Square Eyes

Television Reviews

Movie of the week: Billy Elliot, Ten, Sun, 8.30pm

Another heartwarming, working class English drama set in a Thatcher-era coal town (a la Brassed Off and Full Monty). Billy (a charming Jamie Bell), is motherless, his dad and brother jobless, and he prefers ballet to biffo. His teacher (Juliet Walters) spots a natural, who then has to battle a gruff father wary of "poofy" pursuits. It's a moving, beautifully told story, that packs a strong emotional punch.

The Clitoris: Forbidden Pleasure, SBS, Fri, 10pm

Apparently women have one of these thingies - who knows why.. although this rather intimate doco offers all the details, with a degree of visual accompaniment that is bound to cause discomfort for anyone brought up to put loo paper in the water to prevent reflections. Boys will watch to ogle, but they might actually learn something.

The Secret of Roan Inish, ABC, Sat, 2pm

A young girl sent to live on the windswept Irish coastline becomes besotted with the legend of the selkies - half human/half seal creatures. It's a beautifully told, surreal, but occasionally dark drama about identity and tradition.

Married in America, SBS, Sun, 8.30pm

Director Michael '7 Up' Apted turns his shrewd, revealing eye to nine American couples to tell their stories as they get married. One pair, who have five marriages and five kids between them, met at AA. Toni and Kelly are lesbians, Neal is Jewish and Cheryl Filipino-Catholic. It's a diverse snapshot offering insight into why we get hitched. He plans to return every two years to chart their progress.

Duets, Prime, Sun, 8.30pm

Gwynnie's dad, Bruce, directed this sloppy, indifferent road flick about six battlers gathering in Omaha for a karaoke showdown. It only proves why Paltrow, as a karaoke hustler's (Huey Lewis) daughter, went into acting rather than singing.

Obsessions: Worries on a String, ABC, Mon, 8pm

Russian-born classical composer Elena Kats-Chernin is Australia's most successful and famous composer. Highly strung, funny and frantically busy, she composed the music for NORPA's Mr Barbeque, and has written for the world's great orchestras. She has three teenage boys to bring up in suburban Sydney, and the dilemmas she faces in juggling her commitments makes for a moving and charming doco.

Land of the Morning Star, ABC, Mon, 8.30pm

While East Timor has found its independence, West Papua (the western half of New Guinea), our closest neighbour, continues to struggle against Indonesian rule. It's an amazing place of rainforests, snow-capped mountains and massive rivers where 250 languages are spoken. Journalist Mark Worth died a couple of weeks ago after a lifetime reporting from this region. This doco is his legacy - a sweeping saga of colonial ambition, fervent nationalism and centuries of conflict.