Praise
Praise is arguably the boldest statement to come out of Australian cinema since Ana Kokkino’s Head On. It is a film about a love affair, brief but intense, with all its humour and madness, scrabble and sex, but it is also a fascinating insight into life in the perspiring tropics of northern Oz. The director, John Curran, doesn’t shy away from the realities of life. He shows the couple, Gordon and Cynthia (brilliantly portrayed by newcomers Peter Fenton and Sacha Horler ) pearling with sweat during lovemaking. Cynthia’s make-up streaks her face when she cries and her eczema, which she tries to hide behind it, looks intensely itchy. The characters feel real. The lighting is perfectly gloomy and the music follows the mood swings of the film as if written especially for that purpose. I have nothing but praise for the proficiency with which this film is carried through.
Without having read the novel, which won the Vogel Award in 1991, or the screenplay, adapted by author Andrew McGahan, I feel a depth of characterisation which must originate there. Gordon is a 25 year old, unemployed, chain-smoking asthmatic. Cynthia is a charismatic young woman who is obsessed with sex but also enjoys a good game of scrabble. They are loners drawn to each other. Gordon is about as far from the stereotypical Aussie bloke as you can get in an hour and a half. After the original intensity of the couple’s sexual exploits he becomes exhausted by the mere thought of Cynthia’s demands.
The honesty of raw feelings, jealousy and pain, is tied in with the honesty of the actors’ approach to characterisation, with the flea-bag establishment in which Gordon lives and the constant brawling and beatings in the flat next-door. Gordon tries to be true to his own feelings, as the director tries to be true to his vision, and this honesty is what makes Praise such a rare cinematic experience. If you like Hollywood heart throbs, don’t bother.
Anna Solding
