Jimpa
4.5 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by Danny Corvini
This remarkable new Australian film (a Dutch and Finnish co-production) delves into the world of rainbow families across the generations, exploring ideas around longing (for people, places and experiences) and of making peace with things as they are.
It starts in Adelaide, where Hannah (Olivia Colman), husband Harry (Daniel Henshall) and their nonbinary teen, Frances (Aud Mason-Hyde) are about to board a plane bound for Amsterdam to visit ‘Jimpa’ (John Lithgow).
Jimpa is Hannah’s gay dad and Frances’ gay grandfather. He came out when Hannah was young and packed his bags for Amsterdam when she was just 13, leaving his family behind in Adelaide. He is a big character who has lived an extravagant life but it’s been a challenging one, too, thanks to AIDS and homophobia.
However, questions remain about the impact of his life decisions on Hannah. She is a film-maker and while the main story plays out, a parallel plot bubbles away where she is working on a film about her life, which is particularly revealing.
The film offers an exploration of the changing face of queerness and does so beautifully, boldly, sensitively, accurately and with good humour. Frances may look up to their grandfather and the freedom he represents but they also seem destined for a queer life that hardly resembles his own, one which he has fought so hard for. There are plenty of funny moments where Jimpa affectionately plays with those differences and there are some moments of tension, too.
One of my favourite aspects of the film were the cuts from the present back to the past. Shots of the family before Jimpa left Adelaide set the scene for where Hannah and Jimpa find themselves today while a scene with Jimpa and his older gay friends, which cuts to shots of them as little boys, was incredibly humanising.
The film made an impact on me and on my 86-year-old (heterosexual!) father, who I watched it with. While definitely not as profound as the conversations had in the film, it provided genuine openings for us to talk about sexuality and gender. We both agreed that it was the best Australian film in years and he even plans to go see it again!
I found the film’s only flaw to be Hannah’s English accent, which is never quite explained. Apart from that, I found Jimpa to be as perfect as a sunny day in Amsterdam; a place where many, many people from around the world have found their own queer joy, just like Jimpa did.
In cinemas February 19
