Look Both Ways

Australia, 100 minutes
Director: Sarah Watt
Screenwriter: Sarah Watt
Cast: Justine Clarke, William McInnes, Anthony Hayes, Lisa Flannigan, Andrew S. Gilbert

Synopsis: Personal mortality, a thematic mainstay of artistically minded cinema, is given a fresh and intriguing take in this winning debut from Sarah Watt. Incorporating gorgeous hand-drawn animation and unique structural ideas, Look Both Ways is a thought-provoking look at a series of characters facing complex and difficult choices about their futures. The film also includes one of the strangest, funniest sex scenes ever committed to celluloid.

It’s Friday. When we meet Meryl (Justine Clarke), she is struggling to meet a work deadline while still numb from her father’s funeral. Nick (William McInnes) has just learned he has testicular cancer and will discover his prognosis on Monday. Andy (Anthony Hayes) needs to decide by the end of the weekend what he will do about his girlfriend’s unplanned pregnancy.

Their paths meet at the site of a train wreck, which Meryl has witnessed. Nick and Andy are, respectively, the reporter and photographer sent to cover it and to interview Meryl. Though an unusual turn of events, Nick and Meryl begin an affair that seems doomed to failure; each of them is preoccupied with disasters - both personal and universal - and full of fear about the future. To underline these anxieties, Watt expresses Meryl’s inner life through vivid and elaborate animated sequences.

While this synopsis may suggest something rather grim, the film is essentially a tender comedy; Watt loves her characters and invites us to share in and laugh at their all-too-human foibles. Look Both Ways is yet another sign that an interesting period of reinvigoration, based on distinctive, unconventional voices, has begun in the Australian cinema. And the leaders of the charge have thus far been women. Look Both Ways even boasts a generational passing of the torch: the film’s producer is gifted veteran Bridget Ikin, responsible for such extraordinary films as Jane Campion’s An Angel at My Table and Clara Law’s Floating Life. A terrifically satisfying film in its own right, Look Both Ways may be a sign of great things in store from this always interesting cinematic nation.

- Noah Cowen, Toronto International Film Festival

WINNER: Four Australian Film Institute Awards, including: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor (Anthony Hayes).

website: http://www.kino.com/lookbothways/flash/index.html

Showtimes: Wednesday, April 26, 3:15 PM - Thursday, May 4, 7:15 PM