Category: Film

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Does a chair have a motivation?

Photograph of script for Anywhere Chairs: click for more information

I’m a broken chair, abandoned in the street. Other rubbish is piled with me — household items that aren’t worth keeping, but not quite so useless that they go straight into the garbage. Am I happy to be with them, glad of their company? Is the imminent arrival of the garbage truck something to fear, or a long-sought-for liberation?

I’ve just finished recording the narration for ’Pong’s Anywhere Chairs, the short film that’s emerging from his Sydney Songlines project. And I’ve found myself in serious discussions about the emotional state and motivations of… an abandoned chair.

I bet Nicole Kidman doesn’t have this kind of problem.

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Film: Paris, Je T’Aime

The movie Paris Je T’Aime (“Paris, I love you”) opens in Sydney today, a collection of eighteen 5-minute love stories from different directors. “Is this going to be heartwarming,” I grumbled before Monday night’s preview. “This had better not be fucking heartwarming!'” But no. ’Pong’s review is a bit harsh. I found it an acceptable chocolate box of entertainment, if French. And it’s the only time I’ve laughed out loud when someone was diagnosed with leukaemia! Cute cameo by Marianne Faithful. Warning: there is mime in one story.

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Shift Happens

The little info-film Shift Happens has plenty I disagree with — including an assumption that its viewers are Americans. But it’s more food for thought about the massive changes happening in our world. Somehow our politicians never seem to have policies which take these changes into account.