Comments on A Life In Film: The tyranny of ability (The Black Balloon)

I feel ambivalent about the never ending preoccupa...

2008-04-22T23:39:00.000+10:00

I feel ambivalent about the never ending preoccupation of Australian films with adolescence.

I think it has to do with the filmmakers having an idea in their own adolescence, and holding on to it doggedly for 15-20 years until they finally succeed in interesting the government funding system, who think it might appeal to a youth market...

or maybe it's just our kitchen sink alter ego to television soap operas which keep many of the same filmmakers employed?

During last year's MIFF, I saw so many Asian films...

2008-03-06T22:01:00.000+11:00

During last year's MIFF, I saw so many Asian films that were in a similar genre (quiet contemplative arthouse films) that I got fatigued by their similarity and lost my objectivity. I felt each one was worthy but I was numbed by the lack of diversity.

Similarly, The Black Balloon may be a worthy film, but I can't appreciate it in isolation because I'm all fatigued by the multitude of Aussie coming-of-age stories of the last year. I acknowledge that it was probably the best of the buncht, but it still did little for me.