Movies

Sydney Morning Herald

Monday January 5, 2009

Doug Anderson

Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death And Rebirth

(1997) SBS, 1.15am

Death And Rebirth is compiled, in part, from extracts of the first 24 NeoEv episodes in which NERV's EVAs took on the invading robot Angels. The second part explains why humanity and the Angels cannot co-exist. Humans are, for all their faults, still human but the Angels are not (as some had surmised) alien invaders but the result of a lunatic scheme known as the HIP - Human Instrumentality Project. Concocted by an organisation known as SEELE, the project was an attempt to subsume all of Earth's individual souls into one giant entity. This is deemed advantageous in the wake of a catastrophic event known as the Second Impact, following which the Angels (or apostles) made their initial appearance. Adolescent sexuality collides with maternal dysfunction and ultra-competitive female power in a swirl of Freudian and Jungian psychology.

Chouchou

(2003) SBS, 11.25pm

Woohoo! Not Lily Chou-Chou from All About Lily Chou-Chou (2001) but a curious tale concerning a cross-dresser from Africa who manages to insinuate himself into France posing as a Chilean refugee fleeing the repressive regime of General Pinochet. Father Leon, a liberal-thinking priest and his assistant, Brother Jean, a reformed drug addict, give Chouchou sanctuary and find him employment as a receptionist and cleaner in the consulting rooms of psychotherapist Dr Nicole Milovavovich. Dr Nicole consents to him staying in drag at work. He's further regaled by a second job at the Apocalypse, a popular transvestite club. There he meets Stanislas, the love of his life. Some agreeable slapstick and sitcom interludes enhance an otherwise frothy comedy.

Capturing The Friedmans

(2003) ABC1, 9.30pm

Here is a movie-length doco about a family's tragedy - its antecedents and its repercussions. The Friedman family - Arnold, Elaine and their three sons, David, Seth and Jesse - lived in a wealthy Long Island suburb where they enjoyed an ideal lifestyle. But an FBI sting into a pedophile magazine began a process of devastation that wrecked the family and brought all sorts of bile to the surface. Arnold, a loving father, appears to have sustained a secret sexual deviation that invariably prompts fear and loathing. Was he a child molester? It's hard to be sure but he demonstrated deep guilt as police began gathering evidence. An amazing collection of home movies spanning a decade propels this provocative film. If half a truth is no truth, what is half a lie?

© 2009 Sydney Morning Herald

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