Foot-stomping, heart-stopping works of art; the hits of the summer
One is about stealing the money, the other about the stealing the show.
Two of the must-see films this November look like they’re a million miles apart but they are drawn together by a 2014 exhibition at Britain’s National Portrait Gallery featuring famous faces from West London including Queen front-man Freddie Mercury (subject of Bohemian Rhapsody) and film director Steve McQueen (Widows). The writers connected with the two films are also the best in the business. Widows’ script has been adapted for the big screen by Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl) and the screenplay for Bohemian Rhapsody is by New Zealand’s own Anthony McCarten (Darkest Hour).
Widows is a get-even heist thriller and while the subject matter might be bank robbers, the underlying narrative is about love, loss and grief. Academy Award® Winner Viola Davis leads a star-studded female-driven cast with an impeccable performance as the widowed wife of an armed robber (Liam Neeson) killed in a shoot-out with the rest of his gang.
The widow's (Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki and Cynthia Erivo) – desperately needing cash – come together to finish a job their husbands planned. In McQueen’s deft, artistic, hands this transcends the genre and creates a slick production that rushes past and leaves you breathless for more. Also featuring Robert Duvall and Colin Farrell, it’s already gleaned rave reviews at the Toronto Film Festival and promises to be the thinking-person’s thriller of the summer. Widows releases in NZ cinemas on November 22. If Widows leaves your heart racing, Bohemian Rhapsody will have it soaring.
You know Queen’s music – how could you not, they are one of the greatest bands in musical history – but the story behind the music is even more compelling. The story starts with how the band came together, including the oft forgotten fact Freddie Mercury was not the original frontman. Back then he was known by his given name, Farrokh Bulsara. Name changes for the band and the lead singer created the classic line-up of Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon. Interwoven with that is the creation of
Bohemian Rhapsody the song. For anyone alive in when it was released in early 1976,
Bohemian Rhapsody was a game-changer. At more than six minutes and starting acapella, with an operatic burst spliced between a ballad and a rock anthem, it felt like it had come from a different planet. A mish-mash of music styles, it was out there but it personified Mercury and rewrote our idea of rock music.
The climax of the film is Queen’s Live Aid appearance in 1985, regarded as one of the single greatest rock ‘n’ roll performances of all time. A 20-minute honed-to-perfection set in which Mercury owns the 72,000 fans at Wembley stadium and the millions watching world-wide.
Relive the magic of that show, the magic of Freddie’s journey, the magic of the music. From Killer Queen to
We Are The Champions. Radio Ga Ga to It’s a Kind of Magic. Because it is. Magic.
Bohemian Rhapsody hits NZ cinemas on November 1.
of the previous weekend.
Is art not enough any more? ‘‘It’s enough for some people,’’ Jackson says. ‘‘And it’s all some people want. But audiences are changing, along with their expectations of what they get.’’
Jackson is a big music fan and sees music as a key part of the Christchurch art world. ‘‘I don’t distinguish the two.’’ Bands like Into the Void and Dog Power have played in the gallery and artists will act as DJs during this weekend’s Art Do, which is a hipper reinvention of the gallery’s famous gala dinner fundraiser.
‘‘We’ve broken the mould of the boring auction dinner,’’ says Jo Blair, founder and director of Christchurch public relations and events company Brown Bread, which is collaborating with the gallery on Art Do. Collaboration is everywhere: artist Judy Millar is collaborating with a wine company and artist Zina Swanson with a local brewery. Jackson will DJ with celebrated painter Shane Cotton. Fashion designer Karen Walker will style a bar and create a signature cocktail.
This all sounds a long way from the popular image of the Canterbury arts supporter as a white-haired matron. That stereotype has taken a dive. Brown Bread says that half of the $8.5 million raised for the gallery’s Together campaign, which buys work for the collection, came from people aged 50 and below. The Art Do should raise another $100,000 or so.
But a school of thought will wonder why all this is necessary. Like its equivalents in Auckland, Wellington and elsewhere, Christchurch Art Gallery is funded by the city’s ratepayers.
‘‘It’s not enough,’’ Jackson says. ‘‘We’re well funded. We’ve got a supportive council. But the council can’t do everything for the city and if we want to be more ambitious, we have to work out ways to make that happen.’’
His contemporaries would agree. In Wellington, 65 per cent of City Gallery funding is provided by the Wellington City Council and the rest must be raised by events, ranging from walking tours to cocktail parties. Funding has been a political quagmire in Auckland, where operational costs are funded and collecting is covered by gifts and donations.
Galleries also keep a close eye on visitor numbers and where they come from. Christchurch Art Gallery recorded 388,000 visitors in the year to June, up on the previous year but still below pre-earthquake levels. The balance is roughly 60 per cent tourist and 40 per cent local. Wellington’s City Gallery drew 180,000 visitors in its last full year, with half from Wellington and half from elsewhere.
Auckland Art Gallery trumps both, but not by much: it had 545,852 visitors in the 2017/18 year, with 42 per cent from overseas, 11 per cent from outside Auckland and the remainder from Auckland.
Numbers matter and can be interpreted in all manner of ways. Funders and marketing people like to see them. For all art’s elitism, galleries are part of a larger picture of city promotion and branding, as well as providing elegant settings for commercial events. As
Your Weekend leaves the Christchurch Art Gallery on a warm afternoon, a function is being set up in the foyer. Art? Culture? No, it appears to be something to do with cars.