North & South – June 2019

92 | NORTH & SOUTH| JUNE 2019

RaveReview

CaminoSkies

DocEdgefestival(Auckland,

6-7June;Wellington17, 18

& 21June):Documentary

Howdowefindmeaningin

humansuffering?Perhaps

bysimplyputtingonefoot

infrontofanother– for

800km,if you’rewalkingthe

CaminodeSantiago,where

yourstepsbecome“almost

likea mantra...givingusthe

strengthtogoon”.Fewof

the“pilgrims”whoshare

theirjourneyinCamino

Skiesarereligious,butall

havestoriesofphysicalor

personaltrauma,sensitively

unfoldedbyMelbourne-

basedco-directorsFergus

GradyandNoelSmyth(also

thecinematographer,he

walkedtheentiretrailfrom

FrancetoSpaincarryingall

hiscameragear).Grady,an

expatKiwi,worethesame

clothesfor 40 days,although

hedidescapethebedbugs

midwaythroughfora week

attheCannesFilmFestival.

HedescribestheCaminoas

a spiritualplacewherepeo-

plecansharetheirvulnera-

bilitiesandnotfeeljudged.

“That’squiterareinthisday

andage.”Featuredamong 65

localandinternationalfilms

attheDocEdgefestival

(docedge.nz),CaminoSkies

opensnationwideon 11 July.

Acharityscreeningisalso

beingheldon5 Julyatthe

IsaacTheatreRoyalin

Christchurchtoraisemoney

forvictimsofthemosque

shootings. JOANNAWANE

TheFavourite

DVD: Historical drama (R13)

Acostumedrama?Period

romp?Neithercomesclose

tocapturingdirectorYorgos

Lanthimos’takeonthedark,

lusty,nastygoings-oninthe

18th-centurycourtofQueen

Anne(playedwithpetulant,

imperious,bulimicbrilliance

byOscar-winningactressOlivia

Colman).Englandis atwar,but

therealbattleisbetweenthe

Queen’sadviserandchildhood

friendLadySarahChurchill

(RachelWeisz)andthenew

arrivalatcourt:thecannyand

ambitiousAbigailMasham

(EmmaStone),Churchill’s

cousinandrivalfortheQueen’s

affections.Besidestheschem-

ing,there’sindoorduckracing,

ridiculouswigsandrabbits

runningamokintheroyalbed-

chamber.TheFavouriteisreal

history– gloriouslyembel-

lished– andthethreewomen

atthecoreofthistragicomic

talewilldemandyouratten-

tionforeverymad,thrilling

minute. VIRGINIALARSON

MaryQueenofScots

DVD: Historical drama (R13)

Comparedtothebrilliant,

rollicking awfulnesso f

TheFavourite, thisis a farmore

seriousanddouraffair.Well,

it is setlargelyinPresbyterian

Scotland.Theartdirectionis

stunningbuttheatredirector

JosieRourke’sdebutfeature

filmis curiouslybloodless,giv-

enthevariousgrislyhatchings

anddispatchingsportrayedon

screen.SaoirseRonanutter-

lyinhabitstheyoungMary,

withallherfierceintelligence

andsharpangles– andhas

farmorefunwiththerole

thanMargotRobbiedoesas

ElizabethI (althoughweall

know who gets the last laugh

inthatroyalpowerplay).Key

figuresinanextraordinarype-

riodofhistory,theyaretobe

admiredbutalsopitied,locked

inwhat’sbeendescribedas

botha duelanda kindoflove

affairbetweentwowomen

whoknewwhatit wastobe

lonelyandsurrounded bydu-

plicitousmen.

JOANNAWANE

OurPlanet

Netflixdocumentaryseries

and companion book

It isa sunnyday,anda spar-

klingseapartssmoothlyover

a vastgreyheadbelow,soclose

wecanseeanelegantbutmus-

cularnostrilopentobreathe.

Dangling– viasupremecin-

ematicart–metresoverthe

twinimmensitiesofa blue

whaleandhercalfoffthe

Mexicancoastmakesfor

awe-inspiringtelevision.But

wearenotjusttouristshere,

andDavidAttenborough’snar-

ration,whileasenthusiasticas

ever,hasa newedge.Whaling

hasdecimatedthenumbersof

bluewhales;withinternation-

alprotection,theyarebegin-

ningtoreturnfromthebrink.

Butthesituationformuchof

thenaturalworld– acrossan

Earthheatingtoofastforecol-

ogiestocope– is dire,evenfor

creaturesonceasnumerous

ascaribou.Satellitepictures

showmassivehabitatloss

fromMadagascartotheArctic:

landscapes,plantsandanimals

gougedbymonoculturesand

climatechange.Attenborough

hasfilmedamongtheseland-

scapesformostofhislonglife,

anddoesn’tpullhispunch-

es.“Whatwedointhenext

20 yearswilldeterminethe

future for all life on Earth,”

hesays,a poignantcomment

froma 92-year-old.Thefirst

naturedocumentaryNetflix

hasmade,it’sa doozy,asto

beexpectedfromtheteam

behindBBCdocumentaries

PlanetEarth,FrozenPlanet

andTheBluePlanet, andgiv-

entheshockedexchangeson

socialmediaabout“thewalrus

scene”.A companionvolume

OurPlanet, a coffee-tablebook

withjaw-droppingstillsfrom

theseries,wasreleasedin

April.Let’shopeit isa mani-

festoforchange– ratherthan

a recordofwhatweareabout

to lose. JENNY NICHOLLS

FILM & TELEVISION

the best of the month

f

Julie

Zarifeh:

walking

through

the pain.