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Clip description
This clip introduces Willy (Rocky McKenzie), the lead character; Rosie (Jessica Mauboy), his love interest; Lester (Dan Sultan), his romantic rival; and Willy’s mother Theresa (Ningali Lawford-Wolf). Torn between his love for Rosie and a strong sense of responsibility to fulfil his mother’s dream of having a priest in the family, Willy struggles with his future as suave musician Lester vies for Rosie’s attention.
Curator’s notes
Willy is in love with Rosie, but he’s too shy about expressing his feelings to let her know. The arrival of the older and more confident Lester shakes up their dynamic and sets up a potential love triangle. Lester compliments Rosie on her singing voice and entices her to enter the Roebuck Bay Hotel with his energetic performance of 'Seeds that You Might Sow’.
To Willy, the adult world of the Roebuck Bay Hotel is a place of moral corruption, sex and danger; a forbidden territory he is too scared to enter. For Rosie, it’s the site of grown-up excitement, of music and liberation, where she can do what she loves best: sing.
Their opposing reactions to 'Seeds that You Might Sow’ tell us a lot about Willy and Rosie. The song’s lyrics are about a man trying to seduce a 16-year-old girl who resists his advances until he agrees to wear a condom. The frank sexual subject matter of the lyrics is enough to scare Willy, but the words also mirror Lester’s interest in Rosie and, despite being flattered by his attention, her unwillingness here to easily give in to him.
Fast cutting and swirling camera movement make this world exciting, as if we are seeing it through Rosie’s eyes. Everyone in the pub looks like they are having a good time, but it’s also easy to see why the sexual energy of Lester and the male and female singers and dancers might cause Willy to take flight.
