Movies
Sydney Morning Herald
Monday August 10, 2009
Determination of Death(2001) Seven, noonFamily debt and financial crisis. There's a lot of it about, largely due to credit card binges, pawning the future for instant gratification and living like there was no tomorrow. And who knows? Certainly not Reese Williams and his wife Katie, who, having maxed out their cards, find themselves in a financially terminal situation. They contrive a scenario whereby Reese (Marc Singer) will embark upon a hunting trip with his brother in-law, Charlie Halloran (John Ratzenberger), and arrange to be fatally "shot", thereby providing Katie (Michele Greene) access to a $5 million insurance policy. Ginny Halloran (Veronica Hamel) is an attorney who has suffered significant abuse at Charlie's hands and she suspects something isn't quite right long before insurance company investigators arrive to rake over the details. Well short of original but not entirely awful either.Takva: A Man's Fear of God(2006) SBS Two, 9pmThere are five basic levels of self-effacement: servility, meekness, basic modesty, Uriah Heep's Very 'eavy, very 'umble and hyper-humility. Think Michael Flatley and ... forget it. Try Frank Sartor ... nah! But when it comes to Muharrem, a middle-aged apprentice to a sack merchant in Istanbul, we're in the zone. A devout member of a Muslim sect, he is elected to the group's administrative council and placed in charge of collecting rents from its many domestic and commercial premises. This puts the saintly Muharrem in a compromising position as he discovers how modern conservative religious bodies cultivate a corporate mindset to secure their financial base. Soon the righteous servant of the order is experiencing anxiety and stress, prone to upsetting nocturnal experiences involving meat, women (not always the same things despite the sheik's pronouncement), money and alcohol. Temptation's page flies out the door and, as he spirals into sin, Muharrem's faith dwindles accordingly.The Alzheimer Case(2003) SBS One, 11.45pmAngelo Ledda, an ageing hitman succumbing to Alzheimer's disease, is reluctantly tidying up after a bunch of corrupted powerbrokers with connections to the pedophile industry. The linchpin of this ring is a mega-rich industrialist, De Haeck, whose son is prone to most unsavoury excesses. Abused as a child, Ledda is livid when he finds out why he has been contracted to take out a 12-year-old prostitute whose testimony might lead police to members of the sex ring. Having refused the hit he becomes a target himself and, with his short-term memory failing, confusion attends his attempts to evade being eliminated while completing a mission he can't clearly remember. Ledda is an honourable and likeable individual whose dignity and guile are appreciated by Inspector Vincke, an angry detective trying to deliver justice within a system that is white-anted by corruption. This is a smart, pacy thriller from Belgium €“ a little too dark for some, perhaps, but sophisticated and wonderfully acted.
© 2009 Sydney Morning Herald
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