MURIEL'S WEDDING (1994)

Country: Australia

Genre(s): Comedy

Director: P.J. Hogan

Cast: Toni Collette / Rachel Griffiths / Bill Hunter

Plot

Insecure and socially awkward Muriel, who is obsessed with ABBA music and planning an imaginary wedding for herself, steals money from her father to go on a dream vacation.  There she befriends adventurous and confident Rhonda, who helps her learn to believe in herself.

What I Liked

The best films coming out of New Zealand and Australia in the late 1980s and early 1990s all have a unique quality in common.  They may all have different plots, characters, and even completely different genres.  Still, whether we’re talking about the movies of Peter Jackson, Baz Luhrmann, or P.J. Hogan, the films all have a stylish in-your-face quirkiness that sets them apart from films from other parts of the world or other eras.  The movies made by all three directors feature loud, almost cartoonish characters presented in extreme close-up.  The dress, behavior, and even language of these characters are garish to the extreme and the filmmaking at times matches that gaudiness.  The benefit of this is that the films fascinate the eye, sometimes even during more mundane scenes.  Hardly a minute passes without something off-kilter or downright bizarre flashing across the screen.

In the case of writer-director P.J. Hogan’s “Muriel’s Wedding,” the plot is certainly more down-to-Earth and mainstream than what was typical of early output from Jackson or Luhrmann.  Not that the story lacks for off-the-wall encounters and twists, but it always comes back to the relatable struggles of everyday living and Muriel’s charming quest to discover happiness. Personally, I rather enjoy the gross-out-effects and comic book intensity of Peter Jackson’s early cult classics, but that said, it’s no wonder that “Muriel’s Wedding” had a broader international appeal upon release than something like Jackson’s “Bad Taste.”  The filmmakers mine the awkward and quirky moments of life in a none-too-subtle way, but always maintain a high level of sentimentality in order to maintain an emotional hold over their audience.

Of course without the enchanting performance of Toni Collette in the title role, this film would almost certainly have been forgotten long before it had the chance to leave Australian cinemas.  Collette’s well rounded performance brings a depth to a character who, in the hands of another actor, might have been a one-dimensional bore.  She gives us a Muriel we can feel sorry for, relate to, root for, wonder about, and laugh at.  Really most of the main roles are filled by talented actors, but it is Collette who makes the film memorable.

And any movie with a town in it called Porpoise Spit gets an automatic extra half point from me.

What I Didn’t Like

I. Hate. ABBA's music.  Ok, enough on that.

Also, while the frenetic, hyper-bold filmmaking of Australian/New Zealand films that I referenced earlier, while admittedly dazzling to the eye, can be somewhat off-putting too.  At times it felt like Hogan wasn’t sure what kind of movie he was making.  The emotions swing from pure comedy to gaudy trash cinema to heart-rending family drama without any smooth transition at all, which is again common to films of its place and era.  At times these swerves in direction feel a bit too raucous to endure.

Most Memorable Scene

Collette killed me in the scene where she meets her future husband, a handsome athlete.  I couldn’t help but be embarrassed for both characters as Muriel’s excitement and awkwardness just goes into overdrive and turns into a horror-show for her panicked groom-to-be.  Definitely one of the funniest moments I’ve witnessed so far on this project.

My Rating: 3.5 out 5

THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE (1946)

Country: U.S.A.

Genre(s): Crime / Drama / Romance

Director: Tay Garnett

Cast: John Garfield / Lana Turner / Cecil Kellaway

Plot

Drifter Frank Chambers takes a job at a roadside diner, only to fall for his boss’s beautiful young wife.  When an affair begins between them, the two lovers plot to kill her husband.

What I Liked

Though it features many of the hallmarks of film noir (flashback narration, the drifter protagonist, a femme fatale, and tragic fate), “The Postman Always Rings Twice” has some unique qualities that have helped it endure the test of time while many other films of the era have been forgotten.  Of the noir films I’ve seen, “Postman” stands out for its encroachment upon the traditions of domesticity.  Where most noir films involve low life criminals, shysters, and con-men milling about urban environs, “Postman” has none of these characters and takes place mostly in a home/diner outside of the city.  We watch the same darkness that inhabits those other noirs invade a marriage.  The only other noir I know of that treads in similar territory is “Double Indemnity,” but even so, there are important differences here.  In “Postman,” Lana Turner is a young woman who in a moment of weakness married a much older man for money and now feels trapped.  Cecil Kellaway is that older man, a drunkard who is more concerned with his account books than his wife’s desires or dreams.  Into this warped dynamic comes John Garfield’s character, his youth and attentiveness proving the forbidden fruit that transforms Lana Turner from a domesticated (if bored) housewife to a conniving murderess.  That’s another interesting twist on the cliché; Garfield’s character is as much responsible for perverting Turner’s as hers is of his.  In a typical noir, like the genre-defining “Double Indemnity,” the woman is always the corruptor.  Not so here.  Turner is indeed flirtatious and manipulative, but it is her desire for Garfield which drives her to kill, rather than the pure cynicism that drives most femme fatales.

One of the best parts about watching old movies like this, even the darker-themed ones, is the Americana.  The big, shiny 1940s cars; roadside diner; the jukebox; the clothing and uniforms; from the perspective of a person born more than thirty years after this film was made, it is hard to believe this world existed anywhere but in the movies.  And certainly a great deal of it was invented by Hollywood.  Still, it was a reflection, albeit a glamorized one, of a version of America that has long since died.  Thus the film has taken on a nostalgic beauty in the years since its release that only compliments the poetic tragedy of its story.

What I Didn’t Like

As can be inferred from the paragraph above, “Postman” is very much a film of its time.  It’s all too made-up to be believable.  Lana Turner is virtually flawless in appearance from start to finish, both in make-up and wardrobe and in lighting and cinematography; the supporting characters are one-dimensional; some of the acting is shamelessly predictable.

Most Memorable Scene

Lana Turner’s radiance dominates the screen any time she’s on it.  There are some classic, top-lit, soft-lens, close-ups interspersed through the film that play up her iconic beauty.  However, it’s her debut in the film, when she first comes down the stairs into the diner and encounters John Garfield’s character that her seductive allure is at its most powerful.  Instead of her immaculate face, it’s the movement of her body that plays games with both Garfield and the audience.

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5