Love Serenade

I've noticed that some people here are having a hard time finding this film, Love Serenade, on video or DVD. I was lucky enough to be able to catch this one on cable, either on Sundance channel or IFC, but this was a real fun movie to watch. The two sisters live together and eat lunch together every day, but along comes a new neighbor who moves in next door, and these two are at each other's throats to win the bloke over, before he even unpacks his suitcase! The new guy is a DJ named Ken Sherry, who just moved out to the sticks presumably after losing his job in the big city! And he's as smooth as Barry White on a Saturday night, this DJ, so both of them are captivated and try to do things for him to win him over, like catch him a big stinky fish or cook some crappy rubbish. The main gal, Vicki-Ann Hurley, is played by Rebecca Frith, whom I came to love after watching this, and who I just saw last night in another Aussie film also worth seeing, 'A Man's Gotta Do' (2004). Miranda Otto has top billing though, as the 'not-so'bright' younger sister, Dimity, and is enjoyable to watch as well. These two ladies play off each other well and there are some other nice characters in it that makes this a quirky comedy, fine Aussie entertainment! If you can find this at the video store, snatch it up! 7 out of 10 stars. *******

"Love Serenade" is a quirky and original film. I'm reminded of Pauline Kael's remark about "Passport to Pimlico" - "comedy with a fine flavour." I'd never heard of this and only rented it because of a recommendation by David Stratton on the cover. And I'm glad I got it out - it's been years since I liked a film this much. It's generally quiet, but its off-kilter humour is really very funny, and its observations about the sexes are poignant and even disturbing. The soundtrack is a key factor; it's a great collection of smooth seventies soul tracks, but they're used ironically, and you feel a little guilty for enjoying them so much. The performances are really fine, too. In all it's a wonderful film and it needs to be seen.

As a counter to the negative comments elsewhere re this film - I found it extremely funny. Although I should note that I'm from country Australia where this is based - so it's not surprising that people from elsewhere might not appreciate the humour eg. references to the "excitement of Brisbane."

However if you grew up having picnics in windswept Rotary parks, riding about dusty streets and choosing between the ABC and one other channel, this is definitely worth a look. Miranda Otto as Dimity is solid enough, but the character of Ken Sherry makes the film - a reptilian, tai chi following, Hawaiian shirt wearing DJ that will make you cringe with laughter throughout.

This movie comes in cute and goes out really weird. It is one of the best black comedies ever made and one of the finest films to come out of Australia.

Two dorky, love-starved sisters live together in a house in the Aussie backwater town of Sunray. Their lives are thrown into a dither when a hotshot radio DJ moves into the house next door. The DJ, named Ken Sherry, has the personality of a lugubrious bloodhound and is thrice divorced, but the sisters are smitten. He's a celebrity!

One of the sisters, Vicki, is a hairdresser with delusions of tabloid grandeur, and the other, Dimity, is a painfully shy waitress in a forlorn Chinese restaurant with the absurdly grand name Emperor's Palace. The restaurant owner is, on his off hours, a proud nudist (Did I mention this movie is weird?).

When you begin watching, you may think you know where this flick is headed. You don't. Things get stranger and stranger and casual American audiences, seeing familiar sitcom elements unfold, will likely be stunned by the bizarre directions the movie takes.

For those looking for "something else," I cannot recommend this highly enough. Oh, and a terrific Barry White soundtrack.

Overshadowed during its release by the tragic death of a stuntman Collin Dragsbaek during production, Love Serenade rises as a refreshing, observation rich film about despairing souls that happen to come together in "Sunray" a fictional country town. A town like so many real ones in Australia that manage to have a forlorn charm that shines through isolation and solitude. Love Serenade manages to sensitively capture this intangible quality to cradle its story within.

The title "Love Serenade' may have done some damage to its success as it could to easily have pigeoned holed it as a emotion saturated "chick flick". Ironically, once you know the film the title is perfect.

Essentially the film seems to be about the seductive power of persona fueled by the material mediums associated with it, in this case it's a 40 something DJ and his melodic 70's playlist. Within this entrapment all is normal and comfortable with the victim, but for the observer, in this case us the viewer, there are alarm bells and sirens going off everywhere.

DJ Ken Sherry represents what the mass media machine eventually spits out, burnt out celebrity that have been superseded by a new stock. To unfashionable to be seriously employed and to active to be retired these cast offs gravitate to anywhere that still attaches notions of greatness to there foundering media statue. George Shevtsov slips into the roll of the sleazy veteran DJ like a duck to water. His astonishing performance manages to contrive a personality that can only be described as revoltingly charming. Drawing on a a wealth of DJ streetwise experience "Ken Sherry" has an an opportunistic toy about with the misguided adoration of two local sisters. The resulting personality confrontations and moral diversities therein carries the film to its daring strange then stranger end.

Brilliantly written and directed by Shirley Barrett 'Love Serenade' is a great example of one persons vision being crafted and produced by a competent team that have taken on a singular vision. Its curious "fish" diversions and irratic surreal moments will have a large audience drop off, leaving a faithful few that will love it forever.

10/10