Cosi

I agree with most of the reviews already posted, but would like to add that I found the characterizations to be what endeared me most to this production. I'm a recent explorer of opera and have seen movie versions of some of them. This can stand toe to toe with any movie version of an opera in terms of its ability to reach gut level. I cried when the house lights went down and the curtain up as the six on stage were transformed into something bigger than themselves and so participated in the healing mystery that mankind has been experiencing since the first dramatizations and plays were enacted.

Normally I would draw the line at using mentally ill patients as characters to be laughed at or derided in any way. They are really sick people and have some big problems to overcome. Some may be rehabilitated while others will always be hopeless cases.

But this film shows that even schizophrenics and drug addicts have dreams and goals in life and who are we to pass judgment on their wildly impossible desires? Just imagine a bunch of crazy people wanting to act out a Mozart opera Cosi Fan Tutte. They can't act; they can't sing:they can't speak Italian; and none of them has had any experience in stage production.

Lewis (Ben Mendelsohn) has just been appointed at this mental hospital and it seems that all patients are eager for him to produce this opera. Roy (Barry Otto) is overwhelmingly enthusiastic. "Why shouldn't we reach for the stars?" he asks.

There is a great assortment of unstable uninhibited players whom Lewis finds are uncontrollable. Certainly they would be any producer's nightmare.

There are many farcical situations in a typical Aussie style. Some of them are funny; some I thought were very ordinary. But as the film proceeds we do find that we are starting to warm towards the characters. In some strange way we are beginning to understand their plight and that their lives of emptiness are being filled by something worthwhile. May be it's a form of escape.

The characters are played by well known Australian actors. Doug is played by David Wenham. Doug likes to dip cats in petrol and set them alight. Julie (Toni Colette) gives a touching rendering of the song "Stand by me", a message perhaps for all of us.

Needless to say the film ends with the final elegant production staged for those in authority. While there is general acclamation at the end, stage gadgetry can still go wrong as every actor knows.

This is a light-hearted romp and a real tonic for the blues.

I found this film by accident the other night, occupying the late-night slot on terrestrial. I'd never heard of it, but from the first few moments of watching it - it was already 20 minutes in - I was rolling with laughter, and completely keyed-in to the fine display of ensemble acting, occasional surreal moments, lovely characterisations and brilliant humour. The film was touching too without ever being mawkish.

A real treat.

When it comes down to it, Così is a film about the right to dream and the tragedy of dreams being lost. The characters outside the institution, Lewis included, are a pragmatic lot. They have pragmatic views on life, pragmatic humor, and are cynically short of ideals. Nick, in particular, suggests that doing away with loyalty in a relationship is a valid concept, not because of any devotion to an ideal of 'free love' but simply because it does away with all the complications over infidelity.

The actors, however, are far less restrained in their grips on reality, (however clichéd that may sound, trust me, these characters are not) and thus are allowed to dream. It isn't so much that they are delusional, (none really are) it's simply that they don't seem to have been indoctrinated with a grim view of reality. Roy doesn't just lie about his childhood to others, he allows himself to dream that he really did have a childhood that was remarkable and marvelous. More subtly, Henry is permitted to idolize his father in a way Nick never could. And sure enough, when the two's views on life collide, there are sparks, with Henry delivering most.

Lewis, of course, must gradually progress from one to the other, but this is done in a way which is subtle and beautiful. His dream is the play itself, and he progresses from dreading his own misfortune in getting the job of making these nutcases perform a play successfully; to dreaming of making a perfect play with beautiful costumes and wonderful responses. What matters is that they dreamt of it and had the lack of sense to follow that dream.

The film has a sterling wit and proceeds nicely, following the course of the patient's dreams and the friend's pragmatism and lack of dreams. (For a good contrast showing this message, check out the overdone, amazingly clichéd and unimaginative performance by Nick, and compare it to the dream laden performance of the patients.)

In the end, the film is delightfully unrealistic in its applications. Plot devices do appear to be coming out of left field. But in a film about dreaming, surely that can be excused?

A well-written, uniquely Australian film. Skillfully handles an ensemble cast, and has many touching moments, while avoiding over-sentimentality.

While the film is a light comedy, there are tragic elements in some of the more disturbed mental patients. You come to care about each of them, but thankfully, the film doesn't try to give any simplistic "answers" to mental illness.

Ben, Toni & Rachel all give good performances. Toni also sings a nice version of a Crowded House song over the end credits.

A small film that deserves a big audience. Worth ten Hollywood blockbusters.