La boda de Muriel

Muriel's Wedding is an Australian gem that perhaps suffers somewhat from being earmarked as a 'comedy'. Certainly there are plenty of laughs, but this film is no mere cheap and cheesy crowd-pleaser. As well as dealing with the insularity and cattiness of her hometown, Porpoise Spit, Muriel also must face the suicide of her mother and paralysing of her best friend. Yet, despite these tragedies, Muriel manages to come out on top, and at the same time strike a blow for anybody who has ever been snubbed by the in-crowd.

The characterisation in the movie is brilliant, particularly that of Muriel's family of no-hopers. Hoping to shed the title of "useless" bestowed on her by her father, Muriel (Toni Collette) absconds with the family's savings to an island resort, where she meets vivacious, straight-talking Rhonda (Rachel Griffiths). Rhonda is the catalyst for Muriel to become a new person, but unfortunately Muriel takes her obsession with weddings one step too far and marries just for the sake of it. She thinks she has finally "made it", but comes to realise that there's more to life than public image.

The soundtrack is a gloriously appropriate ABBA symphony, although both Dancing Queen and the film's original theme tune are over-utilised. It is surely partly due to ABBA's pleasant familiarity that it is so easy to become emotionally involved in the film, and the viewer will likely experience the whole gamut of feelings during its course. The finale, whilst upbeat, fortunately doesn't stumble into the realm of saccharine moralism (which so many filmmakers seem to think it is necessary to conclude with). Instead, we feel the triumph along with Muriel and Rhonda as they bid a raucous farewell to Porpoise Spit.

This is truly a great Australian film, and still holds up after all these years. The film has always hit a nerve with me in terms of the Heslop's family dynamics (Mum, make Dad a cup of tea!). I can only speak for myself but I grew up in Queensland around the same time (I am aware this was made in New South Wales) and my experience with my family definitely resonates with that of Muriel's with her family. I really thought at the time this came out that this type of family dysfunction was 'an Aussie thing', but I know better than that now that I am older and wiser.

I've never thought of this as a comedy although it has some very funny moments. Even now, I have to be in the mood for Muriel's Wedding due to it's brutally harsh treatment of it's characters. The film is vicious and unrelenting and has made me cry more than once. But it's also a cathartic experience, about a person with flaws like all of us, who is trying to find her own identity, and, despite what she has been conditioned to believe, that she is worthy.

Muriel Heslop (Toni Collette) is the fat ridiculed girl. She catches the wedding bouquet and all the girls pressure her to give it up. Her family is a bunch of lay-abouts. Her father Bill is a bully and her mother is a pushover. Bill is a corrupt local politician in Porpoise Spit, Australia. Muriel daydreams, lies and steals. Deidre Chambers offers a job and her mother gives her a blank cheque to be paid to Deidre. Instead Muriel uses it for a vacation and finding a husband. She is spotted by Rhonda Epinstalk (Rachel Griffiths) from her childhood. She decides to run away to Syndey where she lives with Rhonda. Bill walks out on the family and is under investigation. Rhonda becomes a paraplegic from a tumor.

This is such a quirky funny Australian indie filled with dark wacky characters. It is such an odd unique movie. The humor comes from anger and mostly unlikeable characters. Muriel is not a normal character. She's insanely clingy, secretly bitter and outwardly delusional. The only normal character is Epinstalk and she faces some real darkness. The whole movie has a lot of darkness. There is a good deal of both laughing at Muriel and along with Muriel. There is also something ABBA that fits the craziness. It is both cheesy and upbeat. It keeps the movie from crumbling under the weight of Muriel's behavior and the small mindedness. Things get quite dark but it never succumbs to it. The last half's tone turn dark and ends in a very uplifting feel.

Muriel's wedding is a solid work of Australian comedy, with great acting and a funny script, however I also found it a touch sad.

The film kept taking emotional turns, from hilarious to depressing. The main character, Muriel Heslop (Toni Collette), was funny in a very human way. She shows the audience a quirky, yet believable example of human fallibility, as the girl who never quite meets the standard. Muriel's character is defined by her inability to fit in - despite many attempts. She has a dysfunctional family and weird obsessions with Swedish pop group ABBA, and getting married.

All the characters play emotional roles, and the acting performance by Collette and Rachel Griffiths (as Muriels best friend), are inspirational.

I laughed a lot, but came away with a general sense of sadness about the emotional cruelty of human beings, and the suffering some people endure. I found the character of Muriel's mother particularly sad, but well acted.

Many people I've talked to hated this film, but it remains one of my favourite comedies. As someone who really enjoys Aussie films, I think this was one of the better ones.

Muriel's Wedding is a feel good movie for the outcasts of the world. That means most people of course. At some time in our lives we all feel like the one who is left out of everything. Muriel's life is like that. Her "friends" put her down constantly and her father reinforces it by telling her how useless she (and every other member of her family) is while boosting his own ego by bragging about his connections.

There is no life in Porpoise Spit for Muriel. So after a couple of catastrophic embarassments and a chance meeting with an old school chum and fellow outcast she moves to Sydney. There she reinvents herself and discovers that despite what has been said about her and some pretty bad things she has done she is still a good person. Muriel stumbles on the way but finally frees herself (as does her mother) from the oppression of her hometown, her father, and her life.

Muriel isn't a totally likeable character. She steals, lies, and at one point does a perfectly terrible thing to her only friend. In the end however, Muriel recognizes that despite her shortcoming, physical and spiritual, she isn't the worthless creature her classmates and father have told her she is. To the credit of the filmmaker's they didn't do a complete remake of Muriel in the film to make her a beauty at the end. She gets a better hair cut but for the most part the improvement on her looks comes from within.

Muriel's father on the other hand is a completely despicable man. A local politician who tries to impress everybody with his connections he also put considerable effort into the degradation of his wife and children. His motto, the same as the town of Porpoise Spit, is "You Can't Stop Progress" but he manages to stop the progress of everyone in his family except for Muriel.

This is a very enjoyable film and a good example of the idea that a movie doesn't have to be a big Hollywood production to be great. I'm glad that it was produced in Australia. If it had been done in France then Hollywood would have done a remake in English and probably ruined it.