Displaying items by tag: Richard Roxburgh

THE CORRESPONDENT

Australia, 2025, 119 minutes, Colour.

Richard Roxburgh, Julian Maroun, Rahel Romahn, Mojean Aria, Yael Stone, Nicholas Cassim, Faysall Bazzi, John Bell, Anna Volska...

Directed by Kriv Standers.

Peter Greste was a significant international journalist, covering uprisings and wars. At Christmas 2013, he agreed to stand in for several weeks in Cairo, working for Al Jazeera. This was the period of unrest in Egypt, the election of Morsi as Pres, the rule of The Muslim Brotherhood, then his overthrow by military coup and the leadership of Fattah el-Sisi. It was a period of unrest and civil demonstrations.

This is a film, based on Peter Greste’s memoir, of his time in an Egyptian prison, 400 days plus. The screenplay, effectively re-creating the period, the hardships of the internment, the injustices of the courts, was written by screenwriter and director, Peter Duncan. And the strong impact of the drama is communicated by one of his best performances by Richard Roxburgh.

The film was made in Australia, incorporating television footage from the period, a strong cast of Australian actors with Middle Eastern backgrounds. There is also a special cameo appearance by veteran Shakespearean actor, John Bell, with his wife, and Oscar, as Peter Greste’s parents.

For audiences not knowing the story of Krista himself, the focus will be on identifying with him and the sudden arrest, no explanations, harsh and rough treatment, interrogations, prison clothes, his cell, isolation, Egypt’s are remote from Australia, hope to help from the Australian Embassy, the uncertainty of what would happen, what could happen. He is supported by some of the fellow prisoners, by a young enthusiastic wants to be a journalist, as well is the internment of his two fellow workers for Al Jazeera, one sustaining injuries and eventually being taken to hospital, the other with wife and family, uncertain of his future.

As with this kind of story, there will be audience in dictation at the treatment of the journalist, at the fabricated charges, of the reading into is work of espionage and promotion of propaganda hostile to Egypt. The appointed defence lawyer is pressurised to publicly resign. The judge of the case issues a harsh seven year sentence.

Throughout the narrative of the internment, there are continued flashbacks to an experience in Somalia where Greste was working with an associate, Kate Payton, her impending marriage, their going into Mogadishu, uprisings, shootings, her being wounded… And, this episode being used by the prosecutor, twisted to condemn Greste

The latter part of the film, there are the issues of the long sentence, the possibility of appeal, the turning down of appeals, the possibility for hunger strikes in protest…

As expected, this is a very sombre film, audiences identifying with a journalist deprived of his freedom while doing his work, the harsh and isolating experience of the prisoner, and the relief when the issue is resolved.

But, for Greste himself, the case continues and he has continued support for all journalists, and several journalists in particular cases, who are unjustly imprisoned. And there is the alarming final statistic, after the real-life sequence of Greste’s release from prison, of the number of journalists who have been killed in action in the 2020s or arenas of, especially, Gaza and Ukraine.

1. Audience knowledge of Peter Greste and his imprisonment in Egypt, 2013-2015? Australia? For the world? The journalists and freedom worldwide?
2. The background, Peter Greste as journalist, age and experience, worldwide, the background of the story and the death in Somalia, doing a favour to take three weeks in Cairo, working for Al Jazeera?
3. The Egyptian situation, from the mid-1950s and the Suez crisis, NASA, Sadat, Mubarek, the Muslim Brotherhood, Morsi, the uprisings in North Africa from 2010? The situation in Egypt? Hostility towards The Muslim Brotherhood?
4. Greste at his hotel, out in the streets, the commentary about the uprisings? In his hotel, the police arriving, no identification, the demands, opening his safe, the threats, arresting him?
5. Audiences identifying with Peter Greste, the suddenness of the situation, no explanations, the treatment? His two colleagues being arrested? Interrogations, searches, prison gear, the cell? The isolation? The two colleagues, one with the injury, eventually going to hospital? The other and his friendship, situation at home with his wife and child? And the episodes are playing backgammon, with the prisoners, with the Major?
6. Peter Greste and his interchanges with the enthusiastic young man, wanting to be a journalist, enthusiastic, idealistic, supportive and Greste, his long sentence?
7. Time passing, the internment, the charges, political, subverting the government, planting international propaganda against the government? The hearings, the discussions? The severity of the interviews? The lawyer appointed to defend, the pressure on him, his public resignation?
8. The dramatic significance of intercutting the episode in Somalia, at various stages during the internment, building up the episode chronologically, Greste and his life, his ex-wife, women, with Kate, the mission in Mogadishu, his relationship with her, her intended wedding, the episode of the uprising, the shooting, her being wounded, transported, hospital, dying? And the interrogator using this episode to condemn Greste for not protecting Kate?
9. The visit from the Australian Embassy, unable to do much? The later contacts, the visits, the support?
10. The involvement of his brother, the visit from his mother and father, the family bonds, the Latvian background coming to Australia? Their work behind the scenes? The visit from the Latvian Embassy, the Latvian passport for him?
11. The long time passing, more than a year in internment? The bonding with some of the prisoners, the difficulties in language and translation, especially with the guards and their treatment? The backgammon games?
12. The case, the judge, the severity of the sentence, seven years? The response?
13. The issue of the appeal, world opinion, journalist uniting, articles in the media? The nature of the appeal, formulating the appeal? The issue of what would happen if it were not accepted? The prisoner and the issue of the hunger strike? Peter Greste and the determination for the appeal, the downturn, the hunger strike? The visit of his brother?
14. Behind-the-scenes, the interventions, the authorities coming to the cell, telling him that he could go, the farewell to his friend?
15. The return to Australia, Peter Greste and his campaigns ever since, supportive of journalists and freedom of the press? The news that the fellow workers were pardoned after seven more months?
16. A strong drama, a strong screen for freedom of the press and the work of journalists? And the statistics about so many deaths, especially in the 2020s, Gaza and Ukraine?

FORCE OF NATURE

Australia, 2024, 120 minutes, Colour.

Eric Bana, Anna Torv, Deborra-Lee Furness, Robin McLeavy, Sisi Stringer, Lucy Ansell, Jacqueline McKenzie, Jeremy Lindsay Taylor, Richard Roxburgh, Tony Briggs, Kenneth Radley, Archie Thomson, Ash Ricardo, Ingrid Torelli, Matilda May Pawsey.

Directed by Robert Connolly.

Novelist, Jane Harper, has had considerable success, critical and popular, with her detective stories featuring Federal Police investigator, Aaron Falk.

On screen, writer-director, Robert Connolly (Balibo, Blueback) directed Jane Harper’s novel, The Dry, popular with Australian audiences – and overseas. It introduced Eric Bana as the detective, in the desert outback of Northwestern Victoria, the complexities of life in the town, family relationships, murder.

While Force of Nature is advertised in the media as The Dry 2, that subtitle does not appear in this film at all. In fact, the temptation must have been to call this investigation The Wet or The Damp (not attractive marquee titles). Rather, there is the force of nature in the mountain terrains where the action takes place, filmed in the Otway Ranges, the Dandenongs just outside Melbourne, the Yarra Valley. And, the scenery is often beautiful, moments breathtaking, mountains, forests, valleys, creeks, waterfall.

The occasion for the action is one of those team-building retreats popular with some corporations. This time there is a focus on a group of women employees in an international company which, in fact, is under investigation by the Federal Police, donations to charities but also the funding of human trafficking, money-laundering… An the face of the company for the film is veteran, Richard Roxburgh.

However, it is his wife, played by Deborra Lee Furness, strong-minded, employing the women, testing them, leading them out into the mountains, wanting to bind them together. But, at the film’s opening, Aaron Falk receives a phone call from one of the team members, cut-off. The audience then sees some of the members of the group emerging from the bush, onto a road, hailing down traffic, but the revelation that one of the team is missing, the woman who made the phone call, Alice.

The screenplay for the film, by Robert Connolly, parallels the structure of novels, bringing one episode to a climax or moment of tension, then moving to another aspect of the story, then another, and back, developing the narrative, creating issues because this is a police investigation.

We are invited to concentrate on the women on their walk, their personalities (well developed for our understanding of them), bonding, clashes, getting lost, struggling in the dark, finding an abandoned hut (and the screenplay indicating a story of a serial killer in the bush 40 years earlier). While Jill, the leader, is a strong personality, the focus is on Alice, played by Anna Torv (reminding audiences that she can play dominating, tormented, sometimes self-doubting characters as in her award-winning performances in The Newsreader).

There is also the threat of plot with Alice, an informant to the Federal police, financial difficulties of her own, pressured to get information on the company, clashing with her close friend, Lauren, also on the trek, and their daughters both going to the same exclusive school. When Alice disappears, her friend spent a lot of time standing on the top of a fast waterfall, looking and hoping for her return.

But, keeping it all together is the investigation by Aaron Falk, Eric Bana once again an engaging screen presence, supported by a tough Jacqueline McKenzie as his partner. What enhances his presence is a stream of flashbacks to his boyhood, accompanying his enthusiastic bushwalking parents into the mountains, learning a great deal about bushcraft, the stars and directions, searching for his mother after an accident in the bush, standing in for in good contribution as the search for Alice proceeds.

As with all good mysteries and investigations, there are some unanticipated twists in the plot – but, the audience sporting a clue halfway through and wondering where it will lead, unexpectedly bringing the investigation to a satisfying conclusion.

1. The popularity of Jane Harper’s novels? The impact of the film version of The Dry? This story as a stand-alone story?
2. The title, the visualising of nature, mountain ranges, hills and valleys, treason paths, rivers and creeks, waterfalls, the seasons, rain, storms? The musical score?
3. A federal police investigation story, the role of Aaron Falk, audience knowledge of him from the previous film? Eric Bana and his screen presence and performance? The focus on him and his work, partnership with Carmen, no personal background story? The contrast with the back story of his childhood, his travels in the mountains and forests, drawing on his learning and experience, his father teaching him, the support of his mother, his mother lost, the accident, finding her, the rescue, hospital? His finally telling the story to Carmen? His background enabling him to help in the search to find Alice?
4. The corporate business story, the role of Alice, the desperate phone call from the mountains, her work in the company, stealing the money, paying for her daughter’s education at the privileged school, Aaron and Carmen and their hold over her, her filming the documents, the meetings with the two, her fears, resistance, the fact of the filming, the USB stick, her going on the retreat, the meeting with Daniel and the misinterpretation, his wanting the information from her, her dominating personality, bullying, disagreeing with people wanting her own way, hiding the USB stick? Her relationship with Lauren, the past, school, their daughters, the bullying, Lauren and the clash, Alice not apologising, the attack, Alice hitting her head, her death?
5. The retreat story, the company, Jill as leader, hiring Alice, keep an eye on the staff, hiring Bree and Beth, the retreat for team making and building, her personality, her relationship with her husband, suspicions about Alice, her role in the retreat, leadership and decisions?
6. Daniel, the company, charities, money-laundering? His presence, the meeting with Alice? Suspicions? Not wanting Jilll to talk to Aaron without a lawyer? Jill talking, their secret? His final confrontation with Aaron, the role of the police, Aaron and his hostility, and the final victory with the recovery the USB stick?
7. The intercutting of the women, the trek, the manager, his leadership, the information about the tracks, the flags on the trees, the nightly shelters and provisions? The portrait of the women, Jill and her leadership, Lauren and her experience, Alice and her domination, always quibbling, expectations, the two sisters, the revelation about Beth and the drugs, stealing from her sister, the revelation that her sister informed the police, Bree and her moving the body, thinking that Beth had killed her? The funnel-web attack? The women and their secrecy, Lauren standing at the waterfall waiting for Alice to come back? The two sisters, one thinking the other guilty? Jill and supplying information? The visualising of the fight, Jill being punched, Alice and her leaving, the revelation of the confrontation with Lauren, the phone call to Aaron? Her death? Her relationship with her daughter?
8. The intercutting of all the themes, the local police, traditional methods, finding Aaron intervening? His skills, connecting with the camp organiser, the story of the serial killer and his victims, the women finding the hut, the dog’s burial, the mound? Aaron, finding the hut, burial place, and consolation for the families of the victims of long ago?
9. The pieces all coming together, the business aspects and the USB stick and the federal police investigating Daniel in the company? Lauren and her fall over the waterfall, Aaron rescuing her? Taken into custody? Her future? The two sisters and the reconciliation? The two daughters and their future?
10. A satisfying blend of a variety of themes and stories and strong delineation of characters?