Audience Ratings: 2023

86%

• The spontaneous applause from a packed theatre says it all. Five stars for two big stars in a real life adventure. Great cinematography (and a beautiful print).  Have now seen it three times and still enjoying it. 
• Great female lead, she was ahead of her time
• The absolute cheek of repeatedly describing a radiant 43-year-old Katharine Hepburn as ‘old girl’ is quite awe-inspiring when you think of it
• Cheesy and corny- this film is at times ridiculous but with a charm that only old films can really have.
• A great way to finish of the year! Super excited for 2024!!

85%

• Superb police procedural – ennobled by innovative framing and camerawork, extraordinary sculptural effects created with light and dark, and a forensic focus on working class NYC street-life.
• I think the comparisons to neorealism and films noir are overstated. Lacking both the political conscience of the former and the west coast moral ambiguity of the latter, this is very much its own thing. But as a well-crafted, entertaining police procedural, this film’s lineage can be seen in the following century of TV.
• Beautiful storytelling, what a charming film. Fun fact: there’s a case to solve in the video game L.A. Noire that’s based on this film, took me a second to connect the dots!
• The murder plot was not so interesting, but the snippets of life in the city were fascinating.
• A simple story well told with New York city the star of the film.

89%

• A masterclass that hasn’t dated. As much a film about one disaffected man, it’s also brilliant in its portrayal of a crumbling decaying city. What a ride.
• Incredibly vivid translation of alienation into cinematic language.
• Saw this in 1976 at Radio City Music Hall visiting NYC for the first time when I was 17. It has lost none of its minatory power and pure cinematic grace.
• A classic. Robert brilliance hasn’t changed a bit
• Taxi driver, nighttime thriver
  Take you somewhere for a fiver.
  Travis Bickle, super fickle
  Hates the freaks, pimps, hammers, sickle.
  Jodie Foster, Keitel Mobster
  Travis thinks he might’ve lost’er
  So he’s a killer, letter quiller
  In this dodgy 5 star thriller.

76%

• This is a polarizing film, sometimes we just need to be able to put it into context.
  On one hand it is stunning, especially visually, and the struggle of a man to find his last connection to family. On the other hand it is a stereotypical western where all Indians are bad and racists are okay.
• A perfect Western and a great film. Discrimination is gently prised from the hands of Ethan. In a way the more worrying treatment is of women – forever waiting, supporting, feeding the men. Despite all, it’s a triumph.
• These racist and misogynist white male stories feel very dated. Time to rethink “the Classics”.
• Undeniably racist, sexist, and ‘disturbing’ in all its tacit assumptions, but still wonderfully formal film-making in a classic genre with stunning landscapes. Same problem with Leni Riefenstahl and Philip Larkin.
• Those landscapes! That racism! I enjoyed most of it apart from when I was cringing. Still cried though. What an ending!

80%

• Fabulous movie, looked gorgeous on the big Grand screen… I really enjoyed Guillermo de Toro’s recent version – the similarities are uncanny. With modern tech and set design the latter movie looks sumptuous. Saying that, Tyrone Power and Joan Blondell really lit up the screen Monday night. Thanks for bringing this movie to us.
• With fastidiously expressive lighting and camerawork, this was even more creepy than the recent remake, perhaps only bettered by Tod Browning’s ‘Freaks.’
• It was indeed a nightmare watching the suave, debonair Stan (Power) fall from the dizzying heights into the carni pits.
• Just say ‘No’ to Noir! Free November from its grabby claws!
• Beautifully filmed with an engagingly classic plot, some fine acting and some genuinely scary moments.

87%

• Simply the best – soundtrack, casting, cinematography, acting, and plot all outstanding.
• It’s delightful to see David Bowie’s mentor in mime, Lindsay Kemp, as the publican, hear Christopher Lee’s wonderful baritone, savour Britt Ekland being ‘extremely Scottish’ and… for those who remember him from The Equaliser, witness Edward Woodward actually acting.
• Imagine my surprise when I discovered the Salmon of Knowledge is not made up but is in fact part of Celtic folklore! Otherwise this wasn’t as good as I remembered – too many fruity folk songs.
• I expected to be left haunted and uneasy. I did not expect to watch a man boast so loudly of his own virginity. Great flick.
• The ne plus ultra of folklore-horror-musicals.

83%

• Sili, a girl with a smile as bright as the sun, was stunning in a delightful film.
• The first had a silly plot, but was quite beautiful. The second had a decent plot and was extremely beautiful.
• Le franc – Farcical, colourful, & wonderful musical interludes.
  Little girl – gorgeous & hopeful. Loved the music. Just loved all of it.
• Most interesting for showing us such a different world. But the stories felt quite opaque to me.
• Joyous, heartwrenching, funny and beautifully shot.

86%

• Loved it! Every actor was exquisite, able to act with their eyes. The music was constantly surprising, in a brilliant way. And the cat…
• Loved seeing this on the big screen and love a horror@!
• The black and white photography was so atmospheric. The music so fitted the differing scenes settings. Never a fan of vampire movies, but this is so much more than typical. Casting was spot on. Just loved this movie.
• five stars from five stars (me and my four friends) striking, sexy, textured, brooding, and fun!
• Moody and sparse, with a gorgeous soundtrack. The kind of film you can really sink your teeth into.

85%

• At its core this is a film about family, the family you’re born into versus the family you can choose…
• Terribly sad, but a story from the heart of Africa
• A beautifully told story, with several aspects not fully spelt out. Marred only by the gravedigger’s wife’s wardrobe, which changed in every scene!!!
• Some contrived emotional beats and an overwrought Oscar bait score detract from a really nice story about a wife guy.
• The Wedding Crashers 2: Djibouti Nights. Cracking film from one of the world’s smallest nations. This is what being a film society member is all about.

87%

• Simply stunning – moved more than a few of us to tears – best film of the season so far!
• Left baffled and grinning. Erudite and bursting with humanity. Found myself so moved by the labour of dance and the body as instrument.
• Potential to be a really moving film but it had little clear narrative, focused on too many people and the inserts of Instagram videos were distracting. This would have more room to breathe if not screened a week after the last film which was also a doco about the arts.
• Absolutely fantastic!  An excellent counterpoint to last week’s movie.
• Electric and kinetic. Made me want to see the full show immediately.

85%

• This movie has changed the way I see the world. Human creativity can thrive under any circumstances. Societal collapse requires collective response.
• African outsider art in action, both in terms of expression and protest, amidst the poverty and injustice of a corruptly-run city with enormous inequality. A rousing survey of the power of creativity in the midst of hardship. Unsurprisingly, a great soundtrack too.
• Chaotic art in a corrupt country. Charlatans or serious agitprop artists? I’m not sure that sacrificing a goat and drinking its blood is coherent political action?
• The top rating is more for the artists than for the movie. Except that no other movie as far as I know has shown what these artists are capable of. They are truly great artists. I especially admired the bible performance and the act with the riding blood bath. So much meaning, guts and powerful drive.
• Mesmerising. The kind of film that makes the world look different when you come out.

80%

• A brilliantly executed Black Comedy which was incredibly based on true events. When the soldier, hunted in the first few minutes of the movie miraculously escapes a hunt, the actor (Max Hubacher) playing him transforms completely before our eyes as he grabs the clothes mantle left by a missing Captain. Gorgeous cinematography and dramatic VFX made for a visceral but highly enjoyable watch.
• Premise was fine but it was unnecessarily relentlessly and gratuitously violent, to the point of making me nauseous. There were better ways to get the point across…
• Chilling yet compelling, with a sense of humour so dark I wouldn’t want to be caught laughing.
• A very hard watch, but so striking and beautifully made. The credits sequence in modern times shook me.
• Kafka meets Inglourious Basterds meets Lord of the Flies.

70%

• Short but poignant in its simplicity.
• A movie that showed that erotic, family and societal relationships shape the fate of humans no matter the place or time in history.
• A visually beautiful and well made movie with a great soundtrack, that was unfortunately let down by the stilted acting and boring plot.
• Enjoyed the 35mm celluloid print (despite all the negative scratches and dirt), untutored performances, and Abdullah Ibrahim’s haunting score, but it seemed all rather dated and distant now.
• So many great things about this simple tale, the cinematography, especially the night scenes, was lovely. A great performance from the actor playing the impish teenager. The film’s quality stirred nostalgia for when I first started going to WFS.

66%

• Great performers and relevant satire. Great plot and sensitive performance by Lea Seydoux. The Journalist as perpetrator and victim of sensational media reporting techniques…
• Not funny enough to be an effective satire and not politically coherent enough to be taken seriously. This cynical, empty film doesn’t seem to have much more to say than “isn’t it hard being France?”
• Appalling, tedious, overwrought and shallow – only highlights were France’s clothes and lipsticks.
• A film that felt like it was always just about to end but never did
• Splendid entertainment that just kept coming

73%

• What a treat! The wonderful expressionists sets, the melodramatic miming, the barely suppressed eroticism – and a rich and vibrant live score. Thank you WFS and the Goethe Institute!
• Looked and sounded fabulous but let down by awful elements in the plot – extended attempted rape scenes by sleazy old men – yuk!
• Loved the live music! But the film wasn’t for me. Not as good as Faust!
• 5 stars to the musicians, they did an amazing job! But although I enjoyed the production design and the creative choices for the third story, the film as a whole just didn’t get me engaged.
• Brilliant. May this tradition continue.

78%

• Exciting, playful, thought-provoking, and surprisingly gripping. Full of surprises.
• Enjoyable but messy, as though the filmmaker had a million ideas they wanted to squeeze into the film, and as a result nothing quite held together.
• The mesmerising depth and psychopathy of children and adults made this film impossible NOT to watch, even when it was hard to.
• A humorous and haunting crescendo. It’s also great to see children’s stories being told with nuance.
• Wild turns left and right but an amazing film and so glad to have seen it!

73%

• Extraordinary and fascinating. Wonderful interviews telling the story of the hedonism and yet intense artistic endeavour that Berlin extracted from its inhabitants at the time. A Time Capsule.
• Achingly good. I want to be in 80s Berlin right now.
• If one day a man loves me as much as this man loves Berlin, I would die a happy woman.
• I’m exhausted from watching this movie, I guess you had to be there.
• Exceptional. Great addition to the program this year. Lived in Berlin for many years. Extremely Nostalgic.

83%

• Tony Curtis had all the acting chops to convey Falco’s combination of sliminess, malice, energy and charm. Great script that kept up the pace and let the short dialogue exchanges reveal the story and the subplots. Great B&W cinematography. An outstanding film of its time.
• A  movie that is 4 parts seething disgust to 1 part open jawed admiration for these lizards slithering through the transactional jungle of mid century American capitalism.
• it had more twists than a barrel of pretzels
• Like a precursor to the Nouvelle Vague, shot with stunning crispness by James Wong Howe and a story which was as black as midnight on a moonless night. Welcome to Noir York.
• Not a weak aspect from script and individual performances, through music, cinematography, and editing, to direction. Pure genius!

77%

• This film was so gorgeous
• Why should I care about these characters? Their connections seemed meaningless which made the movie feel clinical and unengaging.
• Intriguing and mesmerising.
• Beautifully realised, with the main enigmatic character carrying the entire movie. Was this a political message about Chernobyl’s consequences? Is this a movie about mysticism, hypnotism and brain-bending techniques? Or, is is just the need for human contact in our lives?
• I have no idea what was really going on, but it was great

70%

• Great film! Sensational — aesthetic.
• Appalling. Too violent. A waste of time.
• I’d have liked to have given this 3.5. But couldn’t round up to 4. I am annoyed that the censor’s rating failed to mention sexual violence.
• More-or-less worthless genre mimicry, directed by someone with far too much cowardice to embrace the unabashed angst of noir, nor the ultra-violent thrills its setup promises. Film students in the audience, I hope you were taking notes — many lessons to be learned.
• My absolute favourite type of film is a 2010 Chinese neo-noir in which darkly comic violence unfolds against the backdrop of neon-lit, crumbling urban landscapes. Throw in a Boney M dance number and you got yourself one of the best films of the past decade.

90%

• Beautiful but bleak insight into survival and living with, or against, one’s environment
• Thought provoking on sustainable farming practices and it’s interaction with capitalism
• Despite the stunning cinematography and sympathetic depiction of a traditional culture I felt uncomfortable with the romanticisation of the poverty it portrayed.
• Beautiful, haunting, sad, uplifting
• Brilliant. Demonstrates what film societies are about.

76%

• Challenging. From reaction of total quiet in the theatre during the movie and loudest chatter after, we all felt complicit to have been so invested / engrossed.
• Love the bravery guys, would love to see more stuff like this in the future!
• I guess we had to go through this phase as the moral barriers to film-making were coming down, but it sure isn’t that interesting. Cronenberg has done much better both before and after!
• Beautifully filmed, the moving car sequences particularly were magic to the extent we believed it was made in ordinary motorway traffic. All praise one of the masters of unease – Cronenberg
• Deliriously dangerous and delicious. Without caring about the characters’ backstories, sublime film-making drew us into their depraved and dreamlike world.

78%

• Great fun, heaps of terrible puns, Jayne obviously having the time of her life. With a cameo appearance from Groucho Marx and the de rigueur mid-comedy movie song it made for a fun evening.
• A very funny, refreshing film, despite obvious mores of the time. Who else noticed Tony Randall’s mirthful dancing scene? A hint of Mr Bean.
• An all white cast, apart from the stereotypical happy-go-lucky musicians, performing humour that hasn’t aged well. Not saved by some genuinely funny moments, reading Peyton Place in the bath for example.
• Fizzy fun that has travelled through time far better than anyone probably expected.
• Breaking the 4th wall, if not the glass ceiling, this is a confection of sweetness and squeals, that might just be a lesson in our own self-absorbed society.

89%

• Such a brilliant doco.
• Devastating. An unrelentingly sad story, from start to finish, but utterly compelling and fascinating. Very well paced.
• Devastating and maddening. A reminder of what a scourge corruption is and the necessity of accountability in government.
• Really not worth ranking at all. Please ditch the dreary documentaries in future. No one’s interested in watching dismal reportage, just creative and innovative film-making.
• Thanks for showing this excellent, deeply disturbing yet compelling documentary.

82%

• I couldn’t believe I’d never seen this Aussie movie before – what a gem!.
• This movie was a delight! So many surprisingly laugh out loud moments with Danny’s parents absolutely stealing every scene they were in!
• Best scene for me – When Marshall Napier stands in the backyard screaming, as the VLine train goes past and the neighbour’s dogs howl – classic Film Victoria.
• Stunningly silly. Good natured fun Gr8 to share a comedy with a crowd.
• Loved everything thing about this!

70%

• Absurdist romp through early 60s Japan. A tale of best laid plans gone wrong. Loved every minute.
• Stunning use of Cinemascope frame, spinning cameras, and endless backing dolly shots without tracks.
• Might be missing some of the cultural references. Great performances from the two leads
• I really couldn’t stand this film. There was a compelling story in there somewhere but it was totally lost behind the 3-Stooges-level slapstick and over the top performances.
• Crazy ending! But ultimately not for me!

80%

• Great!
• Objectively super great! But I didn’t really like it. Way too stressful for me!
• Not only is it great to see a kiwi story, but it stands the test of time.  Separation is never easy, and the beauty of this is it tells the tale from all sides. Of course Bruno Lawrence and Greer Robson are the standouts. Ultimately the drama is so realistic and you can see all viewpoints.  More like this please!
• No doubt an important film in the kiwi historical canon. However, in 2023 hard to feel any attachment to a character who instigates sexual violence.
• It’s an incredibly fine line Roger Donaldson and star Bruno Lawrence tread, depicting an abusive spouse with a tone of legitimate humour that successfully humanises an increasingly sociopathic and potentially revolting ‘Man Alone’ character. The film is also considerably enriched by the utterly charming juvenile performance by young Greer Robson, setting a gold standard for the winningest child roles.

82%

• Stunning insight. Though based on archival film with all its flaws, it presented its defence of the project in an apparently neutral manner. Wanted to hear from Bannon and Bass the apparent villains
• Fascinating, if remaining a bit “surface level” relative to inter-personal relations and the project’s achievements. Was keeping an eye out for a cannabis plantation in the bio-sphere
• Capitalism meets idealism and it doesn’t go well for either
• Please stick to movies – no more American “documentaries” (they just don’t know how to do them)
• Love good documentaries – more please! Amazing what free thinking hippies and a billionaire backer can achieve. This is the kind of billionaire I’d be.

84%

• Wonderful to see this Australian classic for the first time on the big screen. Judy Davis absolutely shines. Glorious cinematography! So happy.
• Hats off to Sybylla for shunning a man and marriage for her writing and aspirations for a bigger life.
• “Loneliness is a terrible price to pay for independence”
• Pride and Prejudice with possums!
• Stunning performance from Judy Davis, It took me quite a while to even recognise her. This, her second film, must have propelled her to future stardom because she lights up the screen here.
• Absolutely loved it! Such a fantastic film!

82%

• Great to see this absorbing, cynical, prescient movie for their first time. Wilder and Douglas are in top form and it was wonderful to see Porter Hall demonstrate his class as the local editor.
• Excellent mix of drama, comedy and craziness, perhaps only Billy Wilder could have pulled this off. Oh, and that triple slap!!!!!
• Savage. The relentlessness of the carnival that couldn’t stop was great.
• The clothing and hairstyles may change but media circuses never go out of fashion!
• Take note all ye public sector spin doctors of Wellington.

78%

• Social studies brought to life and paving the way for understanding today’s unrest in Senegal, in this emotional and fascinating snapshot of this society in the sixties.
• Another depressing depiction of a way of life that is the sad reality for many Africans struggling under neo-colonialism. Nice restoration of an important film.
• So interesting to see a slice of the global past we rarely see. Different culture but the theme and the humanity are universal.
• Amazing how bureaucratic nightmares can be so cross cultural.
• Excellent!

85%

• Loved it on the big screen. Beautifully composed and shot film.
  Made me miss my girlhood friends.
• Loved this with the intensity of a thousand suns. Please play more Celine Sciamma films. True Cinéma bb!!
• Slow burner but fitting denouement made it worth sticking with the journey.
• Empowering, beautiful film
• This is why I joined Film Soc!  Deftly told story of the tragic cycle of dead ends for those with few options, overlaid with the strength and support that comes from finding your tribe. Five stars!

78%

• Such an interesting piece of Aotearoa cinema history, with plenty of political resonances that still feel fresh and sharp
• Brilliant how well the film has aged. The time in which it is set does little to detract from suspending reality and allowing the viewer to enter the world of turmoil and tyranny. The cinematography A+.
• I wanted to laugh a lot during the movie, but the rest of the audience seemed to be taking it seriously.
• I couldn’t believe that the people behind me were actually laughing! Yes, the film is a time capsule and shows NZ when it was less ‘sophisticated’, but the plot itself is very current. People are still easily manipulated by fear and don’t see through empty promises until it is too late…
• What a stunning restoration and a groundbreaking feature film of which we should all feel proud. Michael Seresin’s cinematography popped on the big screen and Sam Neill was always destined for stardom.

69%

• Narratively sparse to the point of almost being surreal played out with a texture you can almost feel through the screen.
• I still can’t get over the multiple commercial breaks in the film, but what a riotous good time overall!
• Odd. But entertaining
• A visual and stylistic treat, and a cooler Japanese cousin of both Godard’s gangster froth and ABC’s Batman TV hijinks
• Styley, stylistic and sexy, with lots of laughs.

88%

• Ominous and perplexing throughout. The score was agitating in a good way!
• This director really understands something about trauma uncommon for films of this time. What a gorgeous reverie!
• Great to see a classic on the big screen. Had a surprisingly slapstick quality to it. While Mitchum chews the scenery, the child actors were great!
• A very stylized and over the top movie. But amazing cinematography and what a creepy guy
• Awesome to see a bunch of fantastic performances; the tension was riveting; the photography was beautiful in a fairy-tale way (were there a ton of composite shots? What a fascinating style). Classics on the big screen is what brought me back to the Film Society.