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  Directed by
  Starring
  Specs
  • Widescreen 2.35:1
  • 16:9 Enhanced
  • Dual Layer ( )
  Languages
  • English: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
  • English: Dolby Digital Stereo
  Subtitles
  • None
  Extras
  • 9 Theatrical trailer
  • 7 Cast/crew biographies
  • Featurette
  • Photo gallery - 20 pics
  • Interviews

Alexandra's Project

20th Century Fox/20th Century Fox Home Entertainment . R4 . COLOR . 99 mins . MA15+ . PAL

  Feature
Contract

This is a difficult one to pigeonhole. On the surface it’s an ordinary story of an ordinary couple in the suburbs. Then slowly, as the film unwinds, we learn awful truths about the couple and the hidden things behind closed doors.

Steve (Gary Sweet) is 40 today. He’s got two great kids and a great wife, Alexandra (Helen Buday). She’s unhappy in herself, but this isn’t Steve’s fault, she needs to put in more effort... or so he thinks. He goes to work on his birthday knowing that Alexandra has prepared a big surprise party for that evening. So he spends the day at work in his usual wanker style and sexist manner before he comes home to an empty house. His first hint something is wrong is when his key won’t work, but luckily he finds the front door open. Still this must be part of the surprise. The furniture has been stacked up ready for the shindig, but all the lightbulbs are missing. Finally, after searching the house he finds a videotape insisting he Play Me.

What he finds on the videotape slowly brings out some home truths about his wife, himself and what he thought was an ideal situation (which for him, it was).

So begins what can best be described as a taut psychological thriller. The eeriness of the vacant house that still bears all semblances of life is paramount, but there are more and more of these creepy triggers oozing from the contents of the videotape. As Steve’s birthday plays out, his very foundations are deteriorating as he learns more and more of his wife and her unmet desires. There’s a growing tension that has been captured in exacting style by director Rolf de Heer (Bad Boy Bubby) who also penned the screenplay.

A self-confessed budget film, Alexandra’s Project has been created on leftover film ends and single take cameras shooting the television picture as a character. (Consider this; if you shoot to Hi 8 as many times as you like to get the image right, it costs nothing to reuse videotape time and again. Once it’s done, you play it on a TV and record the TV with cameras in one, single, cost-effective shot. Videotape doesn’t fluff its lines).

Still, the budget of the film is rarely apparent here and goes a long way toward showing that anything can be made great with great writing. (Just look at South Park - great animation it is not). The close proximity of the single room in which Steve views the videotape creates a stifling sense of claustrophobia that builds the tension brilliantly. The fact the house is wholly secure from the outside with metal blinds and rollers also adds to the tension with the lights out and bare streaks of fading sunlight angling into the room. There are definitely some confronting moments on the videotape, but these shouldn’t be shied from; in fact they make the film all the more barbed. Had they been left out or glossed over, the film’s impact would have dispersed quite rapidly.

Alexandra’s Project is a much better film than I was expecting and even Gary Sweet does great work here, no doubt having fun in his role of a totally self-centred wanker. About the only horror in his role is when we see him with his gear off, but thankfully that isn’t long (heh). Performances from the other major cast member in Helen Buday is the film though as we witness years of unresolved tension unraveling at breakneck pace via the videotape. Her portrayal of Alexandra is saddening, yet we feel a defiance from her that ingests the story with the anger it needs to tell things correctly.

This film is living proof that there is no need for multi-million dollar budgets to tell a good story well, nor any need for the showiness of CG or exploding cars to master filmmaking. De Heer has made an incredibly terse film on no money that looks just as good as the content does.

  Video
Contract

I suppose in a closed environment like the actual interior of the house they used as a set here, it’s easier to get everything looking just right and this is captured dynamically in the transfer. Nothing out of place, a clean image, great colour and blacks are true. That’s important when there are so many shadows lurking about in this darkened house, and thankfully the shadow detail is great and makes the best use of itself to add to the overall creepiness. While the film is delivered in the full cinema aspect of 2.35:1 with anamorphic enhancement, it could have succeeded just as well with a 1.85:1 delivery. Still, I’m not complaining. A great transfer here without real qualms.

  Audio
Contract

Given a choice of Dolby Digital 5.1 surround or 2.0 stereo, I went with the 5.1 and while it doesn’t go a-roaming much, it does deliver a crystal clear sound package. Dialogue is good and the limited sound effects are evenly placed and balanced. The musical score by Graham Tardif does very nicely in setting the stage for us with some truly haunting and suspenseful moments that deepen the emotion of the images beautifully.

  Extras
Contract

There’s a nice bunch of stuff here for such a small budget film, with our first being seven biographies that includes selected filmographies. The three major cast members are highlighted, as are the director and three of the producers.

The theatrical trailer is worth a look although it’s 1.85:1 (with 16:9) delivery is a little soft-edged. A photo gallery holds 20 full-frame pics of stills and behind the scenes, while there are eight more trailers for The Rage in Placid Lake, Japanese Story, Erskineville Kings, Visitors, Read My Lips, My Wife is an Actress, The Best Man’s Wedding and Respiro. Those last four are from the World Cinema Collection, while the former four are from Palace.

Next is a surprisingly long behind the scenes featurette running for 37:21. This is well produced and edited and features rough hewn interviews with cast and crew shot on DV (so it’s a bit grainy occasionally). Some nice titbits of info in here and well worth a look, although the camera guy or doco guy or whoever is a bit of a kiss arse at times (No one else thinks Gary Sweet’s head looks good bald, mate).

Finally, the Popcorn Taxi Interview with Rolf de Heer by Margaret Pomeranz. This is an enormous one hour and three minutes long and holds some real gems of information about cheap filmmaking. Rolf de Heer is eloquent and speaks clearly, though the sound is pretty shocking. However, if that’s the price we pay to have had this squeezed onto the disc, all the better. I can live with it, as the interview is truly fascinating for anyone interested in the film process.

That’s a big bunch of birthday surprises for you. Happy Birthday!

  Overall  
Contract

Alexandra’s Project is one of those films that stays with you for a day or two past watching it. It is brilliantly shot and acted and the story, while confronting in parts, is dynamic and compelling. Performances are spot on and the transfer to DVD is quite amazing. De Heer has made a film here that proves Australian cinema is just getting better and better as the 21st century spreads out before us.

Not recommended for the kids by any means, but adults who enjoy a good gripping story with a tense subtext are bound to find much to please here. While it isn’t a pleasant film, it is well told and not quite as confronting as some of De Heer’s earlier efforts and is well worth the investigation.

Play Me.


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      And I quote...
    "Budget-produced does not mean budget-scripted in this dynamic Australian psychological thriller."
    - Jules Faber
      Review Equipment
    • DVD Player:
          Teac DVD-990
    • TV:
          AKAI CT-T29S32S 68cm
    • Speakers:
          Teac PLS-60 Home Theatre System
    • Centre Speaker:
          Teac PLS-60 Home Theatre System
    • Surrounds:
          Teac PLS-60 Home Theatre System
    • Subwoofer:
          Akai
    • Audio Cables:
          Standard RCA
    • Video Cables:
          Standard Component RCA
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