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Clip description
Athol Shreve (Colin Friels), a politician tipped to be Australia’s next prime minister, makes a pass at Dorothy (Judy Davis) in the back of his limousine. After Dorothy rejects him, she learns something about her mother she wishes she hadn’t.
Curator’s notes
The scene, played for laughs, reflects no glory on either of the two characters. She’s a snob, he’s crude. Let it not be said that when it comes to matters of class and manners, this film is not an equal opportunity point scorer.
On one hand, we witness Australian middle-class pretensions towards European culture, and the concomitant distaste for the rough manners of many Australian males, especially from a working-class background. Dorothy responds positively to his pass, but then recoils when he seems to be coming on too strong. For the ‘Princess’, this ocker politician is too crude by half, despite his being an Oxford graduate. (It’s a nice little joke that he makes clear he understands her when she swears at him in French.)
On the other hand, his intimation of a sexual past with Dorothy’s mother is coarse and unnecessary. The same goes for his implication that Dorothy owes him sexual favours because he’s been paying her accommodation bills at ‘the club’.
Extra resonance in this scene comes from the knowledge that Davis and Friels are real-life husband and wife.
