CONVERSATIONS WITH MY GARDENER
9/10
A lovely French film that explores the friendship between two gentleman who were young school friends many years before but are reunited when one, an accomplished artist moves back to his village and hires the other as his gardener. The film has a wonderful warm feel to it, and tells a nice story without having to turn to melodrama or excessive sentimentality. Must see, and probably the highlight of the festival.

IRINA PALM
8/10
Funny film starring Marianne Faithful as a grandmother who is desperate to get together enough money so that her sick grandchild can get the medical attention he needs. She's already sold her home to pay for medical expenses and has no more assets. Banks won't lend her the money, so she gets a job 'servicing' men with her hands in a soho sex club. Conveniently she's separated from the men by a wall with a hole in it, so her age isn't nearly as important as the softness of her hands. Or so the story goes. Obviously she's not keen to tell people in her life how she's getting the money, and with her friends and son increasingly curious, while demand for her efforts by patrons are increasing, it's only a matter of time before the reality of the situation hits a head.

THE HOME SONG STORIES
7/10
My second Australian film in as many nights. This was an improvement over the last (and the director didn't feel the need to spend too much time with thankyous before the film started). It's about a Chinese mother who moves to Australia in the late 60s/early 70s with her two children. She was a nightclub singer in Hong Kong, but moves to Australia following an Aussie sailor who is going to look after her. Except that things don't work out, and this leads her and the kids to move houses to the next gentleman who is willing to host her. And repeat. The story is told from the perspective of the youngest child (her son). I felt that it went on a little bit longer than it needed to, and the story began to wane after some time - the number of times that they move house, suicides are attempted, man leaves, man returns, man leaves, etc began to wear a bit thin. It must have been difficult for the children, and while the mother isn't painted in an entirely positive light, I'm surprised how much they tried not to cast an ever more negative slant on her character. At least it was an interesting new story and perspective for an Australian film.