That's right - this was the first time I'd seen this movie. Incredible. I saw it on the shelves at some friends' place and they were as shocked as I that I hadn't seen it. They promptly loaned me this movie and season 2 of Downton Abbey. I totally forgot I'd borrowed it though, until having coffee with one of them and they reminded me. I watched it as soon as I could! That was actually about a month ago, now... This has been a surprisingly hard response to write - here are a few aspects I found important.
1. I like Australian movies. With all the movies I've watched in the
last year (far more than normal), the Australian movies are the
winners. They, like French movies (something I noticed this year),
include the normal stuff, without being boring. Plus, the idioms, the
idiosyncrasies of behaviour, the settings, even the light - all so
familiar and normal. Okay, now for the movie.
2. Our perception of ourself is so influenced by what we hear from others. The dad in this is such an interesting character. He does everything for his kids, but then doesn't understand why they don't know how to do anything. He blames others for his lack of success, and it's only at the end, when Muriel has managed to get away for long enough to develop some self esteem and then tells him what to do, that he is forced to live in his life.
3. Weddings. Ah, weddings. I appreciate them - I earn money from them. I also recognise that some people can stay married to the same person until the end of their life, and that some people really believe that they will stay married to this person for the rest of their life. However, I also realise that some people want the day, regardless of the person they marry. These are the people that scare me. Really, what are they thinking??? There are so many other reasons to have a party and get dressed up, most of which don't involve legal commitments for the rest of your life. Yet people still get married, with the above reasons.
4. I admit, when I was growing up, I expected to get married in my early 20s - I had very few models that didn't involve this. Yet, there are so many other ways to live your life. And Muriel discovers this, eventually. Being a person who is of use is the best way to build your self esteem, and to find that there is so much more to life than being a half of a couple. I saw this represented wonderfully well a few years ago: think of your life as a grid, with things like family, friends, work, sport, creativity etc each with their own box. For men, when they are in a relationship, it's just another box. For women, The Relationship can take up a box that can swamp all the others, so anything that's not The Relationship is squished along the edges. But a happy person (or, if you prefer, a well-rounded, or emotionally stable, or sane, person) will have enough boxes that they cover all their physical and emotional and spiritual needs, and more evenly-sized boxes so that aspects of their life receive enough care and attention. Ignoring the non-relationship boxes is so dangerous for our Self. And the other part of this, in this movie, is finding friends who are 'on your own level'. So, friends who are actually nice people, and who 'get' you, and won't sleep with your new husband on your wedding day... You know, the little things.
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