster strikes costumes, intricate hand the valley when an incurable, fatal gestures, athletic footwork The Coffee Man documents disease is detected in one of the and captivating poses – an sheep. To protect the viability of exquisite dance and multimedia Australia’s World Barista Iceland’s flocks, the government performance by award-winning Champion, Canberra’s Sasa Sestic. The Coffee Man explores decides that Gummi and Kiddi’s classical and contemporary sheep must be slaughtered. performers, Raina Peterson and the extraordinary world of specialty coffee and the This is a movie of intrigue, bleak Govind Pillai, of Melbourne lengths one man will go for humour and pathos, one in which based Karma Dance Company. ‘coffee nirvana’. The journey you just cannot tell for certain Govind and Raina will also takes the viewer from the farm what is going to happen – a not present an Indian Classical to cup, to the dizzying heights unwelcome component when Dance and Yoga workshop: of international competition, we are force-fed predictability Move over, Karma Sutra, this is where Sasa will win at any by mainstream cinema. Gummi the real Sutra. They teach key cost, even if that requires is determined to outsmart the poses, stretches and kinetic ‘smuggling’ Australian milk local veterinarian and her rangers, movements, accessing ancient through US customs to attain whereas Kiddi blames his brother wisdom to increase your the perfect flavour profile. for their dire predicament and hits awareness of self and body. Sasa, a former immigrant the bottle even harder – in one Sutra: Saturday at 7.30pm at from war-torn Bosnia, found dark but hilarious scene, Gummi Byron Community Centre. international acclaim of a finds Kiddi passed out in the snow, Tickets $27/$22 from www. different kind when he first picks his body in the front of his byroncentre.com.au or 6685 moved to Australia in 1996, by tractor and dumps it outside 6807. Yoga: Sunday 29th at representing his new country the nearby town’s hospital. You 10am at Brunswick Heads at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. suspect that at some point there Memorial Hall. Tickets $20/$15. Director of The Coffee Man Jeff will be a rapprochement between Bookings not needed. Hann says, ‘As documentary the men, but on the other hand filmmakers, cinema magic is an almost Shakespearean portent often created when you have of gloom prevails – Kiddi has a no idea what the outcome will gun that will surely come into play Going Clear: Scientology and be. We had the raw ingredients: in a bad way. The environment, the Prison of Belief screens at one man, with a powerful too, is fierce and unyielding – not the Brunswick Picture House as passion to produce the bestsince Fargo have I seen a winter part of the weekly Grown Up Film tasting coff ee ever! landscape play such a significant series. This highly controversial part in creating ambience. As the award-winning documentary ‘I know the world will fall in love brothers struggle to hang on to deconstructs the Church of with Sasa’s journey; they’ll even the only existence that they have Scientology’s claims, the role played learn a few tips along the way to by celebrity members such as perfect their own coffee at home!’ ever known, it’s impossible not to hope for the best for them. The Tom Cruise and John Travolta, and Screening at Pighouse Flicks climactic moment of desperation highlights the stories of a number on Wednesday 1 June. arrives as a blinding blizzard of ex-members and of the abuse descends on the valley, with and exploitation they described Gummi and Kiddi, like King Lear, seeing and experiencing. The lost in it. Fantastic. Church of Scientology responded
SUTRA: SECRETS OF INDIAN DANCE
COFFEE MAGIC
cinema Reviews
BY JOHN CAMPBELL
THE MAN WHO KNEW INFINITY
It’s an important coincidence that this film of love and acceptance should turn up so soon after our nation’s soul has been indelibly stained by the filth uttered by the pile of slime in a suit that is the federal immigration minister. As a mathematician, S Ramanujan (Dev Patel) was a rare genius. Leaving his young wife to live with his mother in Madras, he sailed to England to further his career just before the outbreak of WWI. Driven by an ambition to have his groundbreaking theories published, at Cambridge he found the perfect mentor in GH Hardy (Jeremy Irons). The movie deals initially with the usual problems encountered by the outsider who wants to be accepted by those who would look down on him. Ramanujan’s race, his vegetarianism and homesickness, his upstart self-confidence all hinder his progress, but most confronting to the professorial elite is his intuitive approach to his work. To them he must produce unarguable proofs to support his discoveries and it is when director Matt Brown explores more closely the vast spiritual and psychological chasm that Ramanujan and Hardy must bridge that the film finds its spellbinding pitch. For Ramanujan, a devout Hindu, his inspiration comes directly from God – the numbers that fly into his head mean nothing if they don’t express a divine truth – whereas the atheist Hardy can only comprehend that which is arrived at through scholarly pragmatism. It is a frustrating journey for both men, but in Hardy’s case he understands that his protégé has more to offer than can be so haughtily dismissed by his peers – and, thankfully, Brown does not muddy his theme by spending too much time with those unfathomable equations. Patel brings to his part the unstinting enthusiasm with which he lit up The Best Marigold Hotel without ever succumbing to the headwobbling wallah that would only mock the stature of Ramunujan, while Irons’s mellifluous performance is rich in empathy and wonder – his final address to the board sitting to determine Ramanujan’s worthiness for a fellowship is a speech of heartfelt self-realisation.
PRISON OF BELIEF
vehemently to the film and initiated a sustained campaign to block its release, including taking out fullpage ads in The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times to denounce it. The film was released on HBO in the United States and ultimately won three Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Documentary. Thursday at 6pm. The holder of 38 Guinness world records, The Space Cowboy leads the frontier of extreme performance. His bizarre demonstration highlights the incredible power of the human mind and the physical body. He makes international headlines and performs to sellout crowds. This is one performance you will never forget!
PUNKS FOR WEST PAPUA
Australian-made documentary Punks For West Papua picked up another Laurel – this fifth Laurel being for the Los Angeles Cinefest Official Selection. New dates have been announced in Lismore, Byron Bay and Melbourne with guest appearances by filmmaker Anthony ‘Ash’ Brennan of Hired Gun TV and performances from local punk legends in Brisbane. The Byron Bay screening will be presented by five-time AFI winner and two-time Academy Award nominee David Bradbury. Friday at Pighouse Flicks pighouseflicks.com.au/buytickets-online/.
North Coast news daily: www.echonetdaily.net.au
The Byron Shire Echo May 25, 2016 35