Ten Empty

I saw Ten Empty at an early screening and I must say, rarely are we afforded a chance to become taken in by such a raw and true story of an Australian family. Anthony Hayes and Brendan Cowell have crafted a complex and indeed unique collection of characters that will resonate with everyone. The fact that they're dysfunctional is nothing new of course, but the filmmakers have tapped into the Australian small town suburban life-cycle with such insight that the set up is fresh and actually very close and true to what most Aussies live everyday. Indeed, the element that really struck me the most while watching Ten Empty was that of its familiarity—I know these people, these places, these troubles—and even if I have never lived this life fully, I'm propelled into their lives and can't help but connect to who is on the screen. Even though the story deals with difficulties—dysfunctions, death, other issues starting with 'd'—Hayes recognises the strength in his characters and this is usually delivered through humour. When things are tough, Aussies have a laugh and then deal with it. This film appeals not only to the dramatic, but the light-hearted and the inclusion of such fine actors as Jack Thompson, Brendan Cowell and Blazey Best helps bring a real warmth and truth to the story. Ten Empty is at times sad, fierce, funny and an ultimately poignant and redeeming two hours of quality Australian cinema.

TEN EMPTY is a family drama in the classic mold - a story of a family riven by past tragedies, denial, unspoken truths, alcohol abuse and social divergence. Eliot (Daniel Frederickson) has returned to the suburban family home for the christening of his half-brother. He's been living in the big smoke, and has become quite successful, and is a big fish out of water not only in his hometown but in his very home. His father (Geoff Morrell) is deeply troubled, as is his younger brother (Tom Budge), and Eliot's attempts to help them are met with troubling obstacles. To reveal much more would be to spoil the revelatory nature of the plot. It's a coming-home film, a family-secrets film, but most of all it is a father-son film, and it is the strength of Morrell and Frederickson in these parts that allows the film to soar. Entirely believable as a father and son, both actors create completely believable and complex characters. Morrell has some devastating emotional moments and plays an extremely contentious character without adding a layer of judgment or comment. Frederickson is more reserved, an observer in his own story, but the pain, trauma and conflicted love he feels for those around him is ever-present. Although the less flashy part, it can have been no less emotionally demanding to play.

These two fine actors are backed up by a brace of extremely fine supporting players (including the great Jack Thompson in just the right role). The integrity of their performances match that of the script, which rings heartbreakingly true. The direction never tries to hide the fact that this is a serious drama about serious things, yet never falsely pulls on our heartstrings (I thought a little of Atom Egoyan). The story is powerful enough, and here the actors are allowed to tell it without a lot of directorial bells and whistles. Indeed, it's really an actor's movie, and these actors make it an intense, disturbing, and ultimately very satisfying and rich dramatic experience.

Ten Empty (2008) ***1/2

In my review of Fireflies in the Garden I railed against what I felt was that films lack of originality. I termed dysfunctional family dramas a 'dime a dozen.' While in retrospect I think that term was not the best, especially in comparative terms to the prolificness of say slasher flicks or gross-out comedies. I stand by it though because like slasher flicks or nasty teen comedies, dysfunctional family dramas tend to stick to the same dogmatic formulas. Now that is not always a bad thing. Sometimes formula is formula for good reason, and sometimes it just takes style to transcend the formulaic.

Ten Empty, a small export from Australia is something of an exception to Fireflies in the Garden. Although its not anything totally unique in terms of structure, it is in a way fresh in the subject matter and execution. Eliot (Daniel Fredricksen) returns to his small town home for his father's new son's baptism. He's moved away to Sydney, become a success in the luxury pen making business (made from the material of Porches no less) and distanced himself from his families lifestyle and past. Although he is the lead in the film, the picture does not make him any kind of hero per-say. When his father offers him a beer, he remarks that he only drinks red wine. He wears fancy clothes to everyone else's old t-shirts. He is something of a quiet snob. His father resents his poshness and exodus from the family. He resents that he doesn't drink his beer, but then again he's something of a drunk.

The family is dysfunctional, but unlike most other dysfunctional family dramas, it's for good reason, not just the sake of volatility. Eliot left after his mother, suffering from bi-polar, committed suicide. He found her body. In the years since then, his father has married her sister, Diane. She's rot with Catholic guilt for her transgressions against her sister, and seems genuinely caring, but ultimately alienated to the outside looking in, shamed and hurt by her husband's clearly continuing love and pain over his deceased wife. Eliot's younger brother, Brett, remains in his room for much of the first act. The film only slowly reveals why. He too is now beginning to suffer from some form of mental illness.

That is what lies at the heart of the family's dysfunction - their inability to cope with with such illness. They fear he's going the same way as his mother, but the father is determined that he can take care of it himself. Eliot points out that it didn't go so well with his mother. The father resents the illness of his son, and can't come to terms with his condition. After a disastrous incident, Eliot wants to have Brett sent for help with professionals, but it costs money, lots of money, money that the father does not have.

Where Fireflies in the Garden was a solidly crafted film based on what was I think ultimately misguided screenplay, Ten Empty is a strongly performed film with a solid base. There are instances which seem misjudged or unnecessary, maybe even confused, but as a whole it is strong. It's carried by its performances, all of which are very good. Fredricksen is very good, but especially good is Geoff Morrell as the father. He plays his character with shockingly misguided attempts at discipline, and often displays his scorn and dismay on his sleeve. But at the same time makes it known that he's the way he is because of the way things are. When he's cruel, its precisely because he simply cannot cope. There are a number of supporting players as well, including a bartending family friend, and a woman from Eliot's past, highlighting that though he's become posh, he's not really left but simply run away.

The family, though resentful and scornful, is clearly full of love for one another. The memories of a life once lived makes the reality of the present that much harder. This is a dark movie, peppered in a realistic fashion. It has very few moments of lightness, but it nevertheless finds a crack of light in a dark room

'It's not what you do it's the way that you do it'. Hmm. If you're going to make a film about a dysfunctional family who are in denial about a past tragedy, and who bring it all up over a gut- spilling weekend, do something interesting with it. As usual it's set in an unspeakably gloomy house in a dreary, desolate suburb, but it might as well be performed on an empty stage. It would certainly have been cheaper. The father is your usual beer drinking, car-obsessed, loud- mouthed bully, written, like most of the script with equal proportions of cliché and pretension, and played with lamentable obviousness. The rest of the cast come off slightly better with their archetypes: the tense, passive sister; the successful brother from the city, who runs away from conflict; and, of course, the suicidally loopy brother in the upstairs room, who never speaks. To be fair there are some moments of quiet, touching tenderness, usually when no-one is speaking. But when the olde moodily lit shot of the kitchen tap dripping popped on to the screen, it seemed to sum the whole thing up: we've seen it all before, done better.

TEN EMPTY Rating TBC Time 95 minutes Country Australia Director Anthony Hayes Cast Daniel Frederiksen, Geoff Morrell, Lucy Bell, Jack Thompson Distributor Icon Worth $12.00 Released July 3

"…resounds with rare honesty and sings with hard fought emotional truth."

In Australian cinema, this country's suburban heartland is often depicted as a goofy, daggy place, usually by filmmakers who have most likely grown up amongst the hip cafes and art scenes of our inner city cultural hubs. The new film Ten Empty, however, brutally turns the suburban depictions of films like Holy Smoke and The Castle on their soft, fizzy heads. In this dark, seething little drama – which comes courtesy of debut screenwriter/director Anthony Hayes and co-writer/actor Brendan Cowell, two of this country's most dynamic young talents – the Australian suburbs are home to the kind of bleak, all encompassing human crises that wouldn't be out of place in the works of Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller. There are, however, far more uses of the word "cunt" than either of those masters of the human condition would have ever dared use.

Elliott Christie (a nice slow burn from up-and-comer Daniel Frederiksen, who was so effective in the TV mini-series Bastard Boys) is a taciturn, slightly up-himself mover-and-shaker who returns to his family home in the Adelaide suburbs to be named godfather of his new half-brother. The whole situation, however, sits on an emotional knife edge: Elliott's mentally unstable mother has died, leaving his boozy, blustery father Ross (a daringly full bodied turn from Geoff Morrell) to hook up with her sensitive sister Diane (an excellent Lucy Bell), as younger brother Brett (an uncharacteristically quiet Tom Budge) locks himself away in his room, refusing to talk. Looking on with a mix of compassion and curiosity are family friends Bobby Thompson (a perfectly cast Jack Thompson in "top bloke" form), Shane Hackett (Brendan Cowell makes the most of his character's seedy and foul mouthed opportunities) and the effervescent Bernadette (Blazey Best provides a lot of spunk and sex appeal as the film's only normal, relatively well adjusted character).

Co-creators Hayes and Cowell – as actors, writers, producers and directors – have been previously and variously involved with a number of tough, beautifully crafted projects (The Boys, Love My Way, Look Both Ways, and the short film New Skin, amongst others), and bring all of that to bear on their impressive feature debut as behind-the-scenes talents. Their script zings with pungent dialogue (Ross' euphoric description of buying a new set of beer taps for his home bar is particularly amusing) and pointed observations about the Australian character. A scene in which Elliott is quietly hounded and berated after turning down the offer of a beer at a family barbecue is absolutely spot-on in both its humour and familiarity. Ten Empty also comes complete with a fascinating crew of characters. While the central figure of Elliott is necessarily something of a cipher, everyone else practically leaps off the screen. Though not always likable (Ross is a self-absorbed bully; Shane is a bit of a grub), they're textured, recognisable and gut-pokingly real.

Despite moments of raucous humour, the concerns of Ten Empty are largely and impossibly dark, as it wades into mental illness, alcoholism, betrayal and lacerating family dysfunction, possibly steering itself away from a large cinema audience in the process. Yes, it might be unpalatable and often grimy in its depiction of local cultural custom, but the big-and-brave Ten Empty ultimately resounds with rare honesty and sings with hard fought emotional truth.

Erin Free