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Terracotta Warriors: Legacy of the First Emperor

16 July 202515 July 2025 Carmen Jenner🥉

Terracotta Warriors: Legacy of the First Emperor Rating

★★★★★

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Nothing can really prepare you for coming face to face with one of the most iconic collections in the world. You might already be familiar with the history of the Terracotta Warriors, but until you’re standing in front of them, do you realise that it’s their unique expressions, powerful poses, hairstyles, weapons and uniforms that begin to tell their extraordinary story.

The Terracotta Warriors, currently on display at the WA Museum Boola Bardip, are being exhibited together globally for the first time, including some recently excavated pieces.

In one of the boldest exhibitions to ever come to Perth, over 225 Chinese artefacts include musical instruments, vessels, jade objects and animal figures, including a bronze swan. The exhibition sheds light on China’s first emperor, Qin Shihuang, exploring his life, legacy and afterlife over seven distinct areas, as well as China’s military, societal hierarchy and daily life.

In one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of the 20th century, the Terracotta Warriors depict Qin Shihuang’s army of around 8,000, created to protect him in the afterlife for all eternity. How so many warriors remained a mystery until their discovery in 1974 is a miracle. Qin Shihuang’s monumental burial chamber remains sealed and preserved in a secret underworld. The tomb took over four decades and more than 700,000 workers to build one of the largest archaeological reserves, and records depict opulent palaces and flowing rivers.

The life-size figures vary in height according to their rank, alongside chariots and horses, and are often referred to as the Eighth Wonder of the World. It’s easy to lose hours delving deeper and examining the artefacts before viewing the main event of eight life-size terracotta warriors and a horse. Although eight might seem like a modest number out of 8,000 warriors, considering they are over 2,000 years old, imagine the undertaking involved to transport the priceless exhibition, including a kneeling archer and a statuesque armoured infantryman.

One thing that really struck me was the way the terracotta warriors were exhibited behind reflective glass, and depending on where you stood in the gallery, their eerie reflections seemed to multiply to the point that you felt as though you were being observed, not the other way around.

Complimented by an immersive multimedia experience, images of the warriors are depicted in coloured uniforms, as they were once painted in a multi-coloured spectacle.

Historians and history-lovers will no doubt take full advantage of the season passes, allowing for unlimited visits throughout the exhibition for $90. General admission is $30 for adults and $15 for kids. Special events include illuminated warriors at night, talks, performances, school holiday programs and cultural events, including the Guzheng Grand Ensemble on Sunday 19th October.

Even if you’re not into history, there’s no denying it’s marvellous that archaeologists are still making such significant discoveries.

The Terracotta Warriors: Legacy of the First Emperor exhibition is held at WA Museum Boola Bardip at the Perth Cultural Centre until Sunday, 22nd February 2026. Located in Northbridge, it seems only fitting to time your visit with dim sum in Chinatown.

To book tickets to Terracotta Warriors: Legacy of the First Emperor , please visit https://visit.museum.wa.gov.au/boolabardip/terracotta-warriors-legacy-first-emperor.

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Heart Lines

13 July 202513 July 2025 Manuela Kacomanolis🥉

Heart Lines Rating

★★★★★

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Written and directed by West Australian award-winning playwright, Kerry Bowden, Heart Lines delivers a heartfelt and thought-provoking play between heart donor and heart recipient.

The play directs the audience to view the heart as being more than just a vital organ of the body.

Having never met the family of his heart donor, 23-year-old heart recipient, Noah, played by Nick Stevenson, records several video blogs to the family, expressing his gratitude and how his life has changed for the better since his heart transplant operation. This clever embodiment of these monologues in the form of video blogs in the play allows the character to speak from the heart directly to the audience.

Noah ponders on the type of person his heart recipient was and how he wished he knew more about the recipient.

Through a series flashbacks, the audience are taken back into of the lives of three young housemates living in Fremantle, Western Australia. Like many other young Australians in their early twenties, Anna, James and Tim are juggling university studies with part-time jobs whilst also squeezing a bit of time to socialize. At first, it is unclear as to which one of these housemates becomes the heart donor but as the play progresses, the new traits and hobbies Noah has developed since his operation are so strikingly similar to one of them that there’s a poignancy knowing this character is going to die.

Noah makes a point about the bittersweetness of heart transplants. The obtaining of a healthy heart has meant the death of another person. In this instance, that other person is only twenty years old.

The play is cleverly written as full-circle story. Noah, who is from the Gold Coast, is drawn to the other side of the country Perth, the hometown of his recipient and even more so to Margaret River where his recipient loved to surf. Although unaware, Noah also crosses paths with people who knew the recipient.

To effectively switch between scenes of Noah’s video blogs and the flashbacks, a warm spotlight is used on Noah, bringing an intimate feel to his messages whereas bright fluorescent lighting is used to capture the upbeat and carefree lives of the housemates in the flashbacks.

At only 70 minutes long, Heart Lines is a short and sweet play presented by the Melville Theatre Company who will contribute $1 for every ticket sold to the non-for-profit organization, The West Australian Heart and Lung Transplant Foundation. A worthy play for a worthy cause.

To book tickets to Heart Lines, please visit https://melvilletheatrecompany.au/current-production#cca6dbda-c607-4472-9f7c-054b47d62a0f.

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Second Victims (Det Andet Offer)

7 July 2025 Steve Willems🥉

Second Victims – Scandinavian Film Festival Rating

★★★★★

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Scandinavia has a long and rich history of quality filmmaking, with innovative Directors such as Lars von Trier, Susanne Bier, Thomas Vinterberg, and Ingmar Bergman that have challenged and influenced world cinema. Nordic films such as Lamb, The Seventh Seal, Let the Right One In, Festin, and The Hunt, have exposed us to a culture and landscape that is rich with powerful stories.

In this tradition, the 2025 Scandinavian Film Festival gives us Second Victims (Det andet offer), a harrowing, thought-provoking film from Denmark written and directed by Zinnini Elkington. Alex (Özlem Saglanmak) is experienced neurologist starting another routine day in an understaffed hospital. In the changeroom she gives hollow encouragement to Emilie (Mathilde Arcel F.), a nervous new intern facing her first day as a doctor without supervision. As the day starts, Elkington masterfully employs the often-overused technique of a long, single shot as we follow Alex through a routine morning. She volunteers to take over extra duties due to staff shortages, then moves confidently through the hospital deftly attending to a variety of patients, making quick observations and decisions before moving on to the next. One of these fateful decisions, seemingly innocuous at the time, triggers a sequence of high-stake events that will challenge Alex in ways that she never expected.

Medical staff face the burden of life and death decisions every day, but the emotional toll is rarely understood or explored, especially when doubt creeps in about a possible mistake or missed diagnosis. Second victims explores the emotional devastation a critical decision that’s made under pressure can have on an experienced doctor. The allocation of blame, the legal repercussions, the doubting and guilt and fear. Just like Alex, I had trouble recounting exactly what happened in that short but critical moment when she assessed an eighteen-year-old man with a simple headache, sharing her confusion about who was really to blame for not realising the seriousness of his condition. Did the nervous, unsure young doctor Emilie give Alex, the confident veteran, the right information? She says she did. But did she really?

Alex not only has to wrestle with the possibility she made a fateful mistake; she also has to face the emotional impact this has on the patient’s terrified (divorced) parents. These characters help to humanise the stakes. ‘What happens if he dies,’ an emotional mother (Trine Dyrholm) asks the hospital priest (Kristian Halken) as she contemplates the fate of her son, who has fallen into a coma with a brain haemorrhage, ‘he’s all I’ve got.’ ‘You love him,’ the priest replies, ‘and don’t stop loving him. Love is more powerful than death.’

The moral ambiguity and rising tensions were absolutely gripping, the story moving along at an exhausting pace, building an intense emotional pressure like an overcharged battery about to explode. Second Victims is a compelling insight into the stress and pressure of staff making life or death decisions and the people who depend on them. As an experienced Surgeon explains to Alex when she loses all confidence and seeks his advice, it’s a fight they don’t always win: ‘Every Doctor has a graveyard.’

The Hurtigruten Scandinavian Film Festival is packed with a superb lineup of films, screening in multiple locations across the country until the 14th of August. Check out their website at https://scandinavianfilmfestival.com/ for sessions and dates in your city.

To book tickets to Second Victims – Scandinavian Film Festival, please visit https://scandinavianfilmfestival.com/films/sca25-second-victims.

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The Last Paradise On Earth

7 July 2025 Savannah Douglas🆕

The Last Paradise On Earth (Scandinavian Film Festival) Rating

★★★★★

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A lot of people say the grass is greener on the other side. But what if, despite everyone else turning their back to it and telling you to do the same, you were perfectly happy with the hue of your green.

The Scandinavian Film Festival is ready to set sail across Australia. And with it The Last Paradise On Earth, Directed by Sakaris Stórá, glides in to dock.

This touching Danish drama film centres on Kári (Sámal H. Hansen), a kind and bashful young man, who calls the Faroe Islands home. On one of those remote islands he spends his quiet days working at the local fish factory and trying to connect with his sister, Silja (Bjørg B. Egholm), both of whom have been struggling since their mother passed away.

With the increasing pressure of the factory potentially closing and their father’s sudden leave for work on the sea, Kári must do what he can to keep his and Silja’s life afloat, all while discovering his own path forward.

The story is a hunt for belonging and finding a sense of self in hard times. Like many people these days, the doubt of if you are in the right place and doing what you should be doing with your life feels very relatable.

It seems that everyone in the village is either leaving the islands for a better, more exciting lifestyle, or incredulous that Kári isn’t. The constant force upon him becomes overbearing at times, and puts you right into his shoes of getting fed up with the repetitive questions, yet also second guessing his purpose in life.

The consistent pace of the film allows you to become familiar with the island’s day to day routine, as if you’re living the days along with them. But never feels monotonous as you see Kári becoming himself in the calming nature surrounding him, appearing comfortable only when out in the fresh elements and birdsong.

In the breathtaking setting of the Faroe Islands, it’s hard to think anything could stand out from the gorgeous mist ridden mountains and colourful Scandinavian houses – yet the emotions that echo through the land are a big takeaway from the film.

Both Hansen and Egholm bring a melancholic beauty to their characters, where you can be pulled into their emotions just from a glimpse into their eyes. Through their engaging portrayals you could easily be fooled into believing it’s their real lives and relationships you’re seeing on screen.

As you continue to watch Kári and Silja piece together their identity and relationship with each other, even in spite of the remote location, the film charms you into feeling right at home with your own emotions. Because of that, the fresh island air of melancholy and delightful visuals make The Last Paradise On Earth a delicious Danish treat.

To book tickets to The Last Paradise On Earth (Scandinavian Film Festival) , please visit https://scandinavianfilmfestival.com/films/sca25-the-last-paradise-on-earth.

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