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Small Treasures (1995)

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From joy to tantrum

This clip chosen to be PG

Clip description

The film opens with Jane (voiced by Rachel Griffiths) swimming in the sea she loves, walking by its shore and telling us of her joy at being pregnant. But when indoors, her mood flares into a tantrum.

Curator’s notes

Watt paints her images of Australian land and sea with broad brushstrokes and vibrant colour, which is the setting for Jane’s newly found happiness. ‘I love to look at the few small treasures the sea discards’, she comments in a telling reference to the film’s title and its finale.

In the following interior scene, we see another side of Jane, as she reacts to her pregnancy with an angry protest aimed at her husband, John (voiced by Leon Teague). The swift change is shocking, absurd and funny, yet alerts us to the unfolding drama.