features

James Lee

Malaysia | 2002 | 108mins | Beta | Colour | Subtitled

When aimless drifter Berg is offered a room at DVD salesman Andrew's rented accommodation it rekindles memories among his housemates of a previous occupant: an artist who disappeared three years previously.

The ethereal Berg spends his time morose-ly watching television and habitually puffing joylessly on a cigarette in direct violation of the caretaker's rules. Before long an exas-perated Andrew is pleading with Berg to get a job but by no means does his listlessness make his behaviour stand out as odd when compared to the other tenants who also include a ghost. There is the struggling script-writer Wei who tries to barter his wife for rent, the struggling artist who lives in the disappeared artist's shadow and Ling who harbours a dark secret. Even the pious monk who has come to perform an exorcism has his quirk.

Possessing the same looseness as that of its characters this is a mystery without a resolution. From minimal dialogue and dead pan acting comes an unexpected sense of humour that, while caustic, never undermines the affection the film has for the characters.

Brian Dannelly

USA | 2004 | 92mins | 35mm | Colour

Saved! is a sweet, sassy and politically incorrect comedy; often happily over the top, about a group of privileged teenagers who struggle to reconcile their faith with the moral pitfalls life has placed before them.

The hero of the piece is Mary, a righteous teen at a Christian high school. After learning that her boyfriend may be gay, she makes a deal with Jesus to sacrifice her virginity in order to cure him of his 'faggotry'. Though the ploy fails, Mary ends up pregnant. Thus she begins her final year at American Eagles with a big problem, one that she conceals from her flighty mom and her coterie of God-fearing friends, who are led by hypocrite queen-bee Hilary Faye. However, her condition does not escape the attention of Hilary Faye's wheelchair bound brother Roland or the school's only Jewish student, Cassandra. When news of her pregnancy spreads, the reaction of others is less sympathetic.

Cate Shortland

Australia | 2004 | 106mins | 35mm | Colour

In its simplest terms, this is a rites-of-passage film: a teenage girl, just becoming aware of her sexuality, makes a careless, ill-advised pass at her mother's boyfriend; caught in the act, she runs away to the Snowy Mountains, where she finds a job and a room and embarks upon a series of encounters, that mark her definitive entry into the adult world. She seems to seek a sexual connection with every man she meets. But it's also a meditation on gender politics, and a critique of youth culture.

She finds refuge in the ski resort town of Jindabyne. Without any means of living she is forced to struggle to survive until the day when she meets Joe the son of a rich farmer. Her directness strikes unexpected chords in the handsome Joe with whom she begins a complex relationship.

A visually haunting story of an adolescent girl's discovery of the difference between sex and love in the winter landscape of an Australian ski resort town. It is, however, an ultimately hopeful film that affirms the value of forgiveness without easy catharsis.