The Hedgehog

The story of an 11-year old wise beyond her years is a complex story to tell. In doing so, Muriel Barbery’s novel The Elegance of the Hedgehog uses her entire apartment block and her newfound love for documentary filmmaking, allowing the audience a first-hand look at Paloma Josse’s life (played by Garance Le Guillermic), or what is left of it. As we find out early in the Writer/Director Mona Achache’s 2009 film Le hérisson (The Hedgehog), Paloma has decided that on her twelfth birthday, she will kill herself, and end what she believes to be a pointless and tortured existence - to avoid being consumed by work (like her father), insanity (like her mother) or her own sense of self (like her sister). Before Paloma is able to go through with her dark deed, a gentleman, Kakuro Ozu (Togo Igawa) moves into the building, and with his help, the two begin to unlock the mysteries behind the building’s concierge, Renée Michel (Josiane Balasko)

The film walks the thin line between a comedy and a drama, dealing with incredibly morbid notions such as a suicidal 11-year old - whose approaches are eerily surgical and understandable ­­– to the concept of finding long after you gave up on yourself. There is a heavy critique of the French bourgeoisie, most of the people in the apartment block are vapid, fake and particularly unkind, trapped in what Paloma describes as a fish-bowl which she refuses to conform to. I had heard many reviews of the film dwelling on the fact that it was overly morbid to the point that it was uncomfortable, however there are some fantastic comic moments that are so understated it’s hard not to laugh-out-loud.

Long before Ozu’s character is introduced, there is a heavy crossover between French and Japanese cultures, while in the beginning this is heavy and overt; it settles mid-way through the film. The film disguises itself within the art of Meditation, and in highlighting the vast differences in two cultures, manages to create a cultureless environment where humanity is key. Ozu physically transforms his apartment from a typical French space to something so uniquely Japanese, complete with comical-robotic bathroom facilities. And while there is some culture-clash, the film is strongest when it is not bothering to comment on the difference in culture. Rather, the idea that within this culturelessness, human relationships are key, without those, there is nothing grounding us to anything.

The film uses a lot of various techniques to shift it from being a typical narrative to having long pauses of animation, introspection and voice-over, which again feel like a moment of meditation for the characters and audience simultaneously. I just wish there hadn’t been this use of sound-bites repeated over each other, which rather than being charming, came off as amateur and unnecessary.

While most people would shudder at the notion of a ‘senior love-story’, The Hedgehog really manages to make it charming to watch. Balasko is dumpy, unattractive, snappy and rude to most people, but as soon as she begins to open up, she blooms into this incredibly likeable and devastatingly charming character.

Balasko and Le Guillermic are both excellent, I can honestly say for two actresses at such different points in their lives, they both provide such different energies and spirits to the film that it’s really lovely to watch.

This film is not predictable, it is not smarmy, and it’s definitely not morbid. Heartbreaking as it is, this is one film I think not to be missed.

The Waiting City

Touted as the first Australian film to be entirely filmed in India, The Waiting City (2009) is Claire McCarthy's first major film. McCarthy wrote and directed the film after travelling to Calcutta with her sister. Whatever the motivation for the film, I'm excited to see what McCarthy produces after The Waiting City, as I believe time will only add to quite an elegant filmmaker. The film follows the story of Fiona Simmons (Radha Mitchell) and her husband Ben (Joel Edgerton), as they travel to Calcutta to collect the daughter they have adopted. Due to a series of administrative delays, the two are trapped in an interlude where they are forced to look at their relationship. With a flamboyant cast of Indian characters supporting them, led by their Driver, Bell Boy and Manservant, Krishna (Samrat Chakrabarti).

After seeing the trailer for the film, I had no intention of seeing it as the storyline looked overdone and clichéd, as if someone had taken any film about a struggling married couple and thrown them in India. However when I saw the director and main performers would be introducing the film, I ambled to the cinema with no real expectations. What I will say about the film is that I hated the first quarter. The writing horrifically clunky and reads very much like a student film. What irks me about McCarthy is that she seems to have the most eloquent understanding of people and is able to bring forward tiny details without making them too overt, Fiona's slight comments and comportment when she first arrives in India is so telling of her 'uptight' character. This quaint writing talent is then juxtaposed, and in my mind totally dwarfed, by a need to be very obvious with what is happening in the minds of characters. A story that is so based in a sense of reality and detail, and realistic self-discovery has the propensity to force characters to become caricatures; Fiona juggling telephones, Ben's artistic need to join everyone he meets in song. A businesswoman and an artist in a relationship, the Odd Couple theme music isn't required to get across the point that they're very different. Similarly some of the religious messages seem a tad misguided and only occasionally less than awkward.

The other problem with the film is this unnecessary secondary story-arc, Ben struggling to find his feet between being a real adult, and his drug-fueled musician past. This, coupled with the stunning Scarlet (Isabel Lucas) brings tension to Fiona and Ben's relationship. Isabel Lucas was in Transformers 2. I am still not entirely convinced that Isabel Lucas is not actually a robot, because she is not an actress. Harsh as that is, I can honestly track my enjoyment of The Waiting City by if Isabel Lucas is onscreen and/or talking. Mitchell, on the other hand, really gains momentum in the film.

Once the very pretty Scarlet takes a backseat role the film really begins to warm up, and finds its heart. To be clear, this isn't a film about overseas adoption, thank god, nor is it a film about India. The apolitical nature of the script allows the viewer to absorb some stunning scenic shots, and the interactions between Fiona and Ben, which really begin to gain strength in both their performances as their story progresses. The film actually contains a few narrative surprises that I honestly didn’t see coming, which was considerate. What could have been a very stale and overdone narrative really took on a life of its own.

While the emotional climax occurs when Ben sings what is possibly the hokiest first-draft of a teenage girl's poem to her crush is cringe-worthy, but on the whole the film embraces tiny, endearing moments that are far more powerful than the overt. I'm curious to see where McCarthy will go from here, in a waiting city of my own.