Drama on the screen
IT’S the time of the year when a raft of blockbuster films are released in Australian cinemas, including many Oscar contenders. Adam Blau previews some of the January releases with Jewish connections.
Into the Woods
ADAPTED from Jewish composer Stephen Sondheim’s Tony Award-winning Broadway show of the same name, the fantasy musical Into the Woods – from Walt Disney Pictures – will delight audiences young and old, as plots from several of the Grimm Brothers’ most beloved fairy tales are intertwined.
Directed by Rob Marshall (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) and starring Meryl Streep, Anna Kendrick and Chris Pine, the film is set around a couple who were cursed to be childless by a witch (Streep) and journey into an enchanted forest to retrieve magical items said to bring an end to their ill fate.
Cinderella (Kendrick), the Wolf (Jonny Depp), Rapunzel (Mackenzie Mauzy) and Jack (Daniel Huttlestone) are just some of famous storybook characters in the film, while many of Sondheim’s original songs are used on the soundtrack.
Screens from January 8.
Unbroken
BASED on the best-selling non-fiction book Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption and tailored for the screen by the Coen brothers – Joel and Ethan – the film directed by Angelina Jolie has all the ingredients of a classic wartime epic.
Unbroken tells the true story of Louis Zamperini (Jack O’Connell), an Olympic track star-turned-World War II hero who spends 47 days adrift in the Pacific Ocean before being caught by the Japanese.
He then spends nearly three years in prisoner of war camps. Despite Universal Pictures having acquired the film rights to Zamperini’s life story in the 1950s, its lengthy production means the real life hero will miss his tribute after he died in July this year aged 97.
Screens from January 15.
Mortdecai
JEWISH actors Gwyneth Paltrow and Jeff Goldblum provide the strong supporting cast for this jazzy caper, which stars Johnny Depp as mischievous art dealer Charles Mortdecai on his search for a stolen painting that holds the key to a bank account filled with Nazi gold.
Directed by David Koepp and adapted from a book trilogy by Kyril Bonfiglioli, the film throws up plenty of obstacles for Mortdecai on his way to the treasure in the form of a British inspector (Ewan McGregor), his leggy wife (Paltrow) and some angry Russians, which Depp overcomes with his usual debonair charm.
It is the second collaboration between Depp and Koepp, following the 2004 psychological thriller Secret Window.
Screens from January 29.
Foxcatcher
ALREADY touted as an Oscar frontrunner, Foxcatcher is a chilling true story of Olympic wrestling brothers Mark (Channing Tatum) and David Schultz (Mark Ruffalo), who join Team Foxcatcher as they train for the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul.
Steve Carrel stars as John du Pont, the eccentric millionaire backer of the Foxcatchers, and whose heavy vested interest in the Schultz brothers, particularly Mark, leads to unforeseen and tragic consequences.
Co-penned by E Max Frye and Jewish screenwriter Dan Futterman, director Bennet Miller brings their words to life with a captivating insight into motivation, manipulation, and success at the ultimate cost.
Miller won the best director award at the Cannes Film Festival.
Screens from January 29.
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