Today's Mini-Review: The Sapphires

The Sapphires: ***/*****, or 7/10

One of various movies to deal with Australia's painful past regarding its treatments of its aborigine population, The Sapphires embraces a lighter, oft comedic tone while focusing on that which unites people of all creeds and races: music and love. Set in 1968 and starring Chris O'Dowd (of Bridesmaids fame) as washed up, constantly drunk musician and would-be talent manager Dave Lovelace, who stumbles upon the discovery of his life when he meets a group of young aboriginal girls determined to break through at the music scene. Problem is, these young women, family too, have their own emotional baggage, don't always get along and prefer to sing country songs. Not to mention their ethnicity is not favoured on stage, as they experience during a local talent contest where they are booed and harrassed off stage despite being the only contestants with actual talent. It's up to Dave, who admires their passion and perseverance, to shape them into a worthy song group that will capture the hearts of millions, admittedly also for his own commercial benefit, as soon as he has convinced them to go with the times and adopt soul as their style. They swiftly decide touring for the American forces in Vietnam is their best bet to get noticed, the dangers of war notwithstanding. A thrilling string of performances throughout Nam follows, where the girls taste the joys of success and love, but also the sorrows of loss and death. The movie employs an overall feel-good approach, but obviously can't ignore the harrowing past of social inequality and blatant racism aboriginal people had to live through in the days, which is grippingly fleshed out in less scenes than maybe should have been the case considering the heavy subject matter of cultural genocide and overall alarming sights of discrimination the movie also covers. Despite the delightful and swinging tone that rules much of the film, it's the scenes of rampant prejudice that stick with you the most, an inescapable fact that sometimes makes the movie feel unbalanced. Fortunately there's also plenty of sequences that cover the feeling that 'the times, they are changing' for the better, slowly but surely, which allows the girl band to rise to stardom under the stage name the Sapphires. The foursome of singers makes for many a smashing musical scene, while it's gratifying to see the lead actresses weren't cast solely for their vocal talents, but also for their ability to carry emotional scenes compellingly. It's O'Dowd (a white guy!) that steals the show though, as a sleazy con musician ultimately revealed to have his heart in the right place, which does make for a rather sappy, cheerful ending. But after all the Sapphires have been through, you feel they've earned it.