Comments on: Film review – Blessed (2009)

By: Thomas Caldwell

Thomas Caldwell — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 04:35:36 +0000

I mostly agree Paul. I don’t think films like Blessed are themselves the problem but I think a lack of diversity that has seen a big recent output of such films is worth examining. After the success of Lantana far too many ‘worthy adult dramas’ were produced in an attempt to capitalise on its success by hoping to repeat it. The same thing happened with the glut of working-class comedies after The Castle, ironic crime films post Two Hands and Chopper and quirky low budget comedies post Love and Other Catastrophes. Last year was tremendously diverse for Australian cinema and Blessed – like it or love it (or like us have mixed feelings) – was part of that diversity.

By: Paul Martin

Paul Martin — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 03:18:09 +0000

The blanket dismissal of all Australian films is certainly unfair and the question is whether a film is well-made or not, and not whether the subject is bleak. Despite its strengths, the main problem with Blessed is that it was made by an old paradigm of Australian film-making that has been well and truly rejected at the box office – politically correct, ‘worthy’, ‘kitchen sink dramas’ that we’ve had to endure wholesale for so long. If there hadn’t already been a hundred films like it, maybe we could embrace it. 2009 showed that we can make different films and now we need to build on that.

By: Thomas Caldwell

Thomas Caldwell — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 22:28:18 +0000

I actually think Australian films suffer at the box office partly because they are unfairly all dismissed as being gloomy and depressing. People see one or two films that they don’t like and therefore assume those films are indicative of the whole industry.

By: Alex

Alex — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 13:11:33 +0000

Blessed = cursed.

No wonder Aussie films are failing at the box office.

By: Mark Nicholls

Mark Nicholls — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 11:39:46 +0000

I have to agree with Ian, the Indigenous story line was the only part of the film I liked. The rest of it was dreadful, wallowing around in its on self pity like a spoilt Goth. 1/2 star.

By: Thomas Caldwell

Thomas Caldwell — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 04:47:26 +0000

Hi Ian. My main problem with the Indigenous story was that there was too little of it, hence it felt a little tacked on. The actual scenes that were in the film I really liked and I especially liked Wayne Blair’s performance as James (I think his name was James, not Paul).

However, I have to admit that after reading your very considered take on the importance of this aspect of the film I am inclined to reassess my feelings to both its place in the film and the film as a whole. Despite my initial mixed feelings about Blessed it is a film that has stayed with me and the more I think about it the more I like it.

So thank you very much for dropping by and sharing your close reading of the scenes in question. You’ve certainly prompted me to reconsider my stance.

Cheers
Thomas

By: ianhart

ianhart — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 11:06:59 +0000

I disagree with you about the aboriginal story. It is quite subtly told and it takes you a long way into the movie to discover what it’s about or even why it’s there. Most reviewers, I’ve noticed, ignore this episode preferring to concentrate on the shoplifting schoolgirls, the poky-playing mum or Frances O’Connor’s heart-rending screams. But there’s a wonderful back story to the old lady that you pick up from the left-wing books on her shelves – Marx, Lenin. Kafka… she gives the boy a novel by Steinbeck – and finally the photo of the two of them in Red Square. It’s oblique but pointed indictment of the Australian Communist movement of the 1930s to 50s that admired the USSR and “saved” little black boys like Paul. To me it’s one of the most subtle and effective aspects of this wonderful film. And an important “theoretical” perspective on the working class.

By: Paul Martin

Paul Martin — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 12:43:30 +0000

I have such incredibly mixed feelings about this film

Yeah, I know what you mean. The film ended and the missus asked me “what did you think?” and I was just stunned and couldn’t talk. I just sat there quiet for a couple of minutes to compose myself. I was surprised how much the film affected me because I thought it made many of the same mistakes that so many recent Australian family dramas have made. But, as I mentioned, Kokkinos manages to recover from them. For me, it could have been 4-5 stars, but I can only give it 3.5.

By: Thomas Caldwell

Thomas Caldwell — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 05:21:40 +0000

It ends as a 4 to 5 star film but yes, it is overall held back by a weak beginning that I think is mainly due to inherent script issues. I have such incredibly mixed feelings about this film because so much of it is astonishing.

By: Paul Martin

Paul Martin — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 13:38:36 +0000

I agree about the performances, which save Kokkinos’ film. Kokkinos does a remarkable job of recovering from multiple blunders she makes in the set-up but then delivers powerful emotional repercussions. The film would have been so much better had she not shot herself in the foot so many times at the start. At least it comes together well at the end, rather than so many films that start with promise but descend into mash at the end.