Lou

Director: Belinda Chayko
Cast: mily Barclay, John Hurt, Lucy Bell-Tindley, Jay Ryan, Charlie Rose MacLennan and Eloise MacLennan
Releasing in cinemas: 17 June 2010
Rated: M

Another fairly grim and down beat Australian art house drama about a dysfunctional family, a theme that is becoming a staple of local filmmakers. However, Lou is leavened with touches of humour and boasts some excellent performances that lift it. Lou stars John Hurt (The Elephant Man) and Emily Barclay (best remembered for her AFI award winning role as the troubled protagonist of the gritty and edgy drama Suburban Mayhem).

Barclay plays Rhia, a young mother of three girls who is struggling to make ends meet. She has an especially difficult relationship with her eldest daughter, the precocious eleven year old Louisa (played by newcomer Lucy bell-Tindley), who blames Rhia for driving her father away. With a credit company threatening to take away their possessions due to her failure to pay her bills, Rhia reluctantly to take in the girls’ grandfather Doyle (Hurt) and claim the meagre carer’s payment. But Doyle suffers from Alzheimer’s Disease, and caring for him is not always easy.

At first Louisa is resentful of his presence, especially since the muddled old man refers to her as Annie, the name of his late wife. Louisa is also busy caring for her two younger sisters while Rhia is at work or having trouble coping with the disappointments of her own life. But slowly a bond develops between the two, and a strong but strange relationship develops between the pair as her anger is healed by the power of love.

Written and directed by Belinda Chayko (who worked as an editor on the tv series Fireflies), the film delivers a solid emotional journey as it probes this dysfunctional family. But the film suffers a little from under developed scripting and characterisation. It also lacks a clear focus – who are we supposed to identify with and care for here? Is it the troubled Louisa, Rhia, or the confused Doyle? Chayko directs the claustrophobic and combustible environment with a deal of empathy, and there’s a melancholy sadness permeating the film.

Chayko drags solid performances from her small cast. Barclay brings grit and a sense of desperation to her performance. Hurt is very good and sympathetic as the fragile Doyle, and he deftly avoids the easy mannerisms that could have turned his performances into a cliché. But the standout performance comes from Bell-Tindley, who is a revelation. She plays her role with assurance and maturity beyond her tender years.

Cinematographer Hugh Miller also beautifully captures the film’s setting, the cane fields of rural northern New South Wales and offers up some beautiful imagery that resonates beyond the kitchen sink drama.

Nonetheless, there is an element of familiarity about much of the drama unfolding, and this is a difficult film to pitch to an audience looking for a light evening at the cinema.

Greg King

Read more of Greg King's reviews at filmreviews.net.au