Louise Alston, 76 mins, Australia, 2007, 35mm. Source: Accent Film. Courtesy: Bunker Productions
All My Friends Are Leaving Brisbane Is the grass greener on the other side? 25-year-old Brisbanite Anthea (Charlotte Gregg) thinks it might be. She's single and hates her job. And as more and more of her friends drift off to bigger cities, there's little to keep her in Brisbane except the imminent return of former boyfriend Jake (Gyton Grantley).
This new romantic comedy is followed by a Q&A with director Louise Alston and writer Stephen Vagg.
Louise Alston writes: "Australia is the Brisbane of the world" Barry Humphries
All My Friends are Leaving Brisbane was written by Stephen Vagg, based on his own quarter life crisis. Although we got great responses to the script, no one was ready to back us. So we backed ourselves! We shot it in our house with our own money with a keen cast and crew on deferrals before getting post production funding from the AFC (Australin Film Commission). We were confident that the story would resonate with Australians. In the characters, we see the anxiety of being twenty-something. The choices aren't as obvious as you might think and there's the fear that work might always suck, you might never meet the right person and it might not all work out right in the end. Mix that with the anxiety of the tyranny of distance and you have a familiar premise.
In the end, this film is about having the strength to get off your arse and do something for the right reasons and not because of anxiety. This film is an indie romantic comedy. It's success has surprised nearly everyone. Rock bottom production budget, no bankable stars, set in a not very glamorous city. we started to doubt ourselves...until we saw the film showing for 7 weeks on multiplex screens around Brisbane. In many ways, this is an exploitation film. We wanted to get as much Brisbaness on screen as possible and in a world of cinematic globalism, the specific and the local stands out.
COMMENTS It was my extreme fortune to catch a special screening of this new Aussie movie at the ACMI (Australian Centre for Moving Images) in Melbourne, Australia one Sat late Feb 2008. The movie has had a commercial release in Brisbane where it's set. The Melbourne screening saw the movie with a question and answer afterwards comprising a panel with Stephen Vagg the writer, Louise Alston the director and Charlotte Gregg the lead actress (a little bit of trivia - her brother who is the male torso on the photo on the wall in the girls apartment in the movie was also in the audience.
Who out there has not had a quarter life crisis? I admit to being attracted to the blurb and also to the image of the lead actress in the promo. This movie is similar in type to Four Weddings and a Funeral except without so much foul language. The characters are believable, the locations great and what man could not warm to Anthea who has a good job and is drop dead gorgeous? The male co-stars did a great job. Gyton Grantley who Aussies will come to know as Carl Williams in the TV mini-series "Underbelly" about the Melbourne 1994 to 2004 gangland wars has a minor part here as Anthea's ex. Quite a hairy chest Gyton!
Matt Zeremes is world class as Michael whose been friends with Anthea for 7 yrs but is scared to risk damaging a very good friendship by making a romantic move. Other supporting actors like Ryan Johnston as Tyson the uncomplicated male are great. What man including myself would not like Tyson's uncomplicated charm and Ryan's looks.
Charlotte, who also has a minor role in Underbelly Episode 1 as Jason Moran's g/f, is luminous here. She embodies the sort of low mileage, middle 20's girl most men would hope to meet. She does have the look of being the one apart from the ex b/f whose on another trip. Nice looking, well educated,friendly. Despite a low budget the film doesn't look that way..... the locations are perfect. The only change or addition I could suggest here would be adding Skyhooks song "All My Friends are getting married" to the soundtrack. That was a huge 70s anthem/ballad in Australia with the fabulous vocals of the late great Shirl (Mr Shirley Strahan) who was sadly prematurely killed a few years ago in a helicopter accident in his early 50s. A very well loved Australian singer.
This film is doing the rounds of film festivals like the Stockholm FF and also a festival of Australian films in England. In Aussie it could be coming out on DVD. As a romantic comedy or serious study of the quarter life this is a small gem. It deserves a wide audience. Stephen Vagg has other screenplays and plays under his belt. Let's hope this is the first of many.
I think the 3 people present on the panel were quite surprised as how well the film was received. Perhaps for many (not all) of the cast this was their first movie although many have TV and theatre if not movie experience. Keep your eyes out for big things from this cast in future years.
"Four Weddings and a Funeral", "Italian for Beginners"... "All my friends are leaving Brisbane is definitely in this class. Well done to all!
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