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Preview by: Jack Foley
CATE Blanchett returns to Australian film-making for the first
time in eight years to appear in Little Fish, the second film
from Rowan Woods, the acclaimed director of The Boys.
The film opened the recent Melbourne International Film Festival
to considerable acclaim and is said to provide the ever-reliable
actress with another powerhouse performance.
She plays a former heroin addict who suddenly finds her past
coming back to haunt her in increasingly dramatic circumstances
after becoming reunited with old friends and relationships.
The film was inspired by a short film the director, Woods, put
together in 1994, called Tran the Man - which marked his graduation
film at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School.
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It focused on a security guard at
a shopping centre who is placed under pressure after becoming
involved in a heroin deal.
Writer, Jacquelin Perske, developed the script and took it in
very different directions, incorporating 'an unusual love story'
into the mix.
Speaking about the film in his native Australia, Woods describes
it as 'an unnaturally Shakespearean suburban tragedy'.
While he describes the process of working with Blanchett as 'magical',
especially in the way she 'adds dimensions to a scene - a moment,
an expression on her face, a trait or a reaction'.
Critics who caught the film in Melbourne were very impressed.
Hollywood Reporter, for instance, concluded its review by stating:
"Confrontational, raw and always compelling, Little Fish
is a film of rare power and conviction."
Aside from Blanchett, the film boasts a stellar cast including
Sam Neill, Hugo Weaving and Martin Henderson.
It certainly sounds as though it's one to look out for.
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