Little Fish

This is an interesting movie, well worth seeing, even though it has substantial failings. Evenness of pace is probably its most debilitating aspect: the slow, steady plod to the climax prevents that climax from being quite as climactic as it should be. Also, the director and his DOP are too in love with the hand-held camera for their own good: too much of it really is irritating, and there is much too much of it in this film. Having said that, there are some wonderful shots and juxtaposition of shots, moving us from warm reds to cool blues and back again. As far as the plot is concerned, the characters are all too neatly slotted into it, emphasising the story's artificiality, which plays against naturalism of the acting, just as the snappy editing plays against the hand-held camera-work. .Compare and contrast THE USUAL SUSPECTS, which is so wonderfully artificial throughout that its story's twists, turns and games, and the theatrical turns from most of its cast add up to something very entertaining. LITTLE FISH, in the end, perhaps takes itself a little too seriously.

That's the carping out of the way. The good news is that the acting is terrific. Blanchett is a rare leading actress, capable of convincing us she's an ordinary working girl - one simply can't imagine, for example, Kidman taking this role on and making it so real and touching. Sam Neill, cast against type, is wonderfully loathsome. Martin Henderson, Dustin Nguyen, Joel Tobeck - all give top-class support. But the revelation is Hugo Weaving, who is magnificent as the drug-addicted former star-sportsman. Can this be the same actor who has been marking his time in THE MATRIX and LORD OF THE RINGS? Amazingly, it is. A totally convincing transformation. All in all, an only just better-than-average thriller, greatly enhanced by its actors.

Writer Jacqueline Perske and Director Rowan Woods chalk up another successful Australian film in LITTLE FISH, an intense, very personal drama about how illegal drugs affect communities, families and individuals. The story begs patience from the viewer as it is gratefully one that does not spell everything out for the viewer, but instead introduces the characters slowly and with hints of backgrounds that bring them to the moments of crisis the time-frame of the film uses.

Taking place in the Little Saigon area of Sydney, Tracy Heart (Cate Blanchett) is a recovered junkie who lives with her mother Janelle (Noni Hazlehurst) and partial amputee brother Ray (Martin Henderson), each trying to make ends meet in a life previously destroyed by drug addiction. Tracy has been clean for four years, works in a video store but has dreams of owning her own business, dreams that are thwarted by banks refusing to give her business loans solely on the basis of her previous addiction. Ray, his amputated leg the result of a car accident somehow connected with drugs, still sells heroin in 'little fish' containers, occasionally calling upon Tracy to make pickups and deliveries. The now absent stepfather Lionel (Hugo Weaving) fights his own addiction both to drugs and to his dealer Brad (Sam Neill) with whom he has been in a gay relationship since his divorce from Janelle. Tracy tries to support Lionel's attempts to kick his habit, but the attempts are failures. Everything comes to a head when 1) Tracy is desperate without her needed bank loan, 2) Tracy's Vietnamese ex-lover Jonny (Dustin Nguyen) returns from Vancouver where his family sent him to avoid the persecution of rehab in Sydney, 3) Brad retires leaving Lionel without a source of drugs or love and Lionel is replaced by a quasi-normal Steven (Joel Tobeck) who kicks the last part of the film into a spin. There are no solutions to anyone's problems: things just happen and the characters respond in the best way they can with the ominous cloud of drug addiction shading their lives and futures.

The script is terse and smart and the direction is relentlessly realistic and well paced. Cate Blanchett gives a sterling portrayal of the very complex Tracy, and Hugo Weaving, Noni Hazelhurst, Sam Neill, Dustin Nguyen, and Martin Henderson are superb. This is a tough little film that does not fear to examine the truth about the effect of drugs on people's lives and spirits. It is a very fine film. Recommended. Grady Harp

The subject didn't sound very appealing to me but Cate Blanchett's in it and a whole cast of Aussie/NZ celebrities. Worth a peek, I thought, but sadly, it's disappointing. Cate Blanchett is Tracy, a former heroin addict trying to set up her own business and stay (emotionally) clear from a bunch of ne'er-do wells surrounding her. It's all misery in this film. For me it only works if the story is connected to a certain time and place. There's contemporary Sydney, but it merely serves as background music, it could have been anywhere anytime. It just doesn't come off as very authentic.

Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving, Dustin Nguyen, Sam Neill, everyone acts their head off, but to no avail. There's little in the way of a story or direction to guide them. Blanchett is probably the most respected actress of her generation, and again she is very good. It's all her show. As a moodpiece it succeeds in a way, as drama is less rewarding. Director Rowan Woods tries hard to make this engaging but the characters, including Blanchett's, are mildly interesting at first, simply off-putting later. There's just too little to keep things afloat till the end, literally. It's all downhill and we have to slide with them.

Camera Obscura --- 5/10

This film is about a woman who tries to get her life back on track after 4 years of heroin addiction.

I find the plot confusing, and the story poorly told. It is a drama, but lacks the drama. The pace of the story is very slow. Even after 90 minutes of the film, the only message I really perceive from the film is that Cate Blanchett's character is unable to get a loan despite repeated attempts. I am particularly annoyed by the excessive use of glares and halos around bright lights. It is not even a nice visual effect to start with anyway. Despite the stellar cast, I find this film unable to deliver what it could have been. I would not recommend it.

As Cate Blanchett said herself, 'Little Fish' is about the people between the middle class and lower class, those who are struggling with their daily lives and are largely ignored. Perske's screenplay is good but it could have been a little tighter as the film does drag at some portions. Woods is good and he brings a certain realness (with the help of the actors) in portraying the complex relationships between the characters. All the main characters, most of them 'recovered' addicts and some returning addicts, try to seek a better life but there is just 'one last trade' that would 'get them to their goals'. Dustin Nguyen (in spite of an uneven accent), Martin Hendersen, Sam Neill and Hugo Weaving are all adequate in their parts and Noni Hazelhurst is wonderful. However, 'Little Fish' belongs to Cate Blanchett. One can see a Blanchett that's completely different from her Hollywood films (then again she's always different in each of her movies). A difficult part required an immensely talented actress and she just makes the task look easy. There's a frightening scene where Cate's Tracy is tempted to 'return' but then a magical scene follows where she walks into a choir rehearsal of a group of singing Vietnamese children and she is confused, conflicted and eventually comforted. This one profound scene was so brilliantly executed with the long shot camera, the innocent voices of the children as they sing the powerful words, and Cate asking repeatedly where the bathroom is while being confused, that the strength of it stays in mind long after the end credits have rolled.