Director: Wayne Blair
Running Time: 99 mins
Certificate: PG
Release Date: March 4th 2013
The Sapphires was a major hit in Australia and recently swept the Australian Film Institute’s AACTA Awards, picking up 11 gongs. However it’s struggled to find a huge audience outside its home country, despite the presence of Chris O’Dowd. It’s a bit of a shame, as while it’s not amazing, it’s a sweet, entertaining movie that tells an interesting true story.
From their youth, Gail, Julie and Cynthia have sung together, although due to the fact they’re aborigines, they’ve had difficulty getting anyone outside their own community to take any notice. In 1968 they meet the slightly schlubby Dave (O’Dowd), a man who’s down on his luck but who knows music. The girls have found an advert asking for acts to audition to play for US troops in Vietnam. They think that perhaps with Dave as their manager, they might have a chance of being taken seriously as a singing group. [Read more…]