Flammable Children (Swinging Safari) - EIFF review

If there was one word that would perfectly encapsulate Flammable Children (Swinging Safari), it would be "romp".
(Partly) based on Priscilla Queen Of The Desert writer-director Stephen Elliot's childhood growing up in Australia in the Seventies, the film feels like Richard Linklater directing a nostalgic, X-Rated version of Neighbours.
It is easy to draw those comparisons when the film takes place over the course of a summer focusing on three families that live on the same street, including a married couple played by Guy Pearce and Kylie Minogue.
The film is narrated by the adult version of Jeff Marsh, looking back at his fourteen year old self during the famous summer that his small town became famous when a giant blue whale beached itself in the middle of their popular tourist town.
Jeff spends his days obsessively making home movies on his Super 8 featuring his group of friends doing outrageous stunts. However he develops more than movies that year as the sparks of romance flicker with neighbour Minnie.
It isn't just the children coming-of-age as the summer of love has an affect on the adults as well, leading to a "Swinging Safari" night that will have lasting repercussions for the neighbourhood that devolves into a hilarious game of petty name-calling and practical jokes.
The top notch cast gamely commit to the material and all look ridiculous in their fake tan and outrageous outfits. Their over-the-top characteristics in keeping with how the children's perspective and how they would have viewed their parents at the time.
The period detail is spot on and enhanced by an eclectic range of super sounds of the Seventies (complete with obligatory Kylie Minogue cover on the end credits).
While the film has a sweetness and melancholic wistfulness for a time-gone-by, it is the humour that will stay with audiences.
Easily the funniest film to play the Festival, this has more laugh-out-loud moments than shrimps on a barbie! Plus some of the most non-PC laughs this side of a Ricky Gervais stand up e.g. a girl reading a magazine article about Karen Carpenter's brand new diet!
Just like the eponymous Flammable Children of the title, this is a red hot Summer hit that you must go and see. If not you're a flaming galah!

4 stars

Flammable Children (Swinging Safari) has its International premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival on Wednesday 27th June, 6.00 and Friday 29th June, 8.30. To book tickets, click here.

20,000 Days On Earth - review

This is not your typical rockumentary. This is more like "a day in the life of a rock star" but specifically the 20,000th day in the life of Nick Cave.

Prior to viewing this film, my knowledge of Nick Cave amounted to a) He is Australian b) he lives in Brighton c) wrote the screenplay and score for The Proposition and d) duetted with Kylie Minogue (a fact that Cave admits brought him a lot of new attention that was short lived when people heard the rest of his stuff).

However you can go into 20,000 Days On Earth with zero knowledge or a PHD in Caveology and there is still so much to admire and enjoy as it paints a lyrical and poetic portrait of a musical icon and the man behind it.

It exposes his songwriting and recording process with a performance of "Higgs-Boson Blues" and also lays bare his soul in a series of confessionals with his psychiatrist, band member Warren Ellis, archivists plus Locke-style conversations with the "are-they or aren't they there" Kylie and the floating head of Ray Winstone.

This brief but brilliant glimpse into Nick Cave's mind culminates in an incredible performance of Jubilee Street at the Sydney Opera House which cuts together 20,000 days of performing into one show-stopping number.

Whether a lifelong fan or casual newcomer, 20,000 Days On Earth will plant the (bad) seed that will see Cave's music play a role in another 20,000 days for many people in the future.

5 stars