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Clip description
At the very start of the film a young man (J, played by James Frecheville) is on the couch watching a TV game show while an older woman sits slumped – apparently asleep – beside him. A few seconds later two ambulance workers turn up and we realise that the woman is his mother and she has overdosed from heroin. In a phone conversation to his grandmother (Jacki Weaver) an hour or more later, we discover the mother has died and her son is at a loss at what to do next. His grandmother is obviously the only person to whom he can turn.
Curator’s notes
A distinctive and powerful opening that doesn’t waste any time in throwing us straight into the story.
Notice the way viewers are introduced to natural sounds in the scene before we see a single image – an example of the filmmakers’ careful attention to sound design. The barking dogs and the TV quiz show serve to emphasise the everyday suburban banality in which this tragic event plays out, the cheerfulness of the game show providing an ironic counterpart.
The phone conversation shows J’s uncertainty, deftly establishing him as a passive and vulnerable character.
