When do we turn a blind eye? When must we look? And if we look, what are we really seeing? In Ben LAWRENCE’s compelling debut feature Hearts And Bones, Hugo WEAVING gives a typically powerful performance as Daniel FISHER, a photojournalist whose years of working in war zones have led him to an emotional crisis. As FISHER pauses to reflect, he encounters Rwandan refugee Sebastian Aman (well played by newcomer, Andrew LURI) who now works as a taxi driver in Sydney, and is grateful for his new life despite some hardships. For Fisher, accustomed to looking at life through a viewfinder, this is an unlikely friendship, but it is not without hidden agendas.
Lawrence’s debut feature has antecedents as diverse as Michelangelo ANTONIONI’s Blow Up (1968) and John RUANE’s Dead Letter Office (1998), but with its timely eye on the world’s on-going refugee crisis, Hearts and Bones heralds a brave new voice in Australian cinema. (Russell EDWARDS)