The Aussie Film Database
The Heartbreak Kid
Michael Jenkins
Film Credits
The Heartbreak Kid was released in Australia on 17 June 1993. The film was directed by Michael Jenkins and is an adaptation of the stage play that was written by Richard Barrett. Jenkins however has also been credited for contributing to the writing of the script for the film. The producer of the film was Ben Gannon who had worked with Jenkins prior to the making of The Heartbreak Kid and has continued to do so in the following years. This film was produced through the collaborative efforts of the Australian Film Finance Corporation, View Films and Film Victoria. Nino Martinetti was the cinematographer throughout the production of the film. The principal cast of the film were Claudia Karvan (Christina), Alex Dimitriades (Nick), and Nico Lathouris (George) with Steve Bastoni (Dimitri) and Doris Younane (Evdokia). This cast and crew combined well, and although exact box-office takings were unavailable, they managed to provide Australia with another reasonably successful film as was evident by the positive reviews and interviews that the film recieved both before and after the film was released.Criticism
Michael Jenkins' The Heartbreak Kid (1993) is an adaptation of Richard Barrett's stage play of the same name. The film concerns itself with the complexities that are found when trying to pursue an independent lifestyle, away from the pressures of the family and the cultural and ethnic ties that inevitably comes with them. The Heartbreak Kid is a multi-layered examination of a Greek-Australian student, Nick (Alex Dimitriades), who falls in love with his Greek-Australian school teacher, Christina (Claudia Karvan). Both actors give credit to their respective roles, and together they provide a well-calibrated performance of the emotional undercurrents that are consequently involved in a dramatic situation of this type.The Heartbreak Kid succeeds partly because the two leading characters are in similar positions of emotional and ethnic turbulence. Christina is more devoted in terms of cutting her ties with her middle-class overbearing parents than is Nick, who is of the working class and is a kid who is out to enjoy the pleasures of life and love. Christina is also engaged to be married to a man that thoroughly represents the Greek orthodox lifestyle that she has been brought up in. It is this relationship and the unhappiness that results from it, combined with relationship that has formed between Christina and Nick that provides the juncture through which Christina is ultimately encouraged or forced into the sphere of personal independence.
The sexual honesty in the developing relationship between Christina and Nick is of admiral quality given that Îmulticultural' films in the past have tended to gloss over the intricate ambiguities and anxieties that often reside in such relationships. One of the better scenes of the film places Christina in her car after she has finally left her parents and her intended husband, free of the stringent structures of her home, is a result of the honesty that is prevalent throughout the film.
Although The Heartbreak Kid was fairly ambitious in its content, it should not be seen as a benchmark production in the history of Australian experimental and narrative films that represent our Îmulticultural' cinema and its thematic, cultural and stylistic concerns. It is a reasonably honest and modest piece of work that definately knows its own conceptual and formal limits and strengths. The kinetic edge that is given to the film is done through the use of multi-camera and hand-held camera styled scenes. This film does not fall into the trap of using the convenient and overused formula that is often used for films that are adapted from another source, and as such The Heartbreak Kid provided its audiences with an innovative new look at Australian cinema.
The ability of The Heartbreak Kid to provide this new look at Australian cinema on a multicultural level lead to the predominantly positive uptake on the film, both at the time of its release and in the subsequent period. The film was reviewed well both here and overseas in a number of various critical film journals such as 'Cinema Papers', 'Sequences' and 'Variety', and it also recieved brief mentions on the Internet. The film has also been subsequently reviewed and discussed for larger scale works involving Australian cinema.
At the time of the film's release, Australian cinema was coming into a new forum of film, with the rest of the world taking notice of what was being produced within Australia and by Australians. This lead to The Heartbreak Kid being noticed on a wider scale than might have been previously possible, and can account somewhat for the reviews that were done for larger scale cinema journals. This film has encorporated elements of Australian culture in an honest way, and as such helped to form the way that overseas markets view Australian films now. It is largely due this honest method of filming that the film was recieved well. Upon it's release, The Heartbreak Kid was reviewed well, not only for this but also for the various stylistic elements that contributed greatly to the interpretation of the film. Critical analysis' of The Heartbreak Kid could also be found on the Internet and although the review was limited, a positive slant was given to the film.
In subsequent periods The Heartbreak Kid has been used to a fairly great degree to enhance larger works analyzing and discussing Australian cinema in both functional and theoretical forms. In both approaches the film has been critically reviewed in a positive light due to the innovative approach that the film had towards multiculturalism in Australia. It has been reviewed as an important piece of filming on the basis that it fully represented Australian experimental filming of this particular time in Australian cinema. This is in part the reason as to why the film is often referred to when Australian cinema is being discussed.
The Heartbreak Kid was made through the combined efforts of the Australian Film Finance Corporation, View Films and Film Victoria. The film was produced with the assistance of Film Victoria and made with the participation of the Australian Film Finance Corporation while the script of the film itself was devolped with the assistance of the Australian Film Commission. View Films participated with regards to the publishing of the film. The need for three companies to assist with this only demonstrates the difficulty that Australian film makers have in finding the funding that is required to produce a feature film, even on a relatively small scale. The factor of there being a very limited budget greatly limits the films that can be made by Australians within Australia, and as such it becomes difficult for Australians to compete on an international level.
The Heartbreak Kid was shot on location in Melbourne from 7 September to 19 October 1992. It was distributed nationally by Roadshow Entertainment, and opened on 17 June 1993. In effect there was a nine month delay between the production and the national release dates of The Heartbreak Kid which is not an overly long time as far as this is concerned.
Those who worked on The Heartbreak Kid, principally the director, but also the producer, scriptwriter and lead actors have almost all worked on other things prior to and/or have gone on to make other things subsequent to the making of this particular film.
Michael Jenkins directed The Heartbreak Kid in 1993. Prior to this he was involved with a large number of productions filling various positions. He began his directorial dubut in 1976 with a film titled 'Rush'. From here he directed 'Five Mile Creek' (1983), 'Rebel' (1985) and 'Sharks Paradise' (1986). Jenkins then deviated into television with the series 'The Gillies Republic' (1986), and followed this up with 'The Leaving of Liverpool' (1992). In between these two series Jenkins directed two other feature films, 'Sweet Talker' and 'Emerald City' both in 1989. Jenkins had also worked as a writer prior to his collaborative writing effort on The Heartbreak Kid. In 1983 he worked on 'Careful, He Might Hear You' and he followed this with 'Rebel' in 1985. After 1993 Jenkins went on to work on other projects filling a variety of roles. Jenkins' work as a producer has been limited to the spin-off television series from The Heartbreak Kid, 'Heartbreak High' (1994). Jenkins has also held various positions on other films including that of a gaffer on 'Teenage Bonnie and Klepto Clyde' (1993), the third electrician on 'Judge Dredd' (1995) and as the electrician within the vfx motion control unit for 'Independence Day' (1996).
Ben Gannon filled the position of the producer for The Heartbreak Kid. He too has worked on other projects some of which have involved Michael Jenkins. Gannon has participated as the producer on films such as 'Daydream Believer', 'Travelling North', and 'Hammers over the Anvil' (1993). In 1989 he first worked with Jenkins on the set of 'Sweet Talker' (1989). This was followed with The Heartbreak Kid (1993) and the resulting television series 'Heartbreak High' (1994) which was produced under the name of Gannon Television. In all of the collaborations between Jenkins and Gannon, Jenkins has acted as director while Gannon has been the producer.
The Heartbreak Kid was the first feature film that Alex Dimitriades had a major role in and subsequent roles are seemingly non-existent. Claudia Karvan however is an experienced actor having had roles in a variety of productions prior to The Heartbreak Kid, including those in 'Redheads', 'Molly', 'Hightide' and 'The Big Steal'. Following The Heartbreak Kid Karvan has had other roles including a leading role in 'Dating The Enemy' (1996).
The Heartbreak Kid was first screened in 1993, and as such continued to follow the trend of film in the early 1990's, that being the examination of the influence of multiculturalism on the settler society. This film concentrates on the emergence of a new and inclusive multicultural society that offers the premise of a promising future. This apparent trend in Australian films has obviously continued on through the 1990's and as such The Heartbreak Kid could be seen as one of the forerunners for the development of this particular style of Australian cinema, although it should not be used as a benchmark production. The fact that this film has continued to be discussed within a variety of critical forums demonstrates that Australian films in general are constantly gaining greater significance in world markets. The fact that this is occurring would seem to denote the idea that Australian films are becomming more mainstream oriented, and that the cultural value of the film, particularly for Australians, is dropping. This however does not seem to be true as is demonstrated by the overseas success of films that are distinctly Australian in content and form. This cultural binary through which Australina films operate is a valuable part of the style that denotes Australian cinema. Although this cultural theme has not been overly popular with Australian audiences in the past, I think that Australian audiences are increasingly going out to view Australian films and that as a result the commercial value of the film within the country is lifting. The rest of the world is now slowly following this trend as Australian films gain more international commercial success which is based on this cultural/multicultural orientation.
As with many national cinemas, Australian cinema operates within a context of multi-ethnicity. The Heartbreak Kid, like a lot of Australian films, concentrates on the people that constitute the multicultural, multi-ethnic factors of the community. As such, the Îtypical Australian' in this multi-ethnic society is 'a product of several ancestries to the extent that Australia's cinema audience is shaped by a variety of cultural influences - which are increasingly seen in cinema - ...as in the Greek family in The Heartbreak Kid'. (O'Regan: 1996).
Although Australia is seen as being a medium sized English language cinema, the onset of SBS-TV has allowed for the importation of more diverse products, and for them to be more readily available to the community. Under this multicultural structure, the production of short films and parts of feature films that are not in English, have been supported. Such was the case with regard to The Heartbreak Kid in which a proportion of the film was in Greek. Australia does not have the economy required to sustain Îethnic' productions as do some countries. In order to combat this, the Australian market has built connections between the minor stream of the non-English speaking market with the mainstream English-speaking market. This interaction essentially cultivates an insight and understanding of other cultures that exist within Australia, while also broadening the visual scope that becomes available to the public.
On a national level, The Heartbreak Kid performed quite well, with the Greek element of language and culture having been assimilated into Australian culture and society already. It is inevitable however that Australian cinema be predominantly encapsulated within the English-speaking market. This is largely due to the obvious factor that the dominant force and market in cinema comes from the United States which is a large sized English language cinema. In order for Australia to become competitive within the worldwide spere of cinema, it becomes necessary for it to be avalilable to the largest possible audience. In compliance with this, it is easy to understand why films such as The Heartbreak Kid, with its Greek influence do not compete well overseas despite the good thematic content of the film. This trend is however slowly beginning to change as the value of Australian cinema within the international market is being raised.
On the whole The Heartbreak Kid provided national and internatinal audiences with a well presented Australian film that encorporated a lot of the essences that are associated with Australian film making, while also supplying a good forum through which to discuss the position of Australian cinema on a world wide basis.
Bibliography
Conomos, J. The Heartbreak Kid in Australian Film 1978-1994: A survey of Theatrical Features , compiled and edited by Scott Murray. Melbourne Oxford University Press in association with The Australian Film Commission and Cinema Papers: 1995.O'Regan, T. Australian national cinema. London, Routledge: 1996
Presence online and in the literature
Reviews of The Heartbreak Kid could be found within 'Cinema Papers' (Gillespie, P. n94:21 August 1993), 'Sequences' (Girard, M. n166:10 Sept/Oct 1993) and 'Variety' (Stratton, D. 351:55 June 14 1993). A review of the film could also be found on the Internet within the 'Internet Movie Database'. These reviews were of an overall positive inclination and provided a good reflection of the film. Interviews with the makers of this film were conducted at the time of the release of the film and also in the subsequent period. These interviews could be found in 'Cinema Papers' (Gillespie, P.n94:21 August 1993) and 'FNEWS' (O'Shea, M. 23:20 n4 1993) and were conducted with both Michael Jenkins and Ben Gannon. Almost all of these reviews and interviews were conducted at the time of the release of the film. It should also be noted however that The Heartbreak Kid has continued to be critically discussed up until very recently in books that are concerned with Australian cinema. Books in which detailed references to the film have been made are 'Australian Film 1978-1994: A survey of Theatrical Features' (Murray: 1995) and more recently in 'Australian National Cinema' (O'Regan: 1996).In trying to find information regarding this film, it was necessary to search the Internet. I was somewhat disappointed with the presence of The Heartbreak Kid in web literature. Although there was a large proportion of information on film, both on an international and national level, there was very little information regarding this particular film. This became increasingly frustrating when this film was not even mentioned on sites that were solely dedicated to Australian cinema. The only place that I was able to find a brief review of the film was on the 'Internet Movie Database' which is an American based web site. Although this shows that Australian films are being covered on an international level through the Internet, I feel that it is necessary for Australian films in general to be discussed and reviewed on a national level to a greater degree. Through this Australian based forum I believe that Australian films would gain greater exposure and therefore would perforn better on the international market.
The information that I gained regarding The Heartbreak Kid was predominantly found within books that were dedicated to Australian cinema. These books have however been written or subsidised by people who have had strong direct ties to Australian cinema. That is to say that finding details of reviews regarding this film in books documenting cinema on an international level was difficult to the extent that they were essentially non-existent. The information regarding reviews and interviews associated with The Heartbreak Kid could easily be found using such indexes as the 'Film Literature Index'. These indexes provided sufficient references that enabled the finding of the indicated information.
In all, gaining detailed information regarding The Heartbreak Kid was reasonably difficult, which I believe generally represents the lack of coverage of Australian cinema in international and national reference works.
html author: Cass Borthwick
This page was produced as part of the Australian Cinema Unit at Murdoch University