While in Covid-19 lock down I managed to see Hugo Weaving’s latest movie Hearts and Bones. The movie makes a very interesting point about what we take away from those hard to look at humanitarian photos.
Hearts and Bones tells the story of Dan Fisher (Hugo Weaving), a much sought after photographer. His decades old portfolio was once termed “misery porn”.
Immersing himself in wartime situations has taken it’s toll. Being close to exploding IUD’s has caused brain trauma and PTSD. He’s clearly struggling.
Hard working Sudanese taxi driver, Sebastian Ahmed (Andrew Luri) has his eye on a house he wants to buy for this small family of three, about to be four. He also runs a choir, Voices of Hope, where eight men of different nationalities meet to sing out their troubles.
Sebastian invites Dan to take photos of the choir.
As Dan gets ready for a huge exhibition of his life’s work, Sebastian asks him not to show any of the images of a massacre in his village. But Dan is reminded by his partner Josie (Hayley McElhinney), how hard he’s worked all his life to not be censored.
What follows is a fascinating last half that will have you pondering how you look at confronting images. Do you really know what’s happened behind the photos? What’s led up to the image?
Hearts and Bones is at times a hard and testing movie, however:
- The end message is well worth the wait;
- How would you feel if a photo was taken during the worst days of your life;
- It’s always a delight to watch Hugo;
- If your brain is turning to mush during this isolation, this is a good movie to get you pondering;
- The movie should come with a warning for anyone who has lost a child. It could be more confronting for you.
The movie will be released digitally on May 6th. It’s being fast tracked on all major digital platforms (iTunes, Google Play/YouTube, Telstra, Fetch TV, Sony Playstation etc
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Hearts and Bones
