Wish You Were Here is an emotional roller-coaster that explores the varying reactions of human beings when they are faced with turmoil. Felicity Price (co-writer with husband Kieran Darcy-Smith) plays Alice, a pregnant, formidable mother who discovers after returning from holiday in Cambodia that her husband, Dave(Joel Edgerton) had an affair whilst on the trip. It is the who rather than the how that causes the most drama as the "other woman" was Alice's younger, crazier sister Stef(Teresa Palmer). This love-triangle drama is framed by the wittingly suspenseful disappearance of Stef's new boyfriend, Jeremy(Antony Starr), who vanishes during their final days in Cambodia seemingly without a trace.
Darcy-Smith (DS) and the crew behind WYWH play the audience brilliantly: from their calculating publicity strategy to play up the disappearance of Jeremy over the main drama revolving around Dave and Alice's strained relationship; to the eventual unfolding of the film's overall story which happens as if pages of a book had been torn from the spine and fluttered on the ground, only for the reader to read them in whatever order he found them. It is a brilliant way to tell films that turns the traditional circular narrative completely on its head. DS and Felicity Price have a delightful way of writing which encourages the audience to view the narrative from all points of view. When you believe you have sided with one character, something happens next to completely change your allegiance and before you know it, you're rooting for the other side.
The cast of this film is also well selected however, I believe some characters (and their corresponding actors) were downplayed a little too much for instance, the character of Stef and our lack of ability to experience her pain and grief and the loss of her new love. Of course, this is all done within reason which the viewer discovers towards the end of the film when we find out that Jeremy and Stef were only new flames, not old embers like Alice and Dave which, whilst it sounds cruel to say, doesn't encourage the audience to feel as sympathetic for their romance being cut short considering it only lasted 6 weeks. Still, Teresa and Antony both give it their all despite their limited screen time which only adds to Joel Edgerton and Felicity Price's performances who play their characters effectively and with a great sense of knowledge about the inner workings of their characters' minds. Its very difficult to watch actors who are inwardly judging their own roles but there is none of that from these two leads. This may come down to Felicity's affiliation with the story from the writing stage but at lot more can be attributed to her as a great actress, as it can with Joel and his capabilities.
The final icing on the cake for this gorgeous film is its photography, orchestrated by Jules O'Loughlin. The warm, summeriness of Cambodia is offset by the unusually/usually cold harsh Sydney landscape which raises the question about which location is safer for the characters. Extreme depths of field were used ingeniously to capture both feelings and frames that would complement the lighting or surroundings of the scene. And in an untraditionally long title sequence, the vibrancy of Cambodia's villages, history and lifestyle is captured adoringly by a soft light and even softer range of close ups and midshots, ultimately contradicting in light of the films tragic ending.
I mean it when I say I'm in love with these guys. Their spirit and utter determination to create films that are different and against the grain is a thing to be inspired by. The fact that they have such a huge support network amongst themselves is a great way of making films in Australia which I feel is often too defined by the Tall-Poppy syndrome. Encouraging one another to make outstanding work is a much more effective way of producing beautiful films like Wish You Were Here than by pointing out everyone's flaws and mistakes. All I can say is that I am in love with Blue-Tongue Films and Aquarius Films and would give my Apple MacBook Pro to work with them.
Wish You Were Here was released April 25 2012.
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