I remember watching this film years ago, back when it was first released in the cinema, and I have to admit that back then I hated hit. However, over that time I have moved to Melbourne, and even spent a decent amount of time in Brunswick, especially along Sydney Road. Anyway, I was having a chat to some friends who referenced this movie, and they mentioned that it was a pretty good representation of what Brunswick used to like. Mind you, I should point out that this is not the case anymore because these days it is your typical hip and trendy innercity suburb.
Well, I watched it again, and I have to say it was actually pretty good, particularly the grave scene. In fact that scene is by far the best scene in the film, and I won't say anymore because, well, that will simply give too much away, and spoil the film for those who have not yet seen it. On the other hand, I might mention that it is also very Australian, so people who aren't familiar with Australian culture simply might not get it, let alone understand the humour.
So, it is basically one of those dark romantic comedies. It is about this guy who lives with his mother in Brunswick and get gets a job as a cook at this rather seedy nightclub. Yeah, this is certainly not what the clubs and pubs in Brunswick are like today, but it certainly does give you a good taste of what it used to be like. Anyway, he meets this bartender named Sophie and they pretty quickly hit it off. Of course, it turns out that he is not the only person interested in her, and this tension plays out throughout the film, particularly since one of her suitors happens to be the owner of the nightclub, and of course his heavies do make life somewhat difficult for poor cookie.
Yeah, as I mentioned, watching this film now really did change my opinion of it, particularly since I am somewhat more familiar with Melbourne now than I was back then. Then again, this could have been any innercity suburb in Australia judging by the rundown houses and the furniture that seems to have been cobbled together from anything. In fact, I have been in a number of houses like this, and I have to admit that they do still exist. Okay, these days a lot of them have been bought up by renovators, and they have either been knocked down, or completely restored, yet they still do exist.
Another thing I hated about the film back then was the age difference between the two main characters. This time I sort of looked at it and really questioned my judgement back then. Like, they were only five years apart, but as a young kid watching the film I guess five years was monumental as opposed to what it is these days. Mind you, I guess they were also very coy as to how old Cookie actually was, and there is a suggestion that he is actually older than his stated age, though it is never actually mentioned.
Yeah, I am so glad that I watched this film again because honestly, I appreciated it so much more this time around than I did back in the day. In a way it really did capture what life was like in Australia's inner suburbs, and having grown up in Australia, I was really able to relate to it better than I did back then.
