Music filmmaker Christopher Nupen was "haunted" by Paganini as he delved into the life of classical music's first rock god.

In this brisk and handsomely mounted tragi-comedy Charlotte Rampling plays an eccentric and controlling matriarch.

Lifelong female friendship is the subject of this lush weepie, in which a pair of interlinked tales unfold in two timeframes.

Unabashedly autobiographical, Beginners bumbles through the life of lovelorn graphic designer.

Australia’s two most loveable film critics look back on 25 years of At The Movies in a new exhibition. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Yes, classical music can be funny. Ten thigh-slappingly good piss-takes of the noblest artform.

It is easily forgotten that silent movies were never silent. In classier cinemas one usually found an orchestra of indeterminate size scrabbling furiously in pursuit of the villain, or sympathetically setting the mood for a love scene. Even in smaller establishments there would be at least a pianist banging away. For the most significant films, a full score would be commissioned, and a few of these rarities were so good that they have survived to the present day. Gottfried Huppertz’s score for Metropolis, written in 1927 to accompany the dazzling film by Fritz Lang, is one such example. The useful notes that accompany the CD give us a story of the scrupulous way in which Huppertz approached his job, including visits to the set during filming. Only with the discovery of the missing 20 minutes of footage in 2008 has the fully restored film and its score been rehabilitated.  Interest in the film was rekindled in 1983 when Giorgio Moroder released a partial restoration with a rock score he himself had composed with a little help from his friends, including Freddie Mercury of Queen. Whatever the merits and curiosities of that version, the original 1927 score… Continue reading Get unlimited…

British violinist Jack Liebeck brings a whole new level of brooding romanticism to the moors.

An aging French conjuror, finding himself out of step in a raucous new era, travels to London in search of an audience.

How to make Jane Eyre fresh again?

ABC Television has come under fire for changes to its locally-produced arts programming. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Genial and general arts all-rounder Stephen Fry provides a useful introduction to Wagner in this new DVD. The film is full of fascinating behind-the-scenes activity in various opera houses, including Bayreuth. It’s also nicely shot, although I found a few of the musical edits a little clumsy. Fry has been criticised for inaccuracy, casual frivolity and for a “gee-gosh” approach to the subject. While there is some merit in those comments, what remains is an engaging journey through the Wagner myth and some of the music; an ideal introduction for those new to the composer and his works – and great fun for the rest of us. Fry also gets to grips with the serious side of the music, and the scene where he examines the astonishing Tristan chord is moving and instructional. Many Wagnerians take a deeply serious approach to the work of the great composer, especially The Ring. But high art needs its populist proselytisers, and Fry is ideally placed. He not only reveres Wagner, but is Jewish into the bargain – and this dilemma provides the film with added frisson. He handles this piece of hot toast adroitly and with feeling.  Fry is such a Wagnerite that…