The Turning (2013)

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

This is a collection of short films in Australia about various aspects of life that presents with some kind of turning point.I watched this for the big names such as Cate Blanchett and Rose Byrne, Ann's I knew I probably wouldn't enjoy this film anyway. Indeed, the first segment is already not so good, it tells a story of a family spending Christmas together but they go to the wrong house. I can't quite work out what is so special about this story, apart from Cate's performance. The Rose Byrne story is the best out of the whole film, it tells a distinct change in life because of a significant turning point. The rest of the stories are not very good. The sand story is just ridiculous. I couldn't even understand it!

This is an Australian art-house film or rather films. It is the idea of Robert Connelly who brought us the excellent 'Balibo' in 2009. He has brought together seventeen directors and writers to make a version of the book 'The Turning' by Tim Winton. This is essentially a collection of short stories that all have the theme of 'turning' or changing and to say it is a mixed bag is a massive understatement.Each segment or 'chapter' has been made as a separate film and that can be a bit confusing as you lose the flow of the overall piece; but that is highly intentional. The acting is all well above average with some notable performances. There are some themes that seem to be recurring, such as disfigurement, poetry, narration, regret and more over loss. The subjects vary as much as anything else, including first love, hidden childhood memories, trailer parks, Jesus and Volks Wagens. We also have some modern interpretative dance - just to prove how art-house the whole ensemble is.Now as I said this is ambitious and in most respects that ambition is realised. However, this is 173 minutes long and, as such, required some commitment to stay the course. It should be the sum of all its parts but that too is a 'big ask' as is the colloquial these days. The parts are so different that I felt some were completely out of kilter with the rest and others almost stand alone stories. And I think that is the intention here, after all they are all short stories and so would want to be both different and stand alone. But that is also the weak point as you will inevitably like some an awful lot more than others.I am a fan of alternative and art-house cinema but this did require bearing with as I said it is nearly three hours long, but it is still a commendable effort but I would not be able to sit through it twice.

This film has the look and feel of Tree of Life. Moments of beautiful imagery, mixed with numerous ponderous scenes for an overlong three hours, makes wonder why it wasn't edited better. Seventeen separate movies ranging from ten to fifteen minutes make up the one hundred and eighty minutes. The beach is a recurring theme throughout, with frequent narration with contemplative music in the background. The storyline is simply the harshness of everyday life, told with a realistic and mundane tone. There are no happy endings at anytime; just a gritty seriousness with very little humor thrown in, with the exception of Kate Blanchett and a swimming pool at Christmas. Otherwise, this is a long and depressing ride. The acting is superb, but the length is a definite drawback in what could have been a contender.

Ambition shines through every frame of The Turning, a long, spectacularly photographed event that appropriates novelist Tim Winton's book of the same title into a brilliantly layered, thematic pastiche. It's one of the largest and most epic Australian films ever made. At three hours long, there are seventeen different, overlapping short films, by eighteen different directors, on display. There are episodes directed by the likes of Warick Thorton (Samson and Delilah), Robert Connolly (Balibo), Mia Wasikowska and David Wenham. Cate Blanchett, Rose Byrne, Richard Roxburgh and Hugo Weaving, feature amongst the cast. Some of these stories follow the same character at different stages of their lives but are played by different actors. It is not as confusing as it might sound as there is utter clarity in how these stories are told. It's entirely possible to enjoy many of the short films as separate tales without concern for the continuity of the characters. Tim Winton is an author whose writing is primarily visual and dedicated to enriching the setting of the story. Here is an extract from his short story "The Turning": "It was actually a brilliant autumn day. Sunshine felt pure and silky on her skin; it took her mind off the chipped tooth and her throbbing lip." The precision of the imagery in Winton's writing has invited an adaptation that is purely cinematic. The camera substitutes the author, hunting the same level of specificity in the images so that the themes and the feelings of the characters often unfold without words. This is an enormously beautiful film. Wide angles are used strikingly to heighten the scale and the atmosphere of the naturalistic environments. The camera draws in closer to frame key moments and images. There are slow-motion shots of beaches, water, dirt and sand. An AFL player stands in the middle of an oval, with a bow and arrow ready, thinking about his final goal. Water droplets fall from the skin of a person's back and waves threaten to strangle a man as he clings to his surfboard. The technique of capturing these particular images and then infusing them with dramatic narrative tension is awesome and vivid. One of the other pleasures of the film is the consistence in which many of the stories find thematic coherency. Beneath the highly stylised exteriors of the imagery are understated social comments and metaphorical observations. In one episode Cate Blanchett's character and her mother in-law sneak into a backyard. They're not sure if they're at the right house but they jump in the swimming pool fully clothed anyway. Undercutting this funny moment is a glimpse into an alternative, frivolous life, where one gets along happily with their in-laws. Nostalgia and wonder are a large part of Tim Winton's own writing. His short stories are like fragments of childhood memories, reproduced on paper. Likewise, these film vignettes echo the sentiments of growing up so that the narratives feel dreamlike, providing distorted memories and reflections on adolescence and friendships. As the setting alternates between the sunburnt outback and the quiet banality of suburbia, both landscapes are subjected to difficult themes, like alcoholism, domestic abuse, jealousy and self-satisfaction through religion. Despite the differing contexts, these themes are always visible and compelling, adjoining the stories through meaning, style and character. One of the best episodes is called "The Turning" and features Rose Byrne giving a terrific performance as a tattooed woman living in a trailer park, who is beat-up by her husband but finds solace in her new neighbours. Rose Byrne has been at the heart of a number of Hollywood comedies and her character here is sometimes very funny too. Physically and verbally though, it is unlike anything she has ever played before. She's sadder and more tragic. Another great entry is called "Fog" where a policeman must escort a young female journalist to locate a body in the bushland covered by a hazy fog. The atmosphere is utterly haunting, cold and desolate. The setting becomes a powerful metaphor for the policeman beginning to lose sight of his moral bearings. It's another example of the film balancing its sympathetic characters and the ambiguity of its subtext too. Despite the long running time, I hope that audiences will give the film a chance because although not all the episodes will be appealing, and there are some strange additions, many are beautifully crafted, forging subtle meanings from some highly unique images. Very few films are this epic in scope and ambition, while still able to sustain a cohesive series of thematic goals of universal and cultural appeal. It's a striking achievement in cinematic storytelling.