Brian McFarlane
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Articles by Brian McFarlane
Austen adapted (again) • Brian McFarlane
The screen — both large and small — has been addicted to the works of Jane Austen over the past several decades. As a long-time admirer of her novels, I’ve seen most of the film adaptations, dating back to the 1940 version of Pride and Prejudice, starring Laurence Olivier and Greer Garson. These film and TV versions invariably prompt discussion about how they align, or otherwise, with the source novels, though the concern about how faithful they are to Austen seems less now than in the past.
More to come? • Brian McFarlane
Prolific and versatile across various continents, Bruce Beresford, as director and sometimes as producer and writer, has been the great craftsman of Australian film.
Transmutations • Brian McFarlane
It probably doesn’t happen very often that two tonally perfect novels (or novellas in this case) become adapted into two tonally perfect films. My claim is that this is the case with Irish author Claire Keegan’s two slim volumes, Foster (published in 2010, 88 pages) and Small Things Like These (2021, 110 pages), in neither of which is a superfluous word.
Half truths • Inside Story
We seem to be getting a run of films based on true events and actual people: think of One Life and Killers of the Flower Moon for example. The latest are The Great Escaper and Wicked Little Letters, but they, like the others, also allow for extra characters and events in the interests of dramatic context and tension.
1967 Maple Leafs Cup title remembered by man who called game on TV
McFarlane recalls team that will be honored during All-Star Weekend By Brian McFarlane / Special to NHL.com January 30, 2024 Editor’s Note: The NHL Alumni Association will pay tribute to the 1967 Stanley Cup champion Toronto Maple Leafs on Feb. 1, as part of NHL All-Star Thursday at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. The NHLAA’s “Keith Magnuson Man of the Year” award will salute the seven living members of the Maple Leafs’ most recent championship.
“I have to do something”
The idea of “goodness” is probably not among the most popular narrative sources in commercial cinema, but that is in fact — and I mean “fact” — the essence of director James Hawes’s first feature film. That is to say, One Life is based on the achievements of a real-life figure who derived his sense of worth from doing work of a goodness that he rightly saw as crucial.
Feedback Loop Vol. 10: An Experimental Music Series
About this Event Experimental music show with audience dialogue about tools and process. Tickets for Feedback Loop Vol. 10: An Experimental Music Series can be booked here. There is no photo available at this moment Are you the host?
Feedback Loop 8: An Experimental Music Series
About this Event Experimental music show with audience dialogue about tools and process. Tickets for Feedback Loop 8: An Experimental Music Series can be booked here. There is no photo available at this moment Are you the host?
Life itself • Brian McFarlane reviews Past Lives
It takes some nerve for a reviewer to describe a film as “perfect.” In the case of Celine Song’s Past Lives, however, I’m prepared to take the risk. What does it mean thus to describe it? Perhaps it is a matter of responding moment by moment to what we’re being shown without being distracted by issues of, say, technique. I’m not the only viewer struck in this way: audiences at the Sundance Film Festival rated it highly, and elsewhere it is a possible candidate for the best film of the year.
'Finding ourselves in Australian films' by Brian McFarlane
Commentary Commentary Why on earth should Australian filmmakers want to try replicating Hollywood? No one can do Hollywood as well as Hollywood can, and the attempts to emulate it have usually, perhaps inevitably, led to flavourless or otherwise misbegotten enterprises. I know that this is the era of international co-productions, and that where the money comes from is undoubtedly influential, but where the creative personnel come from is surely still more so.
Lives in motion • Brian McFarlane
If you have had all the exposure you need to the wild action and CGI of, say, the Marvel movies or the Mission Impossible franchise, and if you feel you’d like a movie about actual people, Driving Madeleine may well be the film for you. By “actual people,” I don’t mean characters drawn from real life but characters observed and presented as if they were. What is it about people in cars that can make for such riveting film fare?
101 Fascinating Canadian Music Facts
Published October 2023 101 true stories to surprise and delight Canadian music fans. Did you know that Serena Ryder played the quietest concert ever from the ocean floor during low tide at Fundy National Park? Or that “I’ll Never Smile Again,” the hit that launched Frank Sinatra’s career, was written by Toronto pianist Ruth Lowe? What about 12-year-old Liberty Silver singing in a reggae band that opened for Bob Marley at Madison Square Garden?
Riding into town with a new approach to the Western
This article was added by the user . TheWorldNews is not responsible for the content of the platform. By Brian McFarlane August 26, 2022 — 4.00pm FICTION The Stranger Kathryn Hore Allen & Unwin, $32.99 As a life-long fan of Westerns, whose favourite film is John Ford’s The Searchers, I am always interested in their settings, atmosphere and key narratives, and am also taken by the way they offer variants on the latter.
Brian McFarlane’s extensive catalogue now includes his memoir
Brian McFarlane has written so many books he has lost count, but never one about his life in hockey. Approaching age 90, he finally decided it was time, at the behest of Michael Holmes, executive editor at ECW. McFarlane is familiar to generations of fans from his three-decade tenure at Hockey Night in Canada as well as working in the U.S. with CBS and NBC. His connection to the game is deep. As a standout NCAA player, he scored over 100 goals in his college career.
Information warfare • Margaret Simons
When violent protesters took over the streets of Melbourne a fortnight ago, I was following them closely through their social media channels. I saw the “mainstream media” and specific journalists threatened, and talk of marching on the headquarters of the ABC and Nine. It was frightening and depressing. Some reporters were even attacked in the street. Hidden by the violent actions and rhetoric, though, was another, less explicit message.
Churchill on — and sometimes behind — the screen • Brian McFarlane
Having not been able to see a film in a cinema for quite some time, I have been grateful for SBS On Demand screenings, among them Jonathan Teplitzky’s Churchill, released in 2017 and now available on Amazon Prime and elsewhere, and John Fleet’s 2019 documentary, Churchill and the Movie Mogul, which was shown at the Jewish Film Festival earlier this year, and can now be viewed on Vimeo.
The best form of defence? • Hamish McDonald
After little more than three months, Peter Dutton’s move into the defence portfolio is looking like an astute prime ministerial decision, especially with Scott Morrison’s perceived prowess as a marketeer coming into increasing question. The odds of defence being a stepping stone to greater things are not high.
Being David Gulpilil • Brian McFarlane
Since his first screen appearance in Nicolas Roeg’s Walkabout (1971) as the unnamed boy who helps rescue two privileged children stranded in the outback, David Gulpilil has been a significant figure in the New Australian Cinema. In fact, that film might almost be said to have ushered in the revival. Since then, Gulpilil has invariably brought to his roles a potent charisma and a sense of effortlessly inhabiting his characters.
“The preservation of pure learning” • Frank Bongiorno
Liberal Party types are fond of referring to Robert Menzies’s famous “The Forgotten People” broadcast, but they quote from it less often, unless it’s to distinguish lifters from leaners.
Holding on | Inside Story
Although dementia may seem an uninviting cinematic subject, the on-screen result can be satisfyingly challenging and not necessarily cheerless. How the viewer responds will depend on how the filmmaker has gone about representing dementia — not a particularly original observation, perhaps, but one that is crucial to coming to terms with three recent films on the subject. This is not to say that dementia is new to the cinema.
A style we could call our own? • Gary Werskey
“Australian impressionism” is the Australian art world’s most powerful brand. It sells like no other in our major galleries, private dealerships and leading auction houses. I’ll wager that you, too, have acquired over the years some impressionist “merch” — calendars, fridge magnets, catalogues, posters, postcards or tea towels. One of the powerful engines driving this branding has been the blockbuster exhibition.
Raising Kane • Brian McFarlane
It’s hard to know what David Fincher’s Mank would mean to film-watchers who don’t know Citizen Kane. But: (a) are there many such persons?; (b) if they exist, they should quickly repair this crucial omission from their film-going histories; and (c) Mank is an absorbing enough study in its own right to warrant attention.
Questions and answers about tokenization of real estate
By Leonid Gurevich, Eric Tuckman and Brian McFarlane Tokenization, as it pertains to real estate, is the process of creating a virtual token that would represent ownership of a type of real estate asset. This is similar to the recent digital asset craze, non-fungible tokens (“NFTs”), except a real estate token would be tied to the value of a physical asset. With the rise of virtual tokens, here are some common questions asked about their use. How does tokenization work in real estate?
Chronicle of a death foretold • Brian McFarlane
To come clean at the outset on two matters: I have no idea what the title Blackbird refers to; and I have never seen the 2014 Danish film Silent Heart of which the new film is a remake. The odd bird might fly by in British director Roger Michell’s film, but none seems to have made an impact on this viewer or the narrative. If it’s a reference to the ancient song, “Bye Bye Blackbird,” then it is not a very subtle allusion in a film about a planned death.
Foiled expectations | Kerrie Davies
1005 words Foiled expectations 12 February 2021 Books | Despite the discouraging news reaching London, hundreds of women ventured from Britain to the colonies in search of work Right: Colonial aristocrats: William Knox and his family at their home near Rockhampton, with their governess at right. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland Colonial aristocrats: William Knox and his family at their home near Rockhampton, with their governess at right.
Reckless game | Brian McFarlane
Russian Roulette: The Life and Times of Graham Greene By Richard Greene | Little, Brown | $34.99 | 608 pages From the start, Richard Greene makes clear his approach to writing this monumental biography of Graeme Greene (no relation), undoubtedly one of the twentieth century’s most widely read and respected authors. “That well-worn phrase, ‘life and times,’ is actually the essence of this book,” he writes.
'The Dig' (Netflix)
Though one of the most sparing titles in recent film history, The Dig announces what proves to be one of the richest cinema experiences for some time. Based on true events and on John Preston’s 2007 novel of the same name, Simon Stone’s film creates a subtly textured account of a historical phenomenon as well as a moving reflection on the lives that are transformed by this.
Figures in a landscape | Brian McFarlane
When the Icelandic film with the same name (at least in translation) and premise as Jeremy Sims’s Rams was released in 2015, I was in the wrong country at the wrong time — Britain, then back in Australia — and missed its screenings in both places. If I read anything about it at the time, I’ve forgotten, so when I saw the Australian film version I came to it with no baggage at all.
Enemies of the people: how a small minority is exercising outsized influence in Germany | Klaus Neumann
Meeting at short notice on Sunday, chancellor Angela Merkel and Germany’s sixteen state premiers finally pulled the emergency brake. From this Wednesday, measures to halt the spread of Covid-19 will be ratcheted up. Most shops will close, even though this means missing out on Christmas business. Most secondary students will start the school holidays early. Companies will be urged to let their staff work from home. Private meetings will be limited to no more than five people from two households.
Film Remakes by Constantine Verevis
“Not a patch on the old film” is likely to be the common response to most remakes, perhaps without too much thought going into the opinion. Or into what constitutes a film “remake”. Gus Van Sant’s Psycho (1998) set a new level of tenacious adherence to its predecessor, the director avowedly setting out to re-film the Hitchcock classic virtually shot-by-shot.
Can we make work work (while maybe doing less of it)? | Andrew Leigh
You’re Paid What You’re Worth: And Other Myths of the Modern Economy By Jake Rosenfeld | Harvard University Press | $49.95 | 384 pages The Work of the Future: Building Better Jobs in an Age of Intelligent Machines By David Autor, David Mindell and Elisabeth Reynolds | MIT Work of the Future Task Force | Free download | 92 pages Time for Things: Labor, Leisure, and the Rise of Mass Consumption By Stephen Rosenberg | Harvard University Press | US$49.95 | 368 pages Liberty Ashes is a private...
Strangers in the dark | Brian McFarlane
1150 words Strangers in the dark 26 November 2020 Books | Film critic David Thomson offers an idiosyncratic take on some of cinema’s greatest directors Right: The compulsion of looking: Thelma Ritter, Grace Kelly and James Stewart on the poster promoting Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window (1954). Pictorial Press/Alamy The compulsion of looking: Thelma Ritter, Grace Kelly and James Stewart on the poster promoting Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window (1954).
Hard-hat utopians | John Quiggin
709 words Hard-hat utopians 12 July 2020 State and federal strategies are ignoring where the jobs really are Right: Hi-vis recovery? Prime minister Scott Morrison. Lukas Coch/AAP Image Hi-vis recovery? Prime minister Scott Morrison. Lukas Coch/AAP Image The Covid-19 pandemic has focused attention on many kinds of workers, some of whom are usually almost invisible, working behind the scenes or outside normal hours. Cleaners, whose work is normally taken for granted, are suddenly of vital importance.
Iannucci gets inside Dickens
1075 words Iannucci gets inside Dickens 10 July 2020 Cinema | An unlikely coupling produces a vivid two hours of cinematic storytelling Right: Responding: Dev Patel as David Copperfield. Responding: Dev Patel as David Copperfield. When it comes to adapting literary works to film, I have never favoured slavish reverence to the original, however much I’ve admired the antecedent work.
The Jokowi phenomenon
IN THE grand, white, pillared building facing Indonesia’s National Monument in Jakarta is the office of Indonesia’s most talked-about figure, city governor Joko Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi. Although he has yet to nominate as a candidate for the Indonesian presidency, Jokowi is leading in all the major polls, some of which see him attracting as much as 45 per cent of the vote, with his nearest rival at around 12 per cent.
Long march | Inside Story
Two months ago, Times Square — the pulsating, neon heart of New York City — fell silent. Usually a gnarl of pedestrians, tourists, hawkers and cars, the district emptied out as Covid-19 ravaged the city, killing nearly 30,000 New Yorkers in just a few months. The traffic lights still flashed and the billboards still glowed, but the people were gone.
Film as history | Brian McFarlane
953 words Film as history 29 May 2020 Books | The big screen offers a unique perspective on the past Right: The big city: John McCallum and Googie Withers in It Always Rains on Sunday (1947). Film Forum/Rialto Pictures The big city: John McCallum and Googie Withers in It Always Rains on Sunday (1947). Film Forum/Rialto Pictures Film and the Historian: The British Experience By Philip Gillett | Cambridge Scholars Publishing | £61.99 | 262 pages Films are a unique source of historical information.
Downhill — but not all the way | Brian McFarlane
915 words Downhill — but not all the way 1 April 2020 Cinema | Dealt with harshly by many critics, this remake has its strengths Right: Ice into slush? Will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus in Downhill. Fox Searchlight Ice into slush? Will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus in Downhill. Fox Searchlight The critical response to Nat Faxon and Jim Rash’s Downhill seems much influenced by the fact that it’s a remake of a comparatively recent film, Force Majeure (2014).
Emma rules again | Brian McFarlane
1112 words Emma rules again 6 March 2020 Cinema | Autumn De Wilde takes just enough liberties with Jane Austen’s classic Right: “The most interesting Emma and Harriet I can remember”: Anya Taylor-Joy (right) and Mia Goth in Emma. “The most interesting Emma and Harriet I can remember”: Anya Taylor-Joy (right) and Mia Goth in Emma. What is it about Jane Austen?
A beautiful time at the cinema | Brian McFarlane
954 words A beautiful time at the cinema 14 February 2020 Tom Hanks and Matthew Rhys brilliantly capture real-life characters in this engrossing film You don’t need to have heard of Fred Rogers, and I hadn’t, to relish A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. The descriptor it features — “Inspired by a true story” — always seems to me to make life sound much more orderly than is usually the case.
Reluctant monarch | Brian McFarlane
It’s hard to think of a film that comes to us with as much baggage — or “intertextuality,” to put it in more scholarly terms — as The King.
The lie that binds | Brian McFarlane
A family getting together (sometimes with the odd friend thrown in) is surely one of the most enduring premises in film history. Last month I wrote about the recent Australian exemplar of this narrative starter, Palm Beach; and since then Downton Abbey, the feature-film version of the wildly popular TV series, has shown us how posh English families conduct themselves. But best of all at the moment is the American–Chinese production, Lulu Wang’s The Farewell.
Another Palm Beach | Brian McFarlane
There is nothing like a reunion of family and friends (in film and perhaps even in real life) to disperse sweetness and light as storm clouds gather. Think of Don’s Party (1976) or August: Osage County (2013), or dozens before, between and after them. Rachel Ward’s new film, Palm Beach, feels like two kinds of get-togethers: its plot brings old friends and family to the eponymous Sydney beauty spot, while its cast reads like a rollcall of the earlier days of the Australian cinema revival.
How Hollywood saw England | Brian McFarlane
How Hollywood saw England 1 August 2019 Books | American filmmakers viewed England through the lens of contemporary history Right: Adaptation and Englishness: Madge Evans (left), Edna May Oliver and Frank Lawton in David Copperfield (1935). Adaptation and Englishness: Madge Evans (left), Edna May Oliver and Frank Lawton in David Copperfield (1935).
Brian McFarlane reviews 'Dirt Music' by Tim Winton
Talk about unlikely associations. My first response to the opening chapter of Tim Winton’s latest novel was how its sense of a life at a standstill, awaiting some new impulse, reminded me of Jane Austen’s Emma. Winton’s protagonist, Georgie Jutland, with a string of unsatisfactory relationships behind her and bored with her present bloke, Jim Buckridge, her useful life as a nurse now well in the past, sits in front of the computer screen, ‘gone in her seat, like a pensioner at the pokies’.
Adaptation and adaptability | Brian McFarlane
When you consider the number of films (for screens large and small) derived from Shakespeare’s works, you can’t help thinking that if he’d had a decent, forward-looking agent going after film rights his descendants need never have worked again. According to IMDb he has 1420 “credits” to his name, mostly as “writer” or “co-writer” (just in case we wondered what his contribution might have been to, say, the latest film of Macbeth).
Landscape with figures
924 words Landscape with figures 5 April 2019 Cinema | Bill Nighy delivers a characteristically ambiguous performance in Sometimes Always Never Right: Cunning blend: Bill Nighy in Sometimes Always Never. Cunning blend: Bill Nighy in Sometimes Always Never. Let me come clean at the outset. After much profound thought and a second viewing, I still haven’t a clue as to what the title of this provocative film really means.
Fun while it lasted
For schoolboys of a certain generation, one of life’s happiest treats was a comic called Film Fun, which featured, in captioned black-and-white squares filling a page, the exploits of some of the most famous film comedians of the day. There, we revelled in the idiocies of, say, Abbott & Costello or the seemingly gormless George Formby.
Dangerous oppositions
922 words Dangerous oppositions 6 February 2019 Cinema | Two remarkable women receive two great portrayals in Mary Queen of Scots Right: Saoirse Ronan as Mary in Josie Rourke’s Mary Queen of Scots. Saoirse Ronan as Mary in Josie Rourke’s Mary Queen of Scots. Reviewing The Favourite last month I couldn’t help but reflect on the cinema’s ongoing fascination with royalty and its power games.
Running hot and cold
History, to paraphrase some German philosopher or other, tends to repeat itself. The first time as tragedy, the second as farce. The third time as vaudeville? Adam McKay’s cinema account of the rise and rise of Dick Cheney, White House staffer to Richard Nixon, defence secretary to George H.W. Bush and vice-president to George W. Bush’s president, gives us history as a series of chilling acts, tricked up with directorial gimmicks. This is Vice, and it is being heavily promoted in the Oscar race.
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