Where Do We Go Now?

Year: 2011

Director: Nadine Labaki

How will we cope? How will we cope? We're women. Now please stop asking stupid questions.

- Made in Dagenham (Nigel Cole, 2010)

The Melodrama or ‘Woman’s Film’ is identified as such by its focus on women and the domestic sphere. Often concerning lost or unrequited love, the Melodrama is essentially about women in love.

Et maintenant, on va où (Where Do We Go Now?) is the story of a small village in Lebanon where outlying areas have been ravaged by violence between Christian and Muslim communities. The village itself is half Christian and half Muslim, and has seen more than its fair share of violence.

The women of the village try their best to keep the men civil, but when tensions threaten to erupt they take matters further by employing a group of Ukrainian dancers to ‘get stuck’ in the village. Eager to please these newcomers, the men turn to mush. But how long will this scheme work?

This is a woman’s film in the very best sense. These are incredibly strong women willing to do whatever it takes for love. Here this love is a love for their husbands, brothers, sons, and fathers, and it is as fun to watch as it is frustrating as these men push the limits of these women’s love as far as they can go.

It’s the mark of a good film that can tell the story of a particular group of people in a way that is still relevant and relatable for a global audience and Labaki has crafted an exquisite film. These women are entirely relatable, not just for other women but for men as well. It’s an engaging story told in a heartfelt way – by turns hilarious and devastating, and never boring. It’s hard to find any fault at all; even the unexpected musical numbers are a delight. Reportedly earning a five-minute standing ovation at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, a crowd renowned for being hard to impress, Where Do We Go Now? is a beautiful exploration of gender, religion and love and well worth a viewing.

Where Do We Go Now? opens Thursday June 28 at Tower Cinema Newcastle on June 25.

Anton Chekhov's The Duel

Year: 2010
Director: Dover Koshashvili


Based on Chekhov’s 1891 Novella, Anton Chekhov’s The Duel is the story of Laevsky (Adam Scott), an idle civil servant who spends his days drinking, sleeping and playing cards, much to the annoyance of colleague Von Koren (Tobias Menzies). Laevsky is a man who has tired of his mistress Nadya (Fiona Glascott) and wishes to leave her. He has received important news regarding her husband but fears to tell her, worried it will seal his fate with her forever.

It shares similarities with two other European novels also written in the late 1800s: The Kill by Emil Zola, and Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray. All three works share a similar concern with questions of marriage, social impropriety and the idle rich’s destructive pursuit of pleasure. Unlike those other novels, however, in which those who commit social transgressions are punished, in The Duel it seems all that’s needed is a jolt or catalyst to make the characters see the error of their ways. But does it lead to a positive new perspective or does it merely allow for the acceptance of their fate?

Koshashvili’s adaptation is a very self-assured work, taking full advantage of Paul Sarossy’s stunning cinematography. The seaside town of Caucasus is brought to life in their capable hands and they make excellent use of the screen space, filling it without cluttering it, drawing our eye to important details but never forcing it. Andrew Scott is excellent as the wayward Laevsky. He plays Laevsky’s mounting hysteria at the thought of marrying Nadya perfectly, never resorting to cliché.

This is a slow burn and the pacing may frustrate some. Yet it perfectly reflects the characters’ inner turmoil - as their frustration grows, so too does the film lead to its climax. Here the duel doesn’t simply refer to a physical battle – it is a war between our conflicting desires: love and lust; civilisation and violence; responsibility and pleasure. Which side wins and for how long is left for us to question.

Anton Chekhov’s The Duel is now showing at Tower Cinemas Newcastle.