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  Film: Nell Schofield previews Nim's Island and Apres Lui (After Him) March 30, 2008 Reporter :Nell Schofield  Watch the videoFilm: Nell Schofield previews Nim's Island and Apres Lui (After Him) We all know that Australia makes a great location for movies – the big blue skies, the long stretches of white sandy beaches and the lush green rainforests. These assets recently lured the producers of a new children's film to Hinchinbrook Island in the Great Barrier Reef to bring to life a fantasy story- book tale of a little girl in search of a hero. Expect a spate of young girls busting out as adventurers all over with the release of Nim’s Island, a charming family film about a 12 year old girl called Nim who lives a self sufficient lifestyle with her marine biologist father on a secret tropical island. Based on a book written by Australian author Wendy Orr, the film explores the resourcefulness of its little heroine in the face of several disasters, including invasion by a boat load of crass Aussie tourists and the loss at sea of her father while tracking a rare phosphorescent protozoa. Left alone with no-one to turn to, Nim reaches out to her Indiana Jones-like adventure book hero, Alex Rover. Action man Alex, however, is just a figment of agoraphobic writer Alexandra's imagination and since she hasn't been out of her San Francisco apartment for 16 weeks the prospect of leaving her cocoon is somewhat less than appealing. Nevertheless, with the encouragement of her macho alter ego, she embarks on her rescue mission and faces every single one of her phobias along the way. Abigail Breslin, from Little Miss Sunshine, is a delight as Nim, a barefoot child of nature living in the shadow of a volcano - and even at one point encouraging it to erupt. Gerard Butler, who cut such an impressive swathe across the screen in 300 does a fine job as both the Welsh hero Alex Rover and Nim's American father Jack. And Jodie Foster reveals a refreshingly humorous side as Alexandra, pushing her performance out into some fun slapstick comedy moments. Directed by husband and wife team Mark Levin and Jennifer Flackett, and shot by Kiwi Director of Photography Stuart Dryburgh on Hinchinbrook Island and Gold Coast soundstages, the film also features several co-operative creatures from Sea World. Nim's Island is a lot of fun for both kids and grown ups and carries a good message about independence and self reliance. It also speaks volumes about idolising heroes that may just turn out to be phantoms. It's Nim who is the real hero of her own life story and, as it turns out, of Alexandra's. On a much darker note, a new French film has just been released starring that ever-glamorous screen icon, Catherine Deneuve. She plays Camille, the mother of a young man named Mathieu- Adrien Jolivet. When we first meet her she is helping him and his friend Franck – Thomas Dumerchez- dress up in drag for a friend’s stag night. Little does she know that she is preparing him for a sacrifice. Later that night the car they're in crashes into a tree, killing Mathieu and leaving Franck, the driver, an emotional wreck. Accused and cast out by his friends, Franck finds solace in Camille who at first pities the boy then becomes obsessed with him as the only living link to her own son. La Deneuve is always a joy to behold in any screen performance from her stunning turn in Luis Bunuel's Belle De Jour to her Oscar nominated role in Indochine to her all singing all dancing part in Lars von Trier's Dancer In The Dark. Now at the age of 64 she's still magnetic, if a little bit out of place in the mosh pit at a concert of a French youth rock band. But that's simply one of the demands of the character created by writer/director Gael Morel and she bravely follows him there. It's a rather sad and depressing film but it's a story that will touch a lot of people - the World Health Organisation estimates around 1.2 million people die worldwide each year of road incidents with forty times that number injured. For many of those, Apres Lui or After Him will no doubt carry some heavy resonance. |
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