First time writer/director Matthew J Saville from New Zealand has made a film based on events in his own family staring the great Charlotte Rampling as Ruth, a feisty, gin-drinking (two cases in two weeks) grandmother.
Sam ( George Ferrier, from TV series Dirty laundry) is a troubled teenager who comes home for holidays from boarding school to be told by his father Robert (Martin Csokas) that he is to help the nurse Sarah (Edith Poor) look after his grandmother, who has a badly broken leg.
He is not at all pleased about this. The recent death of his mother is on his mind, his father takes off to England, Sarah is not always attentive – and he has to cope with the constant needs of his demanding grandmother, who uses a very loud bell to attract attention, mostly for more jugs of gin, or to be carried to the toilet.
Ruth is a former English war photographer with a colourful past, determined to live life on her own terms. Sam has self-destructive tendencies and a father insensitive to his needs. It is inevitable they behave badly towards each other and gradually develop a better relationship.
The film doesn’t escape the clichés of similar films even though the actors do a great job of the predictable dialogue, and some of the photography of the country in West Auckland is lovely.
94 minutes.
Now showing at Luna Leederville.
Watch the trailer…
