Review: The Sapphires

Beginning in the late 60s in a remote part of Australia where Irish MC Chris O’Dowd spots a trio of Aboriginal sisters (played by Deborah Mailman, Jessica Mauboy, and Miranda Tapsell) at a dopey pub talent show. He sees something in them, and wants to manage them, though he suggests they change their preferred genre from country music to soul/R&B. The girls take the drunk but laidback Irishman on as their manager, and before long, they have added their fairer-skinned cousin Shari Stebbens to the act and head for Vietnam to entertain the troops. In the midst of all this, Stebbens’ rejection of her colour/race (she is a half-caste victim of the ‘stolen generation’), forthright Mailman’s jealousy of Mauboy taking over lead vocals, and flirty Tapsell’s romantic issues (including a dalliance with an American GI) provide side stories. Hell, O’Dowd even tries to tame the rather tempestuous (and protective) Mailman and win her heart.

 

Everyone knows I’m not the biggest fan of musicals (to be seriously euphemistic), but when the songs are an organic part of the story, as in a film about musicians, that is often a difference maker for me. This is especially so when I like the music, as is predominantly the case here. So (belatedly) supporting local filmmaking I decided to watch this 2012 Aussie crowd-pleaser from director Wayne Blair. Basically Australia’s answer to “Dreamgirls” but with more connection to fact (“Dreamgirls” was a fictional account of Diana Ross and The Supremes), I’m actually a bit ashamed that I hadn’t heard of the real-life story before the film came out. Is it a great film? Nope. Is it my kind of thing? Nope. Does the story have clichés up to ying-yang? Yep. But it’s a story that deserved recognition and as a film, it’s one that makes you happy and is an easy watch. Scripted by Tony Briggs (who is the son of one of the real-life Sapphires and whose 2004 play the film is based on- and Blair co-starred in it) and Keith Thompson (The inconsequential “Clubland” with Brenda Blethyn and Rebecca Gibney), I actually liked this more than “Dreamgirls”. And hell, the clichés might actually help to make it more relatable to foreign markets, apparently it did pretty well at Cannes that year.

 

Smile on my face or not, though, it’s still a bit overrated, at least locally. We’re not talking film of the year here, folks. I mean, those country singers sure do take to the soul music pretty damn quickly, don’t you think? Perhaps audiences were just happy to finally have an Aussie film that didn’t make you want to slit your wrists. I think we’ve all had enough of that to last us a lifetime, to be honest. Maybe we can all agree that it was the best Australian film of the year then? I’m OK with that.

 

The film’s two chief assets are clearly Deborah Mailman and Jessica Mauboy, who is basically this film’s Jennifer Hudson, except she actually won her season of “Idol”. Hearing Mauboy sing (the others are dubbed by the likes of Jade McRae and Mahalia ‘Tin Lid’ Barnes) old soul songs just reminded me of how miscast she is in the world of modern R&B. She’s an old school R&B-soul/pop singer for sure, but that sort of stuff just isn’t selling, I guess. Deborah Mailman has a winning smile and is by far the best actress of the four protagonists, but when Jess Mauboy smiles, the whole damn world lights up. And when she opens her mouth to sing here, everyone else is invisible. She’s a good singer (better than Beyoncé, who I find phenomenally overrated and apparently allergic to anything resembling a melody) and awfully cute. Mailman seems a bit old for her role to be honest, but she’s especially likeable and has all of the film’s best lines. In fact, as much as Mauboy blows everyone away vocally, Mailman still ends up stealing the film through personality, charisma, and acting talent. Certainly her character resonates more than Mauboy’s (Which one could once again relate to how Jennifer Hudson’s character in “Dreamgirls” resonated more than Beyoncé’s I guess).

 

One thing I really liked about the actresses cast in the title roles was that each of them is on a different part of the spectrum in terms of skin colour. Not all aboriginal people look the same, and some you might not even know their nationality. It’s perhaps an obvious point, but I appreciated it nonetheless. I also liked that although the film brings up some pretty heavy issues, it never brings the tone of the film down too much. Meanwhile, Irish actor Chris O’Dowd is funny as the likeable drunk Irishman who discovers the girls and manages them. It annoys me that his supporting role was overly promoted in overseas advertising (not racism, mind you, just shameless commercialism), but he’s great fun nonetheless. The music is great, too, if a bit eclectic. ‘Run Through the Jungle’ by CCR is one of my top 3 songs of all-time, but what the hell is it doing opening this film? And I love the idea of showcasing Aussie music, but I’m not sure The Seekers were really the best option. But those Motown songs? Classics all of them. The best thing about the entire film comes at the very end when you see a still photo of the real-life Sapphires all grown-up.

 

This isn’t a great film, but it’s a feel-good one that also celebrates a perfectly valid and interesting (if seemingly familiar) story in Australia’s music (and cultural) history. So what if it’s all surface? Sometimes, feeling good is worth celebrating. Yeah, I can’t believe I’m saying that, either. I thought I was supposed to hate musicals?

 

Rating: B-