So I went into this with the talk of the town, but mainly from the film industry and the fact that the film is up for accolades in the awards season. The film is shot well, even though the 4:3 ratio BOX non widescreen format is being overused so it can be seen as stylized filmmaking. The film has a nice color and look regardless. The actors were fantastic but most especially Elias Anton in particular. The film is score is beautiful as is the song soundtrack. Starts of good in say the first 15-20 in but then the first half falls on its arse. The fact that you have multiple talking scenes in cars while driving and the dialogue is mundane, boring and uninteresting, it could have been 20 min shorter. There are many pacing issues with the film and lots of too quiet (arty) beats and pauses that don't really move the story forward. Special mention to Hattie Hook for a special performance and the whole ensemble cast. Overall, the second half of the film performed better, I didn't feel the emotion the film was trying to portray, I felt it was slightly forced, I felt the character development was not developed enough and then when the film jumps a decade it just felt off. Overall, the director is a good storyteller, not great but once again it's a film with an agenda about a minority that's had a lot of support and funded by Screen Australia. I feel this years AACTAS are a big miss, look at the films such as Monolith, Streets of Colour, Damage, The Cost which didn't get nominated for AACTA awards and should have. This film is an ego-driven film about the director and the general public wouldn't watch this or rate this up there. I recommend watching The Cost.
Review of Of an Age
