THIS WEEK IN
ARTS
WEDNESDAY 2 Skin Tight – a feverish fusion of intense physicality, daring tenderness, and poetic lyricism set against the dramatic South Canterbury landscape. Produced by SaySIX Theatre and The Groundswell Division. Preview, 8pm. Fortyfivedownstairs until 20 February.
THURSDAY 3 Apocalypse Now: Redux – extended version of Francis Ford Coppola’s Vietnam War masterpiece; a 35mm Panavision, Technicolor dye-transfer print. Astor Theatre, 7.30pm. Smash His Camera – a definitive portrait of the original paparazzo, Ron Galella. See Film Carew for review. ACMI Cinemas, 7pm. Until 6 February. Super Night Shot – UK/German collective Gob Squad hit Melbourne after a successful Sydney Festival run; their show involves the screening each night of an hour’s work running about the city that took place immediately beforehand, improvised and raw. Opening night, 9pm. ACMI Cinemas until 5 February.
FRIDAY 4 Bear Nation – documentary exploring the subculture of the male gay community that celebrates the hirsuite and hefty. See Film Carew for review. ACMI Cinemas, 9.30pm. Also screening 11 February. Coffy – Cinema Fiasco presents Pam Grier (later famous in Jackie Brown) on a rampage against drug dealers in the blaxploitation film Coffy. Astor Theatre, 8pm.
SATURDAY 5 Fag/Hag – a revealing look into the world of fag hags. Opening night, 9pm. Part of Midsumma. Closing night. Gasworks Arts Park. Identity – Midsumma produced exhibition featuring the works of Catherine Johnston, Kelly Manning, Matto Lucas, Janet Carter, Matt Jowett, Michael Pearce, Jules Renton, Ryan Davis, and Michael Brady, exploring “who we are, who we have been and where we are going”. Closing day. Fortyfivedownstairs.
Skip Hop – documentary showing the early days of Australian hip hop through to current (at time of release in 2004). Plenty of music and candid interviews, featuring the likes of Hilltop Hoods and The Herd. ACMI Cinemas, 4pm. Also screening 12 February. Spring Awakening – coming-ofage musical (a multiple Tony Award winner) based on a German play from the late 1800s about the changes we go through on the path to adulthood, with a little masturbation, abortion, homosexuality, rape, child abuse and suicide thrown in for good measure. Closing night. National Theatre.
SUNDAY 6 La Barbe bleu (Bluebeard) – Catherine Breillat’s adaptation of the classic fairy tale Bluebeard. Part of the Charles Perrault: The Godfather of European Fairy Tales program. ACMI Cinemas, 3pm. Also screening 13 February.
TUESDAY 8 Comings And Goings – an allegorical portrayal of solitary man in a transient environment, this exhibition by Andrea Jenkins takes you on a journey through Melbourne’s iconic Flinders St Station and Parliament Station, the underpass, the subway and the Royal Arcade. Opening day. Fortyfivedownstairs until 19 February. Crowds – exhibition of sketches by Hilary Senhanli, from observations on public transport, whilst shopping, and at sporting events. Opening day. Fortyfivedownstairs until 19 February.
ONGOING Dreams Come True: The Art Of Disney’s Classic Fairy Tales – exhibition featuring hundreds are artefacts from the Disney vault, or, more specifically, the Animation Research Library. Features sketched, frame cells, drawings, concept art, and more, from the likes of The Little Mermaid, Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs, and Cinderella. ACMI until 26 April 2011.
THE GREAT ESCAPE SANCTUM IS A BLOCKBUSTER 3D US/AUSTRALIAN FILM BACKED BY JAMES CAMERON, STARRING RICHARD ROXBURGH AND RHYS WAKEFIELD AS TRAPPED UNDERWATER DIVERS. INTERVIEW BY ALICE TYNAN. James Cameron’s name may be stamped all over the poster for Sanctum, but this film is really an Australian affair. Based on the harrowing experience of producer Andrew Wight – a renowned cave diver who, 22 years ago, was stranded underground by a freak storm in the Nullarbor – his story has been fictionalised into a father and son action drama brought to life by the legendary Richard Roxburgh (Rake, Moulin Rouge!) and up-andcomer Rhys Wakefield (The Black Balloon). Kokoda director Alister Grierson is at the helm, but we do have to thank James Cameron for the 3D cameras (and, as executive producer, the cash!), which were shipped straight from the set of Avatar. Indeed, as Wight describes his ten-year partnership with Cameron making a series of underwater 3D documentaries (Ghosts Of The Abyss, Aliens Of The Deep), it becomes evident that Avatar and Sanctum are essentially two sides of the same coin. “With Avatar, Jim was able to take all the experience and the people and the technology [from our previous documentaries] to make that movie and then the idea was that I would make Sanctum as another kind of proof of concept. People were obviously going to say, ‘Sure you can
make 3D on $200-plus million, but is this ever going to work for everyone else?’ And that’s what Sanctum is,” Wight says. “We’re kind of polar opposites: Avatar was a lot of motion capture, advanced visual effects and CGI, and live action, [whereas] Sanctum is virtually a fully live action film with a small budget, small group of people, but it delivers a big, big picture. We’ve used exactly the same cameras, and we’ve made what I think is one of the first live action 3D originated films that has been done to date with this technology, and it looks great.” Inheriting James Cameron’s equipment was a pretty tall order for director Alister Grierson, who admits to being a little spun out by the whole experience. “It felt like such a fantasy, that it could never possibly happen; very kind of Entourage. It was a difficult film to make, with big underwater scenes and in caves and you’re dealing with the 3D technology and the cameras, so we’re learning about that 3D as we go, and all sorts of physical, technical difficulties about filming it and delivering it on time,” he says. “And so I never really thought about Jim and the pressure of working for Jim, it was more about
INVASION OF THE DINOSAURS
APOCALYSPE NOW
The return of Walking With Dinosaurs: The Arena Spectacular is nigh; hitting out shores in April, and stomping its way across Australia allowing us to walk amongst life-size, moving, tyrant lizards and the like, Walking With Dinosaurs descends on Melbourne to Hisense Arena 4-15 May. To walk amongst the dinos visit dinosaurlive.com.
just doing it and doing the best job that we could.” Calling Sanctum ‘difficult to make’ is actually a pretty hefty understatement when you consider what the actors put themselves through. Describing long night shoots and harrowing breath holds, Roxburgh and Wakefield are both fairly sanguine about the arduous shoot, but they’re also happy to share some hairy stories. “I loved the whole underwater stuff with no breathing apparatus,” Wakefield enthuses. “When it’s just me with no mask and no [regulator]. I’m down there at, like, 3am, just swimming, barely able to see because of the low lighting and no goggles, and then them calling, ‘Cut’, and me holding my hand out and just trusting that my safety diver would just had have a regulator in my mouth within a second so that I can breathe. That was crazy. And you can’t go to the surface because there’s a whole set of rocks all around you.” For Roxburgh, “‘Doozy’ doesn’t even begin to describe the kind of madness it was like at times, shooting. “It was interesting on paper,” he says wryly with a chuckle, but the reality – having to complete an underwater shoot with a head cold – proved much more confronting. “I ended up shooting with blood coming out of my nose.” Roxburgh also undertook one of Sanctum’s more dangerous stunts and most terrifying scenes: buddy breathing with a full facemask.
“That was the kind of landmark event. You have to unclip eight clips, take your breath and then hand it over and stay calm. Then when you get it back, to clear a full facemask takes about 10 seconds, in which time you have to stay calm and take what I think is a funny term, they call them ‘wet breaths’. It’s a real piece of underwater nastiness where you’re basically breathing a little bit of water and hoping to not start spluttering down at 12 meters. So yeah, that was another nightmare.” Roxburgh’s efforts certainly didn’t go unnoticed, as Grierson is quick to sing his praises. “Richard I think is just wonderful, he’s such a surprise. Watching Rake now is just so different from what he did with us. He’s the hardest working man in show business, there’s no doubt about it.” But vying for that title is James Cameron, for whose guidance Grierson is abundantly grateful. “He’s been a wonderful mentor for me. I had a great master class with him after we screened that earlier version of the film. He’s the busiest man in the world, probably literally, so just to get a couple of hours of with him was a real luxury and a great joy.” In more ways than one Sanctum is the remarkable result of courage under pressure. As a true story, as a filmed feat – one that had to get a stamp of approval from Jim Cameron – as well as an exponential learning curve of local 3D filmmaking. But for Wight, a true believer in 3D, the technology is there to amplify what he sees as Sanctum’s universal themes: “People don’t often go out and challenge themselves, so what is it like to go out and be really frightened on the edge of your experience? What is it like to make a life and death decision?” WHAT: Sanctum WHERE & WHEN: Screening in cinemas from 3 February
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