REVIEW: Jill Bilcock: Dancing the Invisible an open celebration of an Australian cinema living treasure

REVIEW: A wonderful, illuminating documentary, Jill Bilcock: Dancing the Invisible is an open celebration of one of the hidden living treasures of Australian cinema.

JILL BILCOCK: DANCING THE INVISIBLE (M)

Rating: Three and a half stars (3.5 out of 5)

Director: Axel Grigor (documentary debut)

Starring: Jill Bilcock, Baz Luhrmann, Cate Blanchett, Rachel Griffiths, Fred Schepisi.

Life by a thousand cuts

A wonderful, illuminating documentary, Jill Bilcock: Dancing the Invisible is an open celebration of one of the hidden living treasures of Australian cinema.

Well away from the whirring cameras of a film set or the bright lights on the red carpet, revered film editor Jill Bilcock has spent her storied career combing through and cutting up thousands of kilometres of footage.

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A scene from documentary film, Jill Bilcock: Dancing the Invisible. Picture: supplied

Many of the films she has worked on — and most importantly, the casual grace and intense creativity with which she has shaped them — are now recognised as crucial elements of our nation’s screen identity.

Muriel’s Wedding, Strictly Ballroom, Moulin Rouge, The Dish, Red Dog, Japanese Story, and The Dressmaker are just a few of the works to have benefited from Bilcock’s rare feel for the editing process.

A scene from documentary film, Jill Bilcock: Dancing the Invisible. Picture: supplied

Hollywood and other international filmmaking hubs locales have also come calling, and Bilcock’s intuitive approach — honed from decades of cutting movies physically before digital suites became the norm — has risen to the occasion each time.

While several notable talking heads (led by the likes of Baz Luhrmann and Cate Blanchett) quite rightly queue up to sing her praises, it is Bilcock’s own colourful life story and open attitude to the world that proves to be most inspirational here.

Jill Bilcock: Dancing the Invisible is now showing at the Cinema Nova, Carlton (VIC), Dendy Newtown (NSW), Dendy Coorparoo (QLD and Wallis Mitcham (SA).

Originally published as REVIEW: Jill Bilcock: Dancing the Invisible an open celebration of an Australian cinema living treasure