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After the death of his wife, Joe Carr must learn to be a full time Dad to his son Artie as well as the sole bread-winner for the family. They’re both having a rough time coping with grief and Joe employs some unorthodox and loose parenting methods for ease, with mixed results. Harry, Joe’s son from his first marriage, comes from England to stay with his dad and half brother and arrives to a household with few rules and an understandably awkward relationship with Joe. Harry finds hope and some comfort with his Australian family; in particular, Artie who forms a solid bond with his older brother while the relationship between Harry and Joe remains strained in varying degrees. Breaking point arrives with the Australian Open and sees Harry return home.
All these men (boys?) are looking for something; Harry seeks assurance that at least one of his families wants him (we learn later that his Mum is pregnant and he has major insecurities about it); Joe unconsciously wants, not a replacement, but a stop-gap for the void his wife left and looks to a single mother from Artie’s school to find it; and Artie desperately needs a friend and role model who can offer stability and comfort. I really liked The Boys Are Back and even though I can usually take or leave Clive Owen, I thought he did a really good job. George MacKay (Harry) impressed me the most – at times his performance was heartbreaking (and as an aside, he looks like he could possibly be related to Rupert Grint (probably not but who knows?)). The film looks wonderful – it was shot in various locations but mostly in regional South Australia – and the soundtrack is gorgeous as well.
I went to Diana Gabaldon’s literary dinner expecting to be overwhelmed by nerves and excitement. For some reason, the nerves never came. I didn’t gush or say awkward things; I almost didn’t say anything at all. I stood at the signing table while Diana autographed my copies of ‘Brotherhood of the Blade’ and ‘An Echo in the Bone’ and dismissed the idea of explaining how ‘Brotherhood’ made me love Lord John. The cogs turning in my head must have been visible to anyone who cared to notice. Instead, I thanked her for coming all this way, looked her in the eye and smiled. That’s it. Diana is my favourite author and that’s all I said.Maybe I’ve grown out of my propensity for hyper-excitement when I meet people I admire. Maybe Diana’s calm demeanour disengaged the nerves. Maybe it was the cider? I’m going to try to discover what happened because right now I’m at a complete loss and it’s freaking me out a little bit.
An Education is a really quiet film set in the early 1960s which documents the love affair between Jenny (Carey Mulligan), a sixteen year old school girl and David (Peter Sarsgaard), a much older man who lives a glamorous lifestyle. Jenny is working hard towards a place at Oxford University under the domineering influence of her father, Jack (Alfred Molina), when she meets David on a rainy afternoon on her way home from orchestra rehearsal. Their romance begins when David offers to take her to hear some Ravel performed in London which is followed closely by fine restaurants, jazz clubs and vacations in Oxford and Paris. David’s friends, Danny and Helen, accompany them almost everywhere and it is on one of their outings that Jenny learns the truth about David’s profession. David is a smooth operator and has Jenny’s parents wrapped around his little finger. So much so that when David proposes marriage, all thought of Oxford is abandoned by the over-zealous Jack. Jenny burns bridges at her exclusive private school after the engagement focusing particularly on the dismal opportunities for female university graduates. She becomes disillusioned with her old life and at the same time, outraged that her hard work is ultimately a lot of wasted effort if it is all to be given up and disregarded so easily.
Despite being a quiet film, An Education was well shot, extremely well cast and had an interesting story to tell. All of the actors were fantastic but my personal favourites were Alfred Molina, Rosamund Pike (Helen) and Dominic Cooper (Danny). There’s just something about Dominic Cooper... Most of the audience were middle aged or older and they really enjoyed the film (as did I) but the younger people in the theatre had a hard time keeping still; they were so bored. So, An Education isn’t for everybody but if you like classy, gentle, intimate films then I definitely recommend it.
I don’t remember any specific incidences of kids getting beaten up at school. There were certainly threats of violence - I experienced that first hand – but as for physical evidence of assault, I never saw or heard of it. I mean, it probably did happen but I don’t think it was a common occurrence in our grade. Recently, the news and current affairs programmes have been making a really big deal out of bullying among youths and, as dirty as it makes me feel to say it, I think they’re right to do so.
On Friday night, two teenage girls banged on my front door and asked me to call the police as one of them had just been assaulted. I brought them both inside and fixed them up with ice and glasses of water while they made the call. The girl who had been beaten was in tears and while she wasn’t visibly bleeding, she had a fat lip and a big egg on her head that would no doubt leave bruises. The police and an ambulance came quickly and while they were tending to the girls, I had a chance to process the whole thing. The girls knew their attackers and pressed charges. I was appalled that kids think violence is an option when resolving a dispute or expressing dislike for another person. Then I was disgusted that their caregivers are either too blind or too careless to recognise their child’s aggressive behaviour and put a stop to it or worse, fostering the violence through their own example. It’s sad – a tragedy – that these girls are probably going to grow up with fear and hatred of their abuser’s race. Finally, I was outraged that the girls should have to fear these people in the first place, not to mention any future retribution that might occur. No-one should have to fear for their safety. What the hell is wrong with these people?
I was offered a beating in high school. The girl had known me her for over half of her life and apparently she had something to prove. I was told to be “down the oval” at big lunch but I didn’t show up. I’m not stupid. I was scared that she’d come looking for me but her threats turned out to be empty ones. My brother wasn’t as lucky as me. In primary school he was tormented by boys from my grade. The cowards were picking on a puny little boy with glasses (he wasn’t tall, lean and incredibly strong like he is now). I don’t remember much about it but I do remember how fierce and angry I was with those boys. They thought I was the ‘quick-to-cry’ girl – and I was when it was myself I had to defend – but they got a rude surprise when they attacked my family. I stood up for him and chased them away but Mum and Dad decided to move him to a private school when I went to high school.
Only recently, Tamin told us that he had been assaulted on the train to/from work and he didn’t say anything about it until months after the incident! I’d wager that if he was sufficiently provoked, he could snap the arm of anyone who threatened him (don’t do it, boyo). Luckily, he’s not a violent person. Unfortunately for him and others in this situation, he’s had to cop beatings and harassment off people who think it’s okay to hurt others just because they don’t like them.
It’s disgraceful.
