Arts community broadly welcomes National Cultural Policy initiatives – plus a stack of cash.

Tharaud plays the star former pupil of an octogenarian couple, retired music teachers both. He literally plays the soundtrack of their lives: a gentle, fluid touch in the Schubert Impromptu No 3 D899, then a buoyant, effervescent Moment Musical No 3, contrast with the more searching tone of Bach’s Chorale Prelude Ich ruf zu Dir, Herr Jesu Christ. With the protagonists’ love for each other and for classical music so inextricably intertwined, these piano pieces are cherished memories, a visceral reminder of bereavement and a comforting balm all at once. And isn’t that what music means to us all? Read the film review here.

Most love stories chart the start of a relationship, but in this Cannes Palme d’Or winner, Michael Haneke charts the power of love near the end of a married couple’s lives. The film is as much about ageing and death as it is about love, and many will find it uncomfortably close to home. But the Austrian auteur (The Piano Teacher; The White Ribbon) has never been interested in giving his audience an easy ride. His concern is the excavation of difficult emotional truths, few of which have been as deep yet commonly experienced as those examined here. Veteran French actors Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva play an initially sprightly Paris couple (Isabelle Huppert makes an appearance as their daughter), retired music teachers seen near the start enjoying a classical piano recital before arriving home to discover they’ve had intruders. That’s a typical Haneke plot device, but this time more portent than threat. The couple’s true antagonist is already within: one of them is about to suffer a minor stroke. It will be the beginning of the end. Even for Haneke this is astringent stuff, light on visual flourish or narrative surprise, but driving it all are magnificent performances that cut…

For the Chinese film composer, synchronising sound and image is a form of martial arts. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

The legendary performer will appear on stage with an old pal from the Sound of Music. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Stellar performance: this powerful orchestral odyssey does Kubrick’s genius justice. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

The dutchman has given Sydney Festival an injection of classical music. But can he still break even at the box office? Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

British actress Pauline Collins pays lip service to Verdi in Dustin Hoffman’s new film Quartet. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

ABC Chairman James Spigelman AC QC addressed the 30th anniversary of Conversazione in Melbourne. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

The cream of the classical music crop, as chosen by Limelight readers in 2012. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

An extraordinary account of sexual exploration and intimacy against the odds, The Sessions is a powerful achievement. John Hawkes gives a courageous performance as poet Mark O’Brien, a man crippled by polio and forced to live his life in an iron lung. When invited to research a story about sexual therapy for the disabled, Mark retains the services of sex surrogate Cheryl Cohen Greene (Helen Hunt), but not before appealing for permission from his priest (an affable William H. Macy). Australian writer-director Ben Lewin drew on his own experiences with polio to craft a tale that is both delicately lovely and refreshingly matter-of-fact. Much will be made of Helen Hunt’s “brave” nudity, but looking past that, her characterisation of a resolutely private and chipper therapist who allows herself to experience intimacy with Mark is a true triumph. And similarly, this is another must-see turn from Hawkes, whose remarkable physical transformation is matched by his wonderful comic timing and emotional vulnerability. A hit from the Sundance Film Festival, The Sessions should be remembered come Oscar season. So even if the supporting characters feel rather slight, a cinema session with Hawkes and Hunt is well worth your time. Continue reading Get unlimited…

Killing people can be a “touchy feely” business. So opines professional enforcer Jackie Cogan (Brad Pitt), whose endeavours to murder from a distance never quite keep him safe from the sob stories. But watching him try makes for a brilliant twist on the gangster genre. Writer-director Andrew Dominic has reinterpreted George V. Higgins’ 1974 novel Cogan’s Trade to fit America’s contemporary economic woes. Money is tight so when two punks knock over a mob-run poker game, Cogan is brought in to clean house. But between reckoning with middle-management (Richard Jenkins) and controlling his boozy gun-for-hire (James Gandolfini), Cogan reveals that murder by committee is no easy affair. Surprisingly wordy and sedately paced, Killing them Softly is spun out through a series of yarns that may prove too long-winded for some. Yet they are punctuated by moments of intense violence. With Pitt in peak form, Dominic delivers a sublimely sardonic portrait of capitalism couched as a gangster thriller. It’s dark, it’s smart, and it’s destined to become a classic piece of cinema. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in