Summary
Sydney proves to be a fertile backdrop for a wandering narrative where realism meets ennui.
There’s a suggestion floating about that we’re always in a state of crisis. From the moment we have to make our first decisions, the possibility of something else creates a longing for the theoretical other. The midlife crisis is the most classic of these, but as younger people find themselves adrift in a ridiculously complex world, a different kind of ennui settles in.
This is the feeling that Australian writer/director James Vaughan wants to capture in FRIENDS AND STRANGERS. Opening with colonial and botanical images of Sydney’s history, it almost seems to suggest a starting point for a line through to the contemporary aimlessness of middle-class city kids.
Which is where we first meet Ray (Fergus Wilson) and Alice (Emma Diaz), meandering around near the Darling Harbour end of the Western Distributor. The latter is driving back from Brisbane and hanging out with Ray while she tries to get “over someone.” They go camping together along the way, but Ray’s awkwardness in the face of any form of advance ends their companionship and leave the duo estranged.
The rest of the film is primarily taken up with Ray’s various non-adventures around Sydney, with Alice all but disappearing from the screen. Stuck in some kind of general malaise, he hangs with a mate, struggles after a car breaks down and winds up in the Eastern Suburbs in houses that overlook the sheltered waters of filthy rich. Each contributes to his sense of direction, something director Vaughans has likened to Kafka in its wandering and “oblique take on realism.”
Mostly listless and seemingly adlibbed dialogue. The latter really picks up at the house of a wealthy art owner and his young lady friend. He arguably hits the nail on the head about sweating the small stuff in a lengthy riff on the expression ‘not worth a hill of beans.’ Of the many terrific one-liners dropped in this sequence (“That’s bean thinking. That’s bean mind”) the pièce de résistance might just be a tiny cactus being called a “fucking spiky cunt.”
More than anything, FRIENDS AND STRANGERS has a firm sense of place, and Dimitri Zaunders’ photography sure makes Sydney a pretty city. Avoiding the obvious glory shots of the harbour and major beaches, his camera instead lingers on the bayside areas, city overpasses, or small details in the Botanic Gardens.
There’s a kind of full circle to the story in the last few scenes, but Vaughan also steers clear of any kind of packaged resolution. There’s no easy answers to a life crisis, but just like the titular friends and strangers you encounter along the way, it too shall pass.
FRIENDS AND STRANGERS plays on demand 50th-anniversary edition of IFFR. The festival runs from 1 – 7 February 2021 on the IFFR.com platform. Check out the website for screening details.
2021 |Australia | DIRECTOR: James Vaughan | WRITER: James Vaughan | CAST: Emma Diaz, Fergus Wilson, Victoria Maxwell, Greg Zimbulis, David Gannon, Jayden Muir, Poppy Jones | DISTRIBUTOR: Leitourgia Films, International Film Festival Rotterdam | RUNNING TIME: 84 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 1-7 February 2021 (NL)
