GURRUMUL ALBUM SALUTE

■ Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu died tragically too young, at only 46 years old, in 2017.

Gurrumul grew up as a member of the Gumatj nation on Elcho Island , off the coast of north-east Arnhem Land.

His 2018 posthumously released album, Djarimirri (Child of the Rainbow) , tells stories of connection to place and identity and garnered critical acclaim and multiple awards.

Bungul, the collaboration between MSO conductor Erkki Veltheim, creative producer Michael Hohnen and c o-directors Don Wininba Ganambarr and Nigel Jamieson, is a delight of music, video and live dance.

A live retelling of the album, with a recording of Gurrumul’s haunting vocals overlaying the music, Yolnu dancers and musicians on both video installations and on stage performed t he songs featuring stories from Gurrumul’s Yolnu heritage.

The performance began with ‘Baru’, a song about Gurrumul’s ancestral totem, the Saltwater Crocodile.

A video showed the intricate diamond-patterned body painting while dancers on stage acted out Baru’s journey.

Another song, ‘Gopuru’, married traditional First Nations instruments, the didgeridoo and clapsticks, with soaring strings overlaid with horns.

On screen and stage, dancers zigzagged in and out of waves, transporting the audience to the azure sea surrounding Elcho Island.

‘Narrpiya’ celebrated another powerful totem, the octopus, and featured a Yirritja dancer.

Another acted out the Djilawurr scrub turkey building its nest.

The final song, ‘Wulminda’, showed dark clouds forming only to be revealed as Guy Maestri’s 2009 Archibald prize-winning portrait of Gurrumul’s face.

A feast for all the senses, a welldeserved standing ovation concluded a wonderful celebration of the world’s oldest continual culture and a reminder of the genius that we have lost.

Performed at Hamer Hall, Arts Centre Melbourne.

- Review by Kathryn Keeble

■ (R). 159 minutes. Now available on Blu-ray and DVD.

After coming out of nowhere with the attention-grabbing Bone Tomahawk in 2015, followed by the outstanding Brawl In Cell Block 99 in 2017, Zahler continues to provoke audiences with this deliberately morally ambiguous concoction, and like his previous efforts, will lead to highly divisive reactions and opinions.

■ At the turn of the twentieth century, love, lust, hope, frustration, and despair confront a family in a country estate in the Russian countryside.

Dipping in and out of occasional comedy, pathos and tragedy, this is an interesting new production of Anton Chekhov’ s tale of familial tensions and thwarted ambition.

Chekhov’s decidedly dark comedy considers the inequalities enacted by those with wealth and power over those without.

Overworked and overlooked, Vanya (Dion Mills) and his niece, Sonya (Alex Marshall), await a visit from Sonya’s father, Professor Serabryakov (Sebastian Gunner) and his much-younger new wife, Elena (Pia O’Meadhra).

Vanya, assisted by Sonya, oversees the estate for Serabryanka.

Permanently put upon, the longsuffering Sonya agonises over unrequited love for the local doctor, Astrov (Catherine Morvell).

The doctor, meanwhile, has the hots for Elena, as does a half-hearted Vanya.

Elena, a possessor of middle-class malaise and world-weary unhappiness, is stuck in a loveless marriage.

O’Meadhra’s Elena exudes ennui as she bats off the doctor's and Vanya's attentions.

Dion Mills plays Vanya as a cheeky reprobate, both hilarious and poignant, a knife edge away from tragedy. Serabryanka’s decision to sell the estate tips the resentful Vanya over the edge. Director Bronwen Coleman makes a significant change by recasting the doctor.

This reframing glosses over the scandal that would ensue had Elena left her husband to embark on a samesex relationship in 19th-century Russia.

A very good set by Harry Gill and a lighting design by Sidney Younger, along with excellent costuming, fix the mood.

In the end, with tragedy averted, the status quo is returned to the quiet, slow crushing of the spirit.

Uncle Vanya was presented at Theatre Works.

- Review by Kathryn Keeble

■ Brisbane magician Aiden Schofield is returning to the Melbourne Magic Festival for a third year.

After over 10 years of magic, Aiden Schofield is embarking on his first ever live tour. Set to perform in cities across Australia, New Zealand, North America, and the UK, with magic and mentalism performed with bubbles, butterflies, Rubik’s cubes, sand and more.

He will present his high-energy, family friendly show at the Melbourne Magic Festival, this time playing at The MC Showroom.

Melbourne audiences are given the opportunity to see Aiden showcase his magic skills live in what promises to be a fun night jampacked with mindblowing magic and impossibilities guaranteed to be an unforgettable experience for the whole family.

Aiden appears in Melbourne this July or a run of five shows, from June 28 - July 2 at The MC Showroom, L1/ 50 Clifton St, Prahran . Ttickets at https://melbournemagicfestival.com/ aiden-schofield-magician/

The story centres on police detectives Brett Ridgeman (Mel Gibson) and Anthony Lurasetti (Vince Vaughn), who have just been suspended after being filmed performing an illegal drug bust on two suspects.

Acquiring a bagful of cash from the bust, the duo, who feel out of step with today’s attitudes towards law enforcement, come across information regarding a major money exchange, and decide to intercept this criminal meeting so they and their families can live an easier life.

Of course, nothing goes quite to plan. Dragged Across Concrete may cover familiar ground, but Zahler cleverly subverts the multiple tropes that are present in the plot.

Working from his novelistic type script, Zahler again dares to swim against the tide, taking his time to build character and story, allowing every hot topic to develop nicely. Performances across the board are first-rate. Gibson is cleverly cast, and delivers one of his best performances. Vaughn, who I am not normally a fan of, seems to respond to Zahler’s ultra-focused direction, and while not as good as his career-best turn in Brawl In Cell Block 99, he is still excellent, reminding one of his good work in the under-rated 1998 thriller Clay Pigeons. Kudos must also go to Tory Kittles, Jennifer Carpenter, Laurie Holden, Udo Kier, and Don Johnson. Dragged Across Concrete will infuriate and offend some with its deliberate pacing and nonjudgemental approach to its incendiary material, but Zahler is obviously striving for something more than standard genre thrills, and for those who pick up on this, will be completely enthralled.

RATING - ****

■ (M). 111 minutes. Now available on DVD.

Vincent van Gogh has been the subject of many a film, most notably in Vincent Minnelli’s Lust For

Life (1956) and Robert Alt man’s Vincent & Theo (1990), although I always like to mention Martin Scorsese’s turn as the revered artist in Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams (1990). The latest to hit screens is At Eternity’s Gate, with Willem Dafoe playing the tortured painter, and under the intimate, uninhibited guidance of former painter-turnedfilm-maker Julian Schnabel (The Diving Bell And The Butterfly), manages to give audiences a fresh perspective on this much-written about person. Set during the artist’s later years, particularly his self-imposed exile in Arles and AuversSur-Oise, we see van Gogh struggle and suffer to try and understand the true meaning of what he’s creating, and the ‘fever dream’ that overwhelms him while he is painting.

While familiar relationships are covered, such as van Gogh’s deep bond with his brother Theo (Rupert Friend), and the at-times volatile encounters with Paul Gauguin (Oscar Isaac), what makes this film so fascinating is the way Schnabel utterly submerges the audience into van Gogh’s frame of mind (with the camerawork sometimes resembling a possession horror movie), and the ultra close-up manner in which we experience the painter’s highly variable reactions to his works (a scene involving Mads Mikkelsen as a bemused priest is a perfect example). Dafoe is extraordinary as van Gogh, and totally earned his Oscar nomination, while other recognisable faces in a strong supporting cast include Isaac, Mikkelsen, Mathieu Amalric, Emmanuelle Seigner and Niels Arestrup.

RATING - ****

■ (MA). 125 minutes. Now streaming on Netflix.

After wallowing in development hell since 2010 (Kathryn Bigelow was originally slated to direct), Triple Frontier finally crossed the finish line in 2019 with J.C. Chandor (Margin Call, All Is Lost, A Most Violent Year) at the helm, but despite offering undeniable entertainment value, is a slight disappointment given the talent involved.

A group of former special ops soldiers (Oscar Isaac, Ben Affleck, Garrett Hedlund, Charlie Hunnam, Pedro Pascal) team up to raid the South American home of a high profile crime boss, who is sitting on $75 million in cash.

The characters aren’t as vividly etched, making the film feel somewhat hollow and familiar.

Worth a look, with some wellstaged action sequences.

RATING - ***

- Aaron Rourke

■ Remember those corny comedy films featuring Ma and Pa Kettle? Marjorie Main as Ma Kettle was a fine comic actress with a gravelly voice and Percy Kilbride was just perfect as the mild mannered Pa Kettle

The characters were simple hillbillies who lived on a run down farm with 15children. As a child I thought they were hilarious.

Mary Tomlinson was born in Indiana in 1890. When she became a vaudeville performer Mary took on the ‘stage name’ of Marjorie Main to avoid embarrassing her father who was a minister.

She debuted on Broadway in 1916. Marjorie married in 1921 but her husband passed away in 1935.

Her first film was A House Divided in 1931. Marjorie became type-cast in high class dowager roles and made six films with Wallace Beery in the 1940s.

She became a contracted player with MGM studios. Some of her films at MGM included Meet Me In St Louis, The Harvey Girls and Summer Stock

In 1947 she was cast opposite Percy Kilbride as Ma Kettle in the film The EggAnd I

The public loved Ma and Pa Kettle and as a result in 1949 Universal Studios produced their first film titled Ma and Pa Kettle.

Marjorie asked to use her own clothes for the role of Ma and loved working with Percy. Marjorie said, "Percy is the best dead-pan actor

By Kevin Trask of 3AW and 96.5 Inner FM

Marjorie said, "Percy is the best dead-pan actor in the business and a perfect gentleman."

Percy Kilbride was born in San Francisco in 1888 and had worked as a Broadway actor before making his first film in 1933.

Some of his film credits included George Washington Slept Here, The Adventures of Mark Twain and State Fair

The first film with Marjorie and Percy was a box office smash and was quickly followed in 1950 by MaAnd Pa Kettle Go to Town

Pa's character was a bit on the lazy side and I loved it when Pa was relaxing in his rocking chair in his old bowler hat listening to the radio while Ma bustled around managing the farm, the animals and the children.

● Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride as Ma and Pa Kettle Pa would change the station on his radio simply by thumping the rocking chair on the floor.

The series continued to be successful and the team made another seven films together before Percy decided to retire in 1955 at the age of 67.

Their final film together was Ma And Pa Kettle At Waikiki. Two more films were produced in the series without Percy but they were not successful - the magic was missing without the famous team.

Percy Kilbride and his friend Ralf Belmont were both hit by a car whilst walking along a road in 1964.

Belmont was killed instantly and Percy suf- fered head injuries. Percy Kilbride was in hospital for a week before passing away at the age of 76.

Marjorie Main died of lung cancer in 1975. What a comedy team they were and the series of films are available on DVD. I have just ordered the complete box set on the internet - time to relive my childhood.

Kevin can be heard on 3AWThe Time Tunnel - Remember WhenSundays at 10.10pm with Philip Brady and Simon Owens. And on 96.5 FM That's Entertainment - Sundays at 12 Noon. www.innerfm.org.au