Sydney-based Wellingtonian BRYN TILLY reviews a film set in his home town, and sheds only tears of amusement, not sentimentality in the process…
The ebb and flow of attraction, the mysterious allure of love’s carnal duplicity, the fragility of domestic bliss and happy families, the longevity of friendship and the basic need for a soul mate.
These are the issues and themes prevalent in the new feature from New Zealand director Paul Middleditch.
From a screenplay by renowned Kiwi political cartoonist Tom Scott, who penned the searing, blackly comic one-man play The Daylight Atheist (of which the original production starred by papa), comes a portrait of Wellington, the windy capital of New Zealand, and a clutch of thirty-somethings dealing with the trials and tribulations of marriage, relationships, and infidelity.
This is a genuinely funny movie, and I was pleasantly surprised, as in all honesty, I don’t find many New Zealand comedies particularly humorous.
There are many pearler lines of dialogue and some very astute characterizations within this network of families, friends, and work colleagues.
The main story thread follows ex-pat Aussie Simon (Joel Edgerton) and his affair with ex-pat Brit Katrien (the utterly gorgeous Rhona Mitra). Simon is married to Pam (Danielle McCormack), whilst Katrien is married to Klaus (Thomas Kretschmann).
There’s Simon’s best friend Harry (Les Hill), another ex-pat Ocker, and their boss Archie (Alan Lovell) and receptionist Julie (Michelle Langstone). Then there’s the family friends; Joanne (Jodie Rimmer), Keith (Phil Brown), and Pip (Stephanie Paul), and Tem (Grant Roa).
All the performances are solid, although Joel Edgerton doesn’t command nearly the same kind of charisma and screen presence as Rhona Mitra, and one never really feels a genuine on-screen chemistry between them.
Stand-out role is Alan Lovell’s hilarious take as the chauvinistic, bourbon-swelling, clueless boss.
Wellington city has never looked so inviting! Director Middleditch and his location manager have gone out of their way to set exterior scenes in some of the city’s most beautiful vantage points.
There’s only one scene that exhibits the city’s truly steady climate, the wind and rain. I’m being harsh of course, but in an affectionately teasing way.
As an amusing contrast, the same scene has the characters holding umbrellas. No one has umbrellas in Wellington. The wind won’t let you use one successfully.
The amusing aside is the scene set in the backyard property that features a large pool.
A pool in Wellington, you’ve gotta be kidding me! Apparently location manager scoured Google Earth over Wellington to find such a rare installation. Someone with a money to blow, and not much sense, indulged, and it serves the movie (and Wellington) rather nicely.
Separation City provides some wonderfully wry insights into the machinations of men and women in the throes of a Love Crisis.
Supposedly the working title of the script, first written more than twenty years ago, was titled The Truth About Men. Yes, well, each to their own Tom Scott.
Later on it became Happy Families, a title I much prefer over the ill-concieved title of Separation City, which makes the movie sound like some kind of dystopian science fiction flick. Actually, from the last few lines of dialogue, a musing from Simon as he lies in bed with his wife, I conjured a more witty and appropriate title: Tide of Love, one that plays with the vernacular and the phonetics, and yet knocks the nail on the head.
But hey, that’s just my two cents.
Forget the light drama drivel of Valentine’s Day, the bittersweet battleground of love and lust hasn’t been as funny or unassumingly attractive as in Separation City.
Film reviewer Bryn Tilly is also a very active Sydney DJ, scriptwriter and composer – and writes the blogs Horrorphile and Bruno Dante’s Cult Projections. Busy bloke that he is – it’s called having a passion for life.
