Heartbeats
Jig
wenty-two-year-old filmmaker Xavier Dolan writes, directs, produces and stars in Heartbeats – an ebulliently louche romantic drama guaranteed to bolster his standing with hipster mag hacks and fashion dickheads. Shot through with the sort of hazy late-summer vibe that suggests a romantic nostalgia Dolan is still too callow to articulate, Heartbeat Heartbeats details an awkward love triangle in which best friends Marie (Monia Chokri) and Francis (Dolan) find themselves at odds over curly haired Adonis Nicolas (Niels Schneider). The fact that Nicolas is a dewy-eyed prick-tease doesn’t stop either of them engaging in a game of romantic one-upmanship before realising that some things are more important than sex. This pseudo-profound teen dream is a bit of a bore for anybody who’s already figured that out. Matt Bochenski 3 2 2
narrative-style documentary, Jig explores the personal journeys of a number of young competitors in the year leading up to the 2010 World Irish Dancing Championships. Director Sue Bourne digs into the lifestyle and personal equity that the competitors, their tutors and their parents invest in their intense efforts to achieve a no-money first place position in the finals. Few would imagine a documentary shadowing a little known Irish dance competition could hook you in or enable you to relate to the dancers themselves; but Jig is an eye opening window on the relentless dedication of those involved in the sport. It offers an inside look into a sport to which the mainstream world has never been exposed, revealing the implacable spearheads of Irish dancing, a constantly evolving and growing pastime. Giles Bidder 1 3 3
Life, Above Abov ove ov ve All
My Dog Tulip
ecipient of a standing ovation at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, Oliver Schmitz’s Life, Above All is an occasionally affecting South African AIDS drama that is let down by a streak of shamelessly manipulative sentimentality. It’s underpinned by a barnstorming performance from first-time actress Khomotso Manyaka as one of the unseen victims of the country’s AIDS epidemic – a young girl tainted by the shame of her mother’s illness and the cruel hypocrisy of her neighbours’ Christian charity. Struggling to cope with the gaping fissure that has opened up in her life, she also has to deal with a best friend turning to prostitution and a desperately vulnerable younger brother. Manyaka effortlessly conveys the fearsome emotional consequences of Chanda’s predicament, but Schmitz is far too eager to drag his audience to water and demand that they drink. Matt Bochenski 3 3 2
an’s ongoing love affair with the hound has probably provided more in the way of cinematic clichés than his love affair with his own species. Enter My Dog Tulip. Playing very much for the realist team, Paul and Sandra Fierlinger have brought JR Ackerley’s memoir of a life shared with a rescued German Shepherd to the screen in a disarmingly honest but beautifully rendered animation. It is narrated by Christopher Plummer as a sixty-something single man who takes on a dog for companionship and develops a deep respect and compassion for the beast. From rhapsodic ruminations on Tulip’s turds to a thought-provoking narrative strand about Ackerley’s wish for Tulip to experience a full life, there’s genuine affection and humanity in this story. The animation was made by hand on a computer, and the result is a painterly aesthetic that suits the unconformity of the odd couple it depicts. Laura Bushell 2 3 4
Directed by Xavier Dolan Starring Xavier Dolan, Monia Chokri, Niels Schneider Released May 27
Directed by Oliver Schmitz Starring Khomotso Manyaka, Keaobaka Makanyane, Harriet Lenabe Released May 27
086 T h e A p o c a l y p s e N o w I s s u e
Directed by Sue Bourne Released May 6
Directed by Paul Fierlinger, Sandra Fierlinger Starring Christopher Plummer, Lynn Redgrave, Isabella Rossellini Released May 6