The Water Diviner will get all the attention, but The Babadook will bring home the bacon
NATIONAL film writer Leigh Paatsch casts his eye over the crop of hopefuls at this year’s Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards.
Leigh Paatsch
Don't miss out on the headlines from Leigh Paatsch. Followed categories will be added to My News.
THREE top-notch Australia films are to the fore in a majority of all the categories that matter at this week’s Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards (AACTA).
Russell Crowe’s popular directorial debut The Water Diviner will draw considerable support, as classy prestige crowd-pleasers of its type invariably do.
However, it will be given a proper run for its money across the evening by two ‘smaller’ productions that arguably have enjoyed better success overseas than on their home turf.
POPULAR: The Water Diviner smashes record after just six days in release
HORROR FILM: The Babadook is picking up buzz at US film festival Sundance
The bewitching horror movie The Babadook has been drawing rave reviews around the world with each new market in which it opens.
Though it barely registered with Australian audiences due to a problematic theatrical release in mid-2014, the undeniable excellence of the picture and its ever-growing stature on the world stage will surely resonate with AACTA voters.
The other prominent player in proceedings is Charlie’s Country, a stark, affecting outback drama that was a passion project for longtime collaborators David Gulpilil and Rolf de Heer.
BEST FILM
THE BABADOOK
CHARLIE’S COUNTRY
PREDESTINATION
THE RAILWAY MAN
TRACKS
THE WATER DIVINER
A majority of pundits have The Water Diviner as a clear top pick. However, the fact Russell Crowe was snubbed for a Best Director nomination is a major negative. When push comes to shove, the relatively unseen The Babadook is the better film anyway. It is a world-class exercise in psychological horror that burns its way into the memory of all who see it. The sustained international acclaim that has greeted The Babadook (noticeably at odds with its low-profile reputation at home) will also seriously count in its favour. Only chance of an upset is Charlie’s Country.
BEST LEAD ACTOR
Russell Crowe THE WATER DIVINER
David Gulpilil CHARLIE’S COUNTRY
Damon Herriman THE LITTLE DEATH
Guy Pearce THE ROVER
David Gulpilil. A deserved triumph looks likely for a man who has been one of our nation’s most uniquely gifted actors for over four decades. Gulpilil was at his captivating best in this partially autobiographical yarn about an indigenous man facing a personal crisis relatively late in life. Already the recipient of a Best Actor award in Cannes for this performance. AACTA voters will need across-the-board eye tests if they chose otherwise.
BEST LEAD ACTRESS
Kate Box THE LITTLE DEATH
Essie Davis THE BABADOOK
Sarah Snook PREDESTINATION
Mia Wasikowska TRACKS
Essie Davis. The hottest favourite of the evening. In a virtuoso display, Davis left a searing impression — in all the right worrying ways — as a widowed young mother feeling the strain of raising a “problem child” alone. An accomplished talent who is still yet to peak in what has been a very consistent career to date. Only possible threat is Snook, whose multiple guises in Predestination were the best thing about the film.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Patrick Brammall THE LITTLE DEATH
Yilmaz Erdogan THE WATER DIVINER
Robert Pattinson THE ROVER
TJ Power THE LITTLE DEATH
Yilmaz Erdogan. One category where the process of elimination provides the likely winner. Brammall and Power were both solid in a shaky film, and cancel each other out. Former Twilight pin-up Pattinson took a risk with his twitchy, mannered performance that polarised most onlooker. That leaves the popular Turkish veteran Erdogan, whose warm and all-too-human display in The Water Diviner was faultless.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Erin James THE LITTLE DEATH
Jacqueline McKenzie THE WATER DIVINER
Kate Mulvany THE LITTLE DEATH
Susan Prior THE ROVER
Erin James. For a performer making their movie debut, the dexterous acting smarts displayed by James as a telephone translator for the deaf were nothing short of astonishing. The Little Death had its problems as a movie, but James drew unanimous acclaim for her funny, touching display. Though McKenzie is favoured to win here, a lack of screen time may count against her.
BEST DIRECTION
THE BABADOOK Jennifer Kent
CHARLIE’S COUNTRY Rolf de Heer
PREDESTINATION Peter Spierig and Michael Spierig
THE ROVER David Michôd
Jennifer Kent. This category is a dead-set head-to-head contest between unheralded first-timer Kent and long-time awards magnet de Heer. Kent’s work in The Babadook signalled the arrival of a unique and fully-formed talent, both aggressive and controlled in some most unsettling scenes. Conversely, de Heer’s work in Charlie’s Country was relatively restrained, as it had to be to allow Gulpilil’s performance the necessary breathing space for improvisation.
AND IN THE OTHER CATEGORIES ...
The Best Visual Effects or Animation category is a most interesting contest, with the largely Australian-made The Lego Movie among the nominees. The global blockbuster was controversially snubbed out of contention in the coming Best Animated Film Oscar race, so here’s hoping AACTA voters reverse that massive oversight in some small way.
The Best Documentary award will hopefully land with the gut-wrenching All This Mayhem, an unforgettable chronicle of two brothers tragically chewed up and spat out by the pro-skateboard scene. It’s out now on home video, by the way, and is well worth checking out if you’re yet to see.
Best Original Screenplay should go to Rolf de Heer and David Gulpilil for their sublimely organic storytelling methods in Charlie’s Country. Best Adapted Screenplay belongs to The Railway Man, which bestowed full justice upon a demanding tale of brutality during World War II.
The Best Costume Design and Best Production Design categories are always hotly contested at the AACTAs, largely by virtue of the immense reserves of talent we have working in these fields in Australia. The innovative work achieved by Predestination marginally stands out from a very even pack led by The Water Diviner.
The AACTA Awards screen on Channel Ten on Thursday (Jan 29) at 8.30pm.
Originally published as The Water Diviner will get all the attention, but The Babadook will bring home the bacon
Timely take on Munich Olympics terrorist crisis
The edge-of-your-seat factual drama September 5 takes viewers behind the scenes in one of the Olympic Games’ darkest hours with a message that still resonates today.
Companion’s a terrifically twisting thriller best seen spoiler-free
Companion is the kind of original and inventive thriller that comes around all too rarely – but the top-level twists hit hardest by going in spoiler-free, writes Leigh Paatsch.