Friends and Strangers

If you ever wondered what Rohmer would do if he were a young man living in Australia in the early 21st century here is probably your answer

Discombobulated vignettes with the only constant being the main male actor seen in different places with different people in middle-class drifter mode with a level of slackdom and aimlessless one can only gawp at ....

This is an arty film and skillful at that ... it is the first full-length feature film from the director it seems ... will want to see the follow-ups.

So many long shooting cameras, so many dialogs, so many "strangers"(player s) in the movie. Boring, very boring. What on earth does the movie wanna talk about??

Kinda good, kinda bad.

I enjoyed 'Friends and Strangers' a bit at the beginning and a lot near the end, though the middle is lame - in my opinion, of course. The start holds intrigue and the whole chilled vibe is cool, though come the midway point it loses all steam. Thankfully, the concluding parts are its best.

It's the scenes at the villa(s) for the wedding that are the best, I genuinely enjoyed those moments. The rest is either forgettable or straight up uninteresting. It might've worked out better if they stuck with Emma Diaz's Alice, who seemed better in the acting department, rather than Fergus Wilson's Ray.

The film is going to derange regular spectators since it seems to be linking unlikely situations, but it moves forward... not in the best way since it is the director's first feature film. Obviously, more experience is needed to make his contribution more attractive and well-finished.

A sudden decision in Sydney of a young woman and man both trying to overcome a breakup, a tenure in the wild, a romance in the brink of being consolidated, a girl afflicted with curiousity, a meddling elder asking for the time, true and unwanted advice from a friend, small everyday catastrophes, random encounters, criticism of pretentiousness, cultured people dwelling in the abstraction to avoid reality... DEEP VOIDS IN LIFE.

The attitude of the female main character is quite similar to her homologous one in Eric Rohmer's LE RAYON VERT and the film shares the basis of such a narrative basis as the one of 4 AVENTURES DE REINETTE ET MIRABELLE. Burgoeisie chasing happiness but without a definite plan about that.

Static camera images are the main visual component of the film as well as dramatic ones such as grim, joy, doubt, humour, a bit of boredom, enigmsatic mystery, and existencial tragedy.

The director has shown his most important points and interests here. May he offer us a next film with a more dynamic content.

Long still shots of a scene waiting for the characters to enter it or exit it. Drivel conversations. Why do these producers make such crap? Don't waste your time with this gong show.