September/ December Issues

Oh Jee, its fascinating to research the redoubtable Anna Wintour only to find a number of boring old farts tut tutting about her age. Namely Mr. Morley Safer from American 60 Minutes who must be a cool eighty if he's a day and I'm glad to say, she lost not one ounce of her cool with him.

I wanted to see this documentary, not only to get a bit of perspective on Meryl Streep's fabulous performance in 'The Devil Wears Prada' but because a friend put me in touch with the concept that its all very well to despise other women for being tough when they have, in fact achieved Olympian heights. It might be sassy and fun to do it from the cute perspective of an infant well, a twenty something girl but what would anybody be like in the same position?

I found Wintour fascinating. Her very guarded self, her deliberately flirtatious persona, her extraordinary figure and taste and her all round composure in what must be an ordeal of a schedule.

She has a rogues gallery of sidekicks to wait on her editorial desk at Vogue who, says Morley Safer, form a posse of "obsequious toadies". I doubt that. I think a non-performing toad in that office would have a shorter life span than a cane toad in a Queensland kitchen and the only likely candidate I could find was a large man of very eccentric habits who seemed to be in a twenty four hour personal operetta.

Grace Coddington is a find - Wintour's seditious friend and talented colleague of uncertain age, whose long red hair and jaunty manner betray her great skill as the Creative Director at Vogue. Starting life as a model in England in the sixties, she ended that career after a terrible motor accident which she still bears the scars of. This does nothing to dull her hands-on delight in her work or her schoolgirl glee when she whispers an aside about the 'headmistress'. Some of this film has a distinct St Trinians air.

There is one jarring note. Wintour likes Starbucks coffee which seems strangely out of place. But, if you're interested in women defying the age and age itself, give this one a go. And not just for the Queen B. either.


To see the trailer of 'September Issue, click here:

Oh Balibo

I knew about the death of the five Australian journalists in Balibo but the passage of time had put a lid on it for me - until this movie. Years ago, I had talked to Tony Maniaty about it and he gave me some insight into the situation they had all faced, but nothing prepared me for this....especially Tony's appearance in the film played by a not-very-look-alike actor.

The story is beautifully handled by Robert Connolly who gave the opening and closing scenes to a local Timorese - a fictitious young girl whose testimony to the Reception, Truth and Reconciliation Commission is heart wrenching.

I have never seen East Timor in anything other than angry documentaries or news footage so to see the landscape lovingly filmed was a relief, considering it forms the background to the messy, restless horror of that time. I was impressed by the reality of the reconstructed scenes and squirmed in remembrance of the awful clothes. The cast captures the exuberant recklessness of the team with great charm but it's the knowledge of the oncoming train wreck and the persistence of the doggedly middle aged Anthony Lapaglia that grounds the film.

The end, when it comes for them all is violent and shocking. As bad as the opening scenes of 'Master and Commander' in its realism but I wish they had not included some of it in their trailer. It should come to us with as near a sense of shock as it did to them.

Translate this back in time and place and we could have been reading Greek tragedy. It was certainly not Australia's finest hour.

To see the trailer of' Balibo',click here: