10 Reasons You Need To See The Sapphires

Last night, Pedestrian’s Suz & I were lucky enough to attend the Australian premiere of ‘The Sapphires’ at the State Theatre in Sydney. Having received a 10-minute standing ovation at Cannes earlier this year, the room was expectant and excited for the film to finally screen to it’s hometown audience. It more than delivered and people were cheering, applauding and standing up and dancing by the end. Here are some reasons why we think Australia needs to see this film.

1. The story of The Sapphires – four young, talented singers from a remote Aboriginal mission who get selected to entertain the troops in Vietnam – an inspiring, true, homegrown story that you probably don’t much about.
2. A scene-stealing breakout performance by Miranda Tapsell as pocket-rocket, loud-mouth Sapphire, Cynthia.
3. The first time Jessica Mauboy (Julie) sings will give you chills. Her voice is incredible throughout the movie – it’s like a wonderful shock every time she opens her mouth. She performed live last night after the screening too, looking and sounding every bit the superstar.
4. The dialogue is snappy, funny and rang true. Each of the girls’ characters were well drawn and completely likeable. Rare.
5. The making of Chris O’Dowd (Dave) as a leading man. At the start of the screening, he also sent the director Wayne Blair a text message saying “Thank you to Surry Hills for welcoming my moustache”. Bless.
6. The infectious Sixties soundtrack.
7. It touches on the tragedies of the Stolen Generation and the Vietnam War without being heavy-handed and preachy. This mirrors the sentiment within the film that soul music is about getting back up and moving on and fighting to get back what is lost, rather than wallowing (which O’Dowd uses an analogy to illustrate the differences between soul music and country & western)
8. It looks GREAT. The film doesn’t have a huge Hollywood budget but cinematographer Warwick Thornton (Samson & Delilah) makes this look a million dollars.
9. The ‘where are they now?’ white text on black at the film’s end and photo of ‘The Sapphires’ today, will have you in tears if you have a heart that beats.
10. It’s a terrifically entertaining film that you will genuinely enjoy watching. And it will feel doubly good to know you’re supporting the local film industry at the same time.

The Sapphires opens in cinemas today.

More Stuff From PEDESTRIAN.TV