The Sydney Morning Herald from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia • Page 73

debu Touch of maeic do Wo ggle' ITS FILM -w .1 V- Pit I A Story first-rate production, Wiggles Movie be prepared MEDICAL HOME NURSING AIDS HIRE and SALES Nebulisers allergy needs Commodes Boomerang pillows Overbed tables Sheepskin rugs Shower chairs stools Ioniser Safety rails Walking sticks frames Crutches Kylie sheets Adjustable easy chairs Wheelchairs regular folding or super lightweight folding Joyce medical chairs OPEN 5 i DAYS SERVICE SINCE 1964 DELIVERY SERVICE GILLESPIE'S ARTARMON 1 3 ELIZABETH ST ARTARMON 9412 4669 9419 2081 Top: A scene from Fairytale A True script and performances Above: The for anarchy in the aisles. 5HE. jREAf A OHM E.WMI PfOdKW 11 competitions. He becomes more cheerful and relaxed, while his wife begins to suspect he is having an affair. When she learns the truth, she realises it is an affair of a different kind but one that still comes between them.

In Japanese society it is common for couples not to be close to not even hold hands in public. Husband and wife are expected to understand each other without conversation, but instead often end up living completely separate lives. While Mr Sugiyama does not have quite the public success that Paul Mercurio enjoys in Strictly Ballroom, he does have a private victory. He learns to be himself, to appreciate his wife, and to share with her his love of dance. Shall We Dance? is a gentle comedy which invites its audience inside the Japanese mind, and once there, we learn enough to understand and empathise with the characters in their struggles and sorrows.

We take their journey of discovery with them not simply the discovery of dance and its joys, but the realisation that being different is something to fight for. FAIRYTALE-A TRUE STORY Directed by Charles Sturridge Starring Florence Hoath, Elizabeth Earl, Peter O'Toole and Harvey Keitel Opens Boxing Day in wide release THIS is probably the most charming film that will be released for children over the holiday period. It works on the same premise as Peter Pan (a production of which opens the story) that fairies are real if only children believe in them. There was a real danger of this film being too precious for its own good, but parents will be charmed right along with their young ones who will be agog at the glorious winged creatures they see onscreen. Although it is called "A True that is rather deceptive.

Frances Griffiths and her cousin Elsie Wright did indeed take pictures of fairies they claimed they had seen, and befriended, near their Yorkshire home in 1917. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Harry Houdini did become involved in the debate as to whether the pictures were genuine. However, the story works from the perspective that the fairies were, and are, real Because the pictures were taken by children unfamiliar with cameras, and checked and rechecked by experts who were fairly certain they were not fakes, the photographs and fairies were pronounced to be real This works brilliantly for the storyline, so it seems churlish to mention that the photos were eventually exposed as fakes in the 1980s, and that Conan Doyle was ridiculed for his belief in them. Yet at the time they provided hope for a nation gripped by the ugliness of war and death, and modern-day children will certainly feel the same magic. The production is beautifully shot and the script excellent, with a lovely surprise at the end.

The performances are also first-rate particularly from Phoebe Nicholls as Polly Wright, and the two girls (Florence Hoath and Elizabeth Earl), caught between a touching innocence and an early wisdom learned through grief. Earl's expressive little face is a joy to watch. In the end, who cares if it's not true? You are so charmed by the story that you almost believe it Your children certainly will, and most could do with a little help these days to keep their imaginations alive. 6 Its message to kids is to be positive about themselves and treat others kindly, but most of all, to have a heck of a lot of fun.9 looks not unlike Rupert Murdoch. However, unlike your average media baron, Carver doesn't just make up news, he creates it.

His minions are responsible for the sinking of the British frigate, and the subsequent threat of war. His reason? That his global satellite network will not be complete until the Chinese sign up which they have refused to do. Carver's solution is to start a "little" war, and later, through his contacts, to sew up a deal which will see him effectively control the world's media. In the mean time, his news network continues to scoop the world. Australians have seen enough of the machinations of their own media barons in the past couple of years not to laugh such an idea to scorn.

Not to laugh at all, in fact Naturally, some of Tomorrow Never Dies is wildly unlikely, but in the main it is quite realistic for a Bond film. Fans will still have a good time, will revel in the techno-action, and can remain confident that their hero will never be completely politically correct One thing I'd like to see is a female villain. Maybe next time. SHALL WE DANCE? Written and directed by Masayuki Suo Starring Koji Yakusho and Tamiyo Kusakari Opens Boxing Day at the Cremorne Orpheum and Dendy Martin Place THIS film is likely to be branded a Japanese Strictly Ballroom dealing as it does with the glitzy world of ballroom dancing, and the emergence of people from their shells to show they can achieve on the floor. However, concentrating on these -superficial similarities would ignore the film's own, very different story, and the window it provides into Japanese culture.

The attitude to ballroom dancing, and most modern dance, in Japan could not be more different to the West Here, it is on TV, and onstage, with all the glitz it can muster. Champions are lauded, and discos are packed. In Japan, modern dance is treated as either highly embarrassing, or something with which only perverts and call girls would become involved. The people who learn and they are usually middle-aged businessmen do so secretly, afraid of being ridiculed if their families and workmates find out Mr Sugiyama (Koji Yakusho) is just such a person. He is moving up in his company, works diligently, and travels a long distance to work each day so his wife and daughter can live in a good house.

His listlessness is common to many Japanese men, whose lives follow a set path from school to university to a lifetime of work in one office. feel trapped, yet are unable to move freely between jobs in order to keep life interesting. On the train home one night, Mr Sugiyama sees a lovely, sad young woman standing in the window of a dancing school. His interest is piqued, so he decides to take lessons. Although his teacher turns out not to be the beautiful Mai (ballerina Tamiyo Kusakari) but the middle-aged Tamako, he perseveres despite two left feet and soon begins to enjoy himself.

He discovers that a work colleague has been secretly learning dance for five years, and that there is a whole underworld of dance lovers who meet for events and JUDY ADAMSON THE WIGGLES MOVIE Directed by Dean Covell Starring The Wiggles and Tony Harvey Opens today in wide release "JSTN prepared for anarchy in KJtJ the aisles. The Wiecles and I their movie are coming to a I screen near you, and before you know it, they'll have your kids up and dancing, screaming at the screen, and singing their heads off to well-known favourites like Romp Bomp a Stomp, D.O.R.O.T.H.Y. and Hot Potato. The Wiggles Movie is like the band's shows and songs very simple and colourful, and very inclusive. Its message to kids is to be positive about themselves and treat others kindly, but most of all, to have a heck of a lot of fun.

The story follows Wally the Great (Tony Harvey), a failed magician who thinks hell be able to win the local magic competition if only he has a proper wand. When he sees Greg, the lead singer of The Wiggles, using a wand to great effect, he steals it in order to seal his success. However, the band's good friend Dorothy the Dinosaur sees the theft, and sets off after Wally to get the wand back. While they have adventures together, The Wiggles are trying to find Dorothy, because it's her birthday and they're planning a surprise party. All works out fine in the end, naturally, with everybody singing and dancing the night away at the party.

Some adults might squirm at the daggy jokes, the simple lyrics, or the too-wide smiles that our heroes show us from time to time, but it couldn't be cleaner fun which is certainly a rare thing and there are some innovative ideas which keep the story rolling. You leave the cinema almost convinced that the most effective way of communicating is to break in to song and do the twist It means it won't be a meaningful 80-odd minutes for you, but be assured your kids will have a whale of a time. TOMORROW NEVER DIES Directed by Roger Spottiswoode Starring Pierce Brosnan, Jonathan Pryce and Michelle Yeoh Opens Boxing Day in wide release TS taken a long time, but James Bond has just about caught up with the reality of modern woman. In GoldenEye, Pierce Brosnan's female offsider was feisty, tough, and able to assist, but it was clear that she wasn't quite his equal. In Tomorrow Never Dies, it's a different story.

The sinking of a British frigate in the South China Sea brings Britain and China perilously close to war, and the suspicious nature of the ship's loss means our man James is called in. His partner is Mai-Lin (Michelle Yeoh), a Chinese agent who has just as many fancy gadgets as he, and can beat her adversaries to a pulp with similar finesse. Mai-Lin will work with Bond on her terms or not at all, and by the denouement he actually trusts her to carry out a crucial part of their plan (shock, horror). He even admits that he has never really grown up something the long-suffering staff at MI6 have known for decades. Of course, that doesn't mean the essentials vary from what Bond fans have come to expect: laughs and action, an outrageous opening scene, gadgets from the evergreen pretty girls who are (eventually) putty in Bond's hands, plus the requisite filthy rich man set on world domination, and his inevitable, unpleasant, destruction.

The bad guy in this instance is Elliot Carver (Jonathan Pryce), a world-wide media mogul- who FIRST PRIZE FAMILY PASS PLUS DINNER AT GOLDEN CENTURY RESTAURANT S. RICHARDSON Sinclair St, Wollstonecraft SECOND THIRD PRIZES FAMILY PASS (4 People) MICHAEL KOH Burdett St, Wahroonga SHAUN LIM Appletree Drive, Cherrybrook Nanette's comiort footwear were $120 NOW $991 YOU'LL LOVE THE STYLE COMFORT-ANP THE PRICE WITH WALK-ON-AIR INSOLES AND BOUNCE-BACK MEMORY CUSHIONING Vegas BLACKCROC NAVY, CHOCOLATE w' -'w pewterbronze January 11th. 1998. opfpp PMnQ Shop 13 Lane Cove Plaza Lane Cove 8074 Shop 36 Top Ryde Centre Top Ryde 4205 SAVE! over $20 Now $99 .12 THE NORTHERN HERALD, Thursday, December.18J997.