Three Blind Mice

I saw this as part of the World Tour sidebar of the 33rd Cleveland International Film Festival. It starts with some pretty compelling mix of plot elements: the last shore leave, the rascal who wants to have as much wine, women and song as possible, the soon to be married mate who wants dinner with the in-laws and the sailor who's obviously come up against some debatable military "discipline".

Unfortunately, the director chose not to have subtitles turned on for this.

I became more and more lost as the movie progressed. Scenes around a card table with three Aussies yelling, one talking and one sub-vocalizing left me with little to go on for critical plot points.

I expect to rent this if possible and re-rate it. But if you have trouble with this sort of dialect at all do check to see if sub-titles are available. This movie had more than enough promise to give it another chance.

This is simply a poor film.

• Cinematography: Annoying and painful as a drunken home made wedding video.

• Writing: Shallow and incoherent with painfully unfunny jokes.

• Directing: Attempted by a poor first time actor who hasn't realised that it takes real talent to be able to direct and a unique talent to direct from in front of the camera.

• Acting: This is just a film of random people reciting lines with the exception of Charles 'Bud' Tingwell and Heather Mitchell.

• Editing: The inept editing makes the film drag on with no sense of purpose or structure which makes for painful and uselessly long scenes.

This film leaves you with the impression that none of those involved in making it actually watched it before its release.

It should have been a twenty minute short if made at all.

Gave up on this way before the ending. Camera work amateurish. Dialogue purile. The three 'officers' acting more like moronic schoolboys on their first time away from home. I wonder if anyone involved in this movie had ever been to sea or had anything remotely to do with the navy. Whoever was in charge of wardrobe needs some basic lessons in continuity. The rank markings of the three supposedly sub lieutenants kept jumping between sub lieutenant to lieutenant to Lieutenant Commander and even a sub lieutenant sporting a PO's cap badge! Can't understand the semi high ratings this movie has been given. I suspect they're from family, friends or those involved in the making of the film.

This was the evening movie last night, and I admit missing the first half hour, but I'm glad I caught the rest of it. I was entertained AND engaged by a well paced, well written and directed, and to my great relief, well acted piece of film making.

Someone who can direct a decent film performance out of the otherwise talented Brendan Cowell and Bob Franklin must be doing something right. What director/writer Matthew Newton really gets right is the cadence of the storytelling. The tale of these three sailors' final night in Sydney, before their posting to the Gulf, skips along with energy and assuredness. The script reflects Newton's excellent ear for dialogue, and his direction sees the actors free to really work their performances in an entertaining and believable way. It helps that he's picked a fairly rocking cast too.

Newton knows the story he wants to tell, how it should come off the screen, and he nails it in nearly every scene. It's the sign of someone who's genuinely comfortable with the language of film - it isn't bogged down with technicality, only using that to unleash creativity in taking us on the journey. That's quite an achievement in this age of film formula force feeding. It says to me Newton knows his stuff well enough to crack a mold without causing audience upheaval. That he's gathered together this stellar cast is also testament to those actor's belief in the quality of his communication.

For the performances, I give special mention to Barry Otto and Heather Mitchell as the in-laws to be. Newton gives them several wonderful scenes and they reward us with their consummate acting skill. I hold Mitchell's talent on stage and in film on par with Cate Blanchett. Pity she doesn't get the roles.

But all these accolades reflect on the combined talents of Matthew Newton. He's got an almost impossible task to comeback from epic, public disaster here. I was a big detractor until tonight. But he's clearly paid his dues in his craft. Whether that's enough to keep his head above water in this country is another thing. Three Blind Mice is very good, and I'm looking forward to seeing his next contribution to a sadly lacklustre industry here.

I watched this title because it followed as a reccomnedation on a streaming site for a movie that I'd been pleasantly impressed with (Spring Forward). I have enjoyed Australian films as a linear escapade, less driven by typical Hollywood plot. This movie fit that ideal. This movie did not disappoint. There was a story, but the characters lived out the important points and purpose of the film, rather than being driven solely by events and MacGuffins. The performances were subtle and often inconvenient to fitting all plot points. There was tenderness and brutality as they really are in most male communals. The three leads played their parts well, and not stereotypically. Mr. Newton was outstanding and played the central role with charm and grace.