Angst

Huzzah! Finally an film which is truly Australian! This film is NOT a bad copy of a film made overseas (like Two Hands), nor is it a junk box of Australian ocker stereotypes designed to sell overseas (like The Castle). Instead it is an Australian film for an Australian audience, portraying an element of Sydney culture that actually exists, that people actually experience. Wander around King's Cross at night (or Newtown, or Drummoyne), or go on the dole and you will see how accurate this film is. Unfortunately, this does make half of the film mildly inaccessible to the rest of the world (and to a lesser extent, the rest of Australia). This simply means, however, that individuals who do not know Sydney cannot experience the film at the same depth; there is still plenty for people outside Sydney in this extremely funny film. While the plot is more a background for the humour than a strong feature of the film in its own right, it hangs together well enough (in a disjointed, highly episodic way) to not distract from the extremely witty dialogue through-out. Although it does sometimes come much closer to low humour than high humour, there is enough of the latter to keep the more intellectual amongst us entertained. It really is very funny and worth the watch for entertainment alone. I do, however, urge Australians everywhere to watch this purely to encourage the Australian film industry. Bring on more Australian films of this caliber!

Take a hand full of Australian Cliches, a mixed bag of characters, a large dash of dark humour and a small romantic plot, and you have the wonderful laugh-fest that is Angst.

Sadly, a lot of the humour in this film would not translate well to other countries, without a firm knowledge of Australian culture.

The cinematography was good, filmed on several fairly recognisable locations ("Hey! That's Central!").

Also, an obscure reference to a TISM joke is made...

At play in the fears of the Cross Feeling some Angst with Merry Sofa

The PMFM publicity 'droid thanked us for coming. 'The traffic's terrible out there, so is the weather, but we're glad you were able to make it,' she addressed a half-full Cinema 16 at Greater Union Innaloo. Merry Sofa and Basil's Mum had indeed braved erratic driving and the elements to preview a new Australian movie, Angst. Angst is German for fear, and that is one of the themes of the flick. Merry wondered if the fear was that he was like the characters in the movie when he was a teen and young twenty-something: witty, sharply-dressed, articulate. All the evidence (school photos, family anecdotes) indicate he wasn't - fortunately movies like Angst help keep the illusion alive. Anyway: the action is set in and around King's Cross, Sydney. Dean works in a video store, and hopes to become a horror-script writer. His flatmate and former girlfriend Jade refuses to get a job 'cos she's a bright girl, their mate Ian hails from Sydney's western suburbs and yearns to be a stand-up comedian. This unproductive triumvirate are joined by Mole, who steals their VCR, and May, a Goth. Dean lavishes sarcasm on May for conforming to a sub-culture - she ripostes by saying the video-store worker who aspires to write films is a bigger cliché than she'll ever be. Right on! This scene was early in the movie and the fact that May didn't make any reference to Quentin Tarantino was a good sign: generally Angst is an intelligent and thoughtful script. The film is aimed at the young ones: there were several walk-outs during the preview. Incessant bong-smoking, talk about sex and bad teeth aren't everyone's cup of tea. But Angst is no Bad Lieutenant - there's nothing especially gross shown on screen. Not a lot of nudity or sex - except for a fabulous scene near the, er, climax, which sees a naked May rising and falling in a bedroom of colourful stuffed toys. Lovely! Perhaps the most distressing scene is a cat, which gets sold to a man in a cardigan for $1,000. Dean, Jade and Ian wrestle with their fears throughout the movie, and ultimately win through - as you would expect for a film aimed at a 'young adult' audience. Basil's Mum: I thought it was alright for an Australian film. My favourite line was Dean talking about the truffle pig. (We are unable to reproduce the quote in full, but rest assured it involves cunnilingus). Basil's Mum: You can't knock Australian films. Merry: Not even if it's To The Lighthouse Dancing? The editing is super - like a video game - zippy and fast. The opening titles are a graphic designer's dream.it's like looking at a lava lamp.

Merry Sofa's Measurement: 6 cushions out of 10.

This film is a self-conscious, derivative mistake with both writer (O'Connor) and director (Nettheim) displaying self-indulgence without the quality usually associated with such behaviour.

This was a movie desperately uttering the dialogue of countless pop culture movies seen from Kevin Smith, Justin Kerrigan, and even Quentin Tarrantino to a lesser degree. Why clone? And why do it so badly? I think Anthony O'Connor needs to try and create characters that are fleshed out and interesting - not just saying 'clever' things. The dialogue was, in a word, try-hard. The only thing that came out of anyone's mouth were the writer's words. He needs to develop. To do more with the characters, instead of showing his smugness. He needs to show us he can create interesting characters. Ones that express *authentic* feelings about themes in the film: getting over love, friendship, alienation, obsession... with some true insights - not shallow punchlines in the guise of enlightenment. An immature effort all round. Good for showing amongst the makers' friends as a laugh - not in a cinema, please!

I love the world of this film - grungy, but not too grungy, cosy, old world, inner city Australia - and I wish I'd been a part of it. Maybe that's clouding my judgment, but I loved the film, too.

There's more going for the film than just atmosphere. Anthony O'Connor has given at least one of his characters a good helping of sharp lines. If I have a criticism it's that he hasn't always been able to weave them together into flowing dialogue, but that's less of a problem than it sounds. The most prominent of the three central characters, Dan, comes to a realisation at the end, which I paraphrase somewhat: `I've just discovered that I'm a whinger. I'm not clever, I'm not witty, I don't make penetrating social observations; I just whinge.' And yes, there's a lot of truth in this - but of course it would be fatal to the movie it were COMPLETELY true, and it isn't. One thing, though: maybe I'm just demonstrating my naïvety by saying this, but about the clichéd "locker room" conversation, in which two guys spontaneously (a) brag, (b) moan or (c) alternately brag AND moan about their sex lives to one another - I don't believe such conversations really take place. I think some writer in Hollywood invented them.

The characters are good enough to make the film touching as well as funny, and even the peripheral character of May - the lovely Goth, played by Abi Tucker - is hard to forget (she really is charming). I rather wish the last minute or so had been deleted from the final cut - I think it cheapens the film - but it's one of those cases where the precise choice of a final chord doesn't matter very much; and no doubt SOME brief scene with Dan and May was required.