Australian
Screen

Teacher’s notes

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This clip shows Peter Thompson (Norman Kaye), a middle-aged man, at a dating agency. The consultant at the agency asks him some personal details. Her coworker enters, pretending to look for a file on Patricia Curnow. When Peter sees Patricia’s photo and it is suggested that they would make a good match, Peter is concerned that he would be too old for her; however, the consultant assures him that Patricia needs a mature man. Peter takes Patricia’s number, but then learns that he is required to pay a membership fee on top of the consultancy fee before he can contact her. Although he is taken aback at the expense, he is keen to meet Patricia and pays. Later, at the supermarket, Peter shoplifts some groceries.

Educational value points

• In 1981, when the film is set, Peter’s use of a dating agency would have been seen as an act of desperation. However, by 2001 the Australian Bureau of Statistics estimated that 28 per cent of all households were single-person households and with this rise in the number of single people, the use of dating services has become much more common. The dating services industry incorporates traditional introduction agencies and personal ads, concepts such as 'speed-dating’ and 'dinner-for-six’ groups, and Internet dating sites. It has become big business, with one well-known website boasting approximately 700,000 members.

• The clip raises questions about the loneliness of the individual in modern society, at a time when technology enables unprecedented ‘connectedness’. In 2004–05, the Australian telephone-based support organisation Lifeline analysed caller profiles across the country. It found that callers who cited 'loneliness’ as their main reason for calling were more likely to be single, separated, divorced or widowed. It also found that lonely callers were more likely to live in metropolitan than rural areas, and were likely to be aged between 35 and 44.

• Lonely Hearts is an example of a film in which style is subservient to story. The films of Paul Cox rarely contain special effects or complicated production set-ups. As a director, he is more concerned with achieving strong stories that explore themes of the human condition such as loneliness, love, hope, ageing and isolation, and working with actors to capture convincing performances. Cox’s method of casting is to choose an actor on the basis of previous work rather than on a screen test, which he feels is disrespectful to the actor. Cox prefers not to rehearse but to use scripts loosely, allowing actors more room for spontaneity and improvisation.

• Like all of Cox’s films, Lonely Hearts is an 'auteur’ film, made according to a personal, independent model that supports the filmmaker as auteur, or 'author’ of the work. This ensures that the director’s distinctive personal vision is achieved in the film. The auteur approach is antithetical to the Hollywood model, in which the producer has creative control. Cox is deeply opposed to that model, which he believes has been embraced by the Australian film industry in recent years, resulting in what he sees as the devaluing of the auteur approach in favour of formulaic filmmaking.

• Paul Cox is one of Australia’s best known independent filmmakers. He was born in Holland in 1940 and moved to Australia in 1965 where he began working as a photographer. He made his first films in the early 1970s and his first feature film, Illuminations, in 1976. Since then, Cox’s inspiring body of work has gained him a reputation as an auteur of international acclaim. His film credits include several documentaries and shorts, and 18 features including Man of Flowers, My First Wife, Vincent: The Life and Death of Vincent Van Gogh, Island, A Woman’s Tale, Exile, Lust and Revenge and Innocence. Made in 1981, Lonely Hearts is one of his early films.

This clip starts approximately 9 minutes into the feature.

Peter sits in the waiting room of the dating agency.
Sally Would you come in now Mr Thompson.
Peter Oh, yes sure. Fine.
Sally Please sit down. Well, before we discuss the lady in question, I hope you don’t mind if I take a few more details? It might seem rather clinical, but it really does help us.
Peter Sure, fine.
Sally Um, have you ever used a service like this before?
Peter No. No, I haven’t. No.
Sally No. Um, you said you were advanced in age, do you mind telling me how advanced?
Peter Well, very really. I’ll be 50 in a couple of weeks. I’m looking forward to it a great deal.
Sally begins to write down 50.
Peter Oh, I’m 49 now.
Sally Oh. Well, I wouldn’t worry. Have you, um, have you been married?
Peter No, no.
Sally’s co-worker Martin enters the office.
Martin Sally. Excuse me a moment. Have you got the file on Patricia Curnow? I’ve got a client here …
Sally Oh, sorry Martin. I’m just about to introduce her to Mr Thompson here, and the more I get to know him, the more I think that um …
Martin Oh pity. Very impressive wasn’t she?
Sally Mmmm.
Martin We don’t get many of those. Well, let us know how you get on Mr Thompson. See you.
Sally Well, what do you think? Good looking isn’t she?
Peter puts his glasses on and looks down at the photo that Sally’s put in front of him.
Sally We find it best not to disclose our client’s background. It lets the relationship develop more naturally and protects them if anything goes wrong.
Peter You don’t think she’s a bit young for me?
Sally Not at all Mr Thompson. She’s the type that needs a mature man. One who’s lived a little. I feel very confident about your chances.
Peter Well, I’ve got nothing to lose.
Sally You have everything to gain Mr Thompson. Believe me, I see it happening everyday.
Sally blows her nose.
Sally Now, phone number. She’ll be expecting your call.
Sally hands Peter the number. He fumbles for it, accidently setting off the electronic calculator on the desk in front of him.
Peter Sorry.
Sally Is there anything else you would like to know?
Peter No. No, nothing.
Sally Right, now the fee.
Peter Yes, the fifty dollars.
Sally Well, there’s the fifty dollars consultancy fee plus fifty dollars membership fee when we give you a contact.
Peter So … so it’s a hundred.
Sally Yes.
Peter Theirs the fifty dollars consultancy fee plus this other fifty …
Sally Yes. For the membership.
Peter Making a total of a hundred?
Sally You don’t have to go ahead with the membership. There are plenty of clients in your age group who would like to meet Patricia.
Peter writes a cheque. Sally looks on.

Peter is at the supermarket. He takes an item off the shelves, waits for a store attendant to pass before sliding it into his front pocket.