The Black Balloon vs my 19 year old self

This is the first Australian film that I absolutely fell in love with, I remember I was 19 in  2008 when it first came out, I was so infatuated with the trailer and was on a desperate search to see the film, I went to this amazing little store right by my home at the time called movie art decor (my sister now lives right by there, unfortunately assumably because of the influx of films readily available online they are no longer in business. I found myself drawn to the film whether it be because not so un commonly as a pretty typical  19 year old girl I had a love of runway models and Gemma Ward was the pinacle of the mid 2000 runway model.  With her beautiful long blonde hair, doll like features, and natural Australian charm she was everything I could ever aspire to be, effortlessly perfect. I sat in my third floor bedroom at the time painted a light purple with big lead windows and a large window seat crowded with french vogues  I couldn't read because of my inability to grasp foreign languages, watching this film almost solely because of my adoration of the blonde beauty. The film itself ended up being a fascinating  portrayal of a family in turmoil, and how ultimately love whether it be the love of family or young love has a way of displaying the silver lining in even the darkest of clouds. I think this film was hard for me to watch at times because although I aspired to be the effortlessly flawless, charming and sweet character portrayed by ward, the reality of my life was that the reality of the situation was that I secretly felt much more alike to Charlie the autistic brother portrayed wonderfully by Luke Ford. At a time when most young people were out partying, in college and just discovering themselves I was hidden away in my bedroom watching Australian films (my favourite at the time) and looking at other peoples social media profiles wishing my life was as effortlessly wonderful. 

I had just finished highschool a good year or so later than everyone else I knew, and after 4 different high schools  and a terrible stint at a boarding school that I now know was awful for my mental health I had lost basically all my friends and was forced to live a life in the shadows of my bedroom rarely going out with the couple of friends I had, watching films with my cat and idolizing people I would never meet in real life, whilst most people my age were frollicking in Europe or just living a more socially connected life I became a bit of a hermit. I felt let down by the world for not being genically blessed despite luckily enough having a thin size 0 frame my face was what I felt to be the bane of my existence. I perfected photos trying to look presentable online so as to show people that didn't accept me that I was worthy of love and affection, I was dealing with the dissolution of my parents marriage at the time and basically a loss of everything I knew to be true and real, my friends and neighbours from the age of 4, my parents, marriage amongst all of this I thought I was in love or at least like for the first time with someone whom I thought was a trusted friend but ended up to be no more than a socipathic aquaintance with no intentions other than that of cruelty. So my mental state 

Magic Magic vs my 25 year old self

This is one film that I found completely resonated with me. I first saw a poster for  this film whilst I was on the subway in Paris, a vibrant photo of Juno Temple wearing a yellow coat. As I began watching the film  a couple months later I noticed shocking similarities between myself and that of the main character  as the film progressed. Not only did the main character share my name and an affinity to the colour yellow she also had a close relationship with her cousin that was portrayed in the film, relationships with family members as with anyone are extremely complicated and the film portrays a paints a pretty similar story as the one with my cousin mind you in reality our relationships benevolence is a little more one sided than the one in the film , the age roles are reversed and although I do suffer from mental illness and would probably have an episode quite similar to Alicia's in the film I think I am a little more self sufficent in regards to relying on my cousin especially since she is the younger one something that happens when people grow up together with an age gap you parentify from a young age and it despite time it doesn't really change.

 and Michael Cera's character is quite similar to many people I have met, an eccentric closeted gay boy who was a bit too eager to prove his affections.

This film is one of the two films Michael Cera made in his breif  work in chilean made independent  Sundance films back in 2013 which also includes Crystal fairy. Both films include road trips across the land  which provide an interesting opportunity to show case the wildly different landscapes of the South American country.

Wasted on the young

Drama Thriller 
Written and Directed by Ben C Lucas 
Starring Oliver Ackland,Adelaide Clemens  and Alex Russell (2010) Australia                              

I have a love for Australian films and I am constantly yearning for new ones to see. There is just something about Australian films that I just can't put my finger on. There is a sense of rawness and realness that they possess while at the same time are so visually stunning. When I first saw the trailer for wasted on the young I was overwhelmed by the tiny snippet of the film and was dying to see it from than on. After waiting ages for it to finally be released in Canada I was ecstatic that I was finally able to watch the full thing and braced myself for disappointment since trailers are not always the best indicators of whether or not a movie is good or not.

However from the beginning of the film to the very end I was completely in awe with the perfection that this movie possessed, the cinematography was sublime it truly encapsulated beauty in every scene, whether it was the stylishly edited competitive swimming scenes that portrayed the sport as more of an art form, the dramatic party scenes with multi colored lighting that emphasizse the confusion and hopelessness of being a teenager, or the scenes between Xandrie and Darren that illustrated the utter enchantment between the two.

The film paints a cautionary tale of the dangers that are presented amidst a highschool social structure constructed upon sex,lies, and drugs.

A great emphasis is placed upon the influence that social networking has upon the intricate social lives of teenagers in this day and age.The film's protaganist Darren played by Oliver Ackland who's sincerity and honest nature are a refreshing change from the majority of the shallow conniving  characters that inhibit the movie (much like high school itself). Is a genuine nice kid who doesn't care about in significant things and merely just does what he likes, he has an advantage as he was dropped into the center of this world.

 

The sweet,beautiful and charismatic  Xandrie played by Adelaide Clemens recognizes the rarity of the qualities that Darren  possesses , on one fateful evening she decides to attend a party hosted by Darren's step brother Zack clearly with the hopes of seeing Darren, but unfortunately the modernized mansion in which the boys live in becomes a maze and despite texts the two are unable to find each other which is made even more unfortunate by the events that follow when Zack becomes jealous of his lowly step brothers ability to attract a girl (that he seems to like) and he ends up committing an unthinkable crime.

 Alex Russell plays Zack the king of his high school who manipulates his fellow classmates like pawns in a chess game, a character that you are probably quite familiar with from your own high school days, Zack is a cocky jock that lives life on full throttle without many consequences,even when he decides to commit a crime that not many would be immune from the consequences of.

The film follows the endearing love story between  Xandrie and Darren which develops as the movie progresses and events take place which in turn pushes Darren to try to protect her from the wrath of his evil stepbrother and seek vigilante justice so that Zack is punished for his wrong doings.

 Wasted on the young shows the dark side of high school politics, the sickeningly strong influence that it can have amongst the student body , and the pureness of young love and the ability that alliances have fight issues.


The whole movie is a masterpiece of perfectly fitting music, breath taking cinematography and incredible acting , that really captures the story of innocence lost and takes you back to a time where you walk around  completely  starry eyed and yet at the same time  the world can somehow seem so infinitely full of possibilities and yet so ominous and oppressive, its a time when we do things we wish we hadn't, things we wish we had, and things we wish we could do all over again.