The Sapphires (2012)
Certified: PG
Duration: 103 minutes
Directed by: Wayne Blair
Starring: Chris O’Dowd, Deborah Mailman, Jessica Mauboy, Shari Sebbens, Miranda Tapsell, Eka Darville, Tory Kittles, Georgina Haig
KRS release
The Sapphires is a scintillating surprise: it is a typical rise-to-fame story but the cast, the delivery and the songs of the film are heart-warming and impeccable.
A warm and feel-good wave of emotions propels the film forward
This Australian film has its origins in a 2004 stage play, that was based on the true story of the playwright’s mother and aunt.
The film is set Down Under in 1968. Dave (Chris O’Dowd) is an Irish talent scout with a good heart but with a baggage load of questionable habits. He makes a discovery of a lifetime when he finds four Aboriginal girls: Cynthia (Miranda Tapsell), Gail (Deborah Mailman), Julie (Jessica Mauboy) and Kay (Shari Sebbens) who are playing country music. He gets them to play soul to become Australia’s answer to The Supremes.
After an audition, the girls are given the chance to perform their first gig... in a war zone: they are to play in front of American troops in Vietnam.
The film deals with several issues that are definitely not light: racism, the forced ‘civilisation’ of light-skinned Aborigines and the Vietnam War among others.
Yet these are all seamlessly inserted into the musical and romantic comedy trappings.
The script manages to combine widely different facets into one film, without any of the aspects overshadowing the other or seeming incongruous. And a warm and feel-good wave of emotions propels the film forward. An important asset is O’Dowd, who is a veritable crowd charmer. He is as Irish as they come, filling out the stereotype perfectly yet rising above this by offering such a sympathetic screen presence.
Another aspect of the film demanding praise is the soundtrack that is very typical of the times it is depicting. The score becomes more and more articulated and important as the film progresses.
The actresses’ vocals are really spot on, with Mauboy emerging as the show stealer. Her throwback rendition of such classics as I Heard It Through the Grapevine and Land of a Thousand Dances, among others, is guaranteed to deliver goosebumps.
The female cast delivers with strong conviction and personality, and looks and feels like a real group.
The idea that music is a reflection of changing times, that a revolution was happening all over the world and music was such a central factor to this change, is simply fascinating.