I’d heard of this film back when it was first released,
hailed as one of the new breed of films being released from the Australian/New
Zealand part of the world. Along with several others that were making a splash
at the time critics loved the movie and couldn’t say enough good about it. So
when the chance to view it arose I was looking forward to it.
The movie features Bruno Lawrence as Al Shaw, a down on his
luck race car drivers whose life didn’t take the turns he planned. Having not
raced in some time Al drives a tow truck and lives at Smash Palace, a junk yard
he owns for battered old cars, along with his wife Jacqui (Anna Maria
Monticelli) and young daughter Georgie (Greer Robson-Kirk). Having met his wife
while recovering from a crash this was not the life she saw for herself. Still
young she longs for parties and socializing, skills that Al lacks. While Al
dreams of returning to the track in a new car he’s been working on, Jacqui
wants to sell the junkyard and move away.
On the night of a scheduled party Al stays home with his
daughter while Jacqui goes to a party that was planned. Too drunk to drive she
gets a ride home with Ray (Keith Aberdein), a local constable and best friend
of Al. A few flirtatious moments pass between the two but nothing happens, not
that Jacqui might not like it to.
Tensions between the couple grow as the film progresses.
It’s not that either of them is a bad person but the plans they both had for
their lives run different courses. The non-communicative Al is obsessed with
the cars and junk yard his father once owned and Jacqui longs for the life she
once led while living in Paris. Between the two of them and suffering some
potential future emotional damage of her own is young Georgie who sits in bed
at night listening to the two of them fighting.
Things eventually reach fever pitch and Jacqui moves out
with Georgie leaving Al behind but with visitation rights. Once gone she does
indeed take up with Ray, a second betrayal in the eyes of Al and rightfully so.
As Jacqui continues to push Al away, eventually filing a restraining order on
him from seeing Georgie, he breaks down. He kidnaps Georgie, fakes their death
and hides in the woods. Only Georgie getting ill brings him back to town and a
potential showdown with Jacqui, Ray and the police.
Viewers should not be misled into thinking this is an action
film or a Road Warrior clone. I’ve known people who see the fact of where it
was made and shots of the open road who have done so. In fact the movie is a
much deeper drama about the breakup of a loving couple that perhaps were never
destined to be together in the first place. What makes it truly tragic is that
they have a child that both love and when one withholds that child from the
other it delivers a punching blow that drives a man to near madness.
The movie is the second feature film from director Roger
Donaldson who went on to direct THE BOUNTY, COCKTAIL and NO WAY OUT. While very
well done it shows his early development. Some of the scenes feel repetitive
but help flesh out the story of what’s going on here. He has a nice eye for
camera placement and what he wants to pull out of his actors, something that
you can tell he grew into with each film.
The performances here are wonderful, especially that from
Lawrence. It’s one thing to portray a man driven to desperate acts by a woman
he once loved but to play him in such a way that induces sympathy rather than
hating him takes skill. Monticelli does a nice job as well but doesn’t come off
near as sympathetic, instead coming across as petty and focusing more on
herself than her family. Once can understand her disappointment in the way
things have turned out but not the methods she employs nor her decision to go
after her soon to be ex’s best friend. Robson-Kirk gives one of the best child
acting performances on screen never seeming like a child or like she’s acting.
On the whole the movie held my interested and not being
incredibly savvy on Australian/New Zealand cinema prior to the wave of films
that came out of this period I would say it was a good step in drawing
attention to the location and films made there. The film provides plenty of
drama and story which many films, even today, seem to be lacking. It’s well
thought out, well constructed, well acted and holds your interests from start
to finish.
The film is being released on blu-ray as part of the Arrow
Academy series from Arrow Video. As with all of their offerings the film is
presented in the best looking format possible. Extras include a commentary
track featuring Donaldson and stunt drive Steve Millen, THE MAKING OF SMASH
PALACE a 52 minute documentary featuring interviews with cast and crew, the
theatrical trailer, a reversible sleeve with new artwork by Sean Phillips and
for the first pressing only an illustrated collectors booklet featuring new
writing on the film by Ian Barr, a contemporary review by Pauline Kael and the
original press book.
No comments:
Post a Comment