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H231 Australian Cinema
Internal Assignment 2: Critical Review and Bibliography
By Clea Jones
LILIAN'S STORY (1995) Jerzy Domaradzki

PART ONE: FILM INFORMATION

CAST (lead actors only)

Ruth Cracknell Lilian Singer
Toni Collette Young Lilian Singer
Barry Otto John Singer
John Flaus Frank
Iris Shand Aunt Kitty
Susie Lindeman Jewel
Anne Louise Lambert Mother

CREW (principal crew only)

Director: Jerzy Domaradzki
Producer: Marian MacGowan
Screenplay: Steve Wright based on the book by Kate Grenville
Cinematography: Slavomir Idziak

COMPANY CREDITS

PRODUCTION COMPANIES
Movieco Australia

DISTRIBUTORS
Cannes Home Video (br) (Brazil) (VHS)
Phaedra Cinema (us) (1998) (USA)

OTHER COMPANIES
The Australian Film Finance Corporation (au) Funding

RELEASE DATES

Country Date
Australia 09 May 1996
Poland 11 April 1997
USA 25 September 1998

BOX OFFICE FIGURES

Opening Weekend
$68,440 million Aus Dollars
$1,220 (USA) (28th March 1999) (Two Screens)

Gross
$524,526 million Aus Dollars
$1,220 (USA) (28th March 1999)

HOW I WENT ABOUT COLLECTING INFORMATION FOR MY SEARCH

In order to collect the reviews, interviews and statistical data I needed to complete this assignment, I began by going to the Perth Library to try and gain access to any Journals, magazines, old newspaper articles or books which contained information regarding the film. Though I did find a handful of journal articles related to the film, the information in these articles was fairly limited. After this initial search that had proved to be relatively unsuccessful I decided to conduct the rest of my research for this assignment via the Web. I used various search engines such as Google, Ask Jeeves and Yahoo in order to locate sites that were related to the film. Though the quality and usefulness of the sites that I found was varied, I did manage to collect the majority of information needed for my research of Lillian's Story via the web.

REVIEWS AND DETAILS OF FILMS ONLINE PRESENCE IN WEB LITERATURE

Whilst researching Lilian's story I found that there was very little information about the film on the web. Though I did manage to find a handful of sites related to the film most of my searches resulted in sites that were of little or no help to my research. Though there was no shortage of sites that specialised in film reviews, almost every site I could find had not yet reviewed Lilian's story. Instead these sites merely offered a chance for users to be the first to review the film. I think this was because the film I had chosen to research was not a huge box office hit and allot of people would probably never have even heard about it. Nevertheless there were a handful of useful sites, mainly those found in the links at H231's homepage, which were extremely helpful in collecting both statistical data and information for my research. These sites contain various reviews, interviews, statistical data and other general information related to the film. The addresses are listed below:

James Berardinelli's Reelviews
http://movie-reviews.colosussus.net/movies/1/lilians.html.

Box Office Magazine
http://www.boxoffice.com

Appollo Movie Guide (Jeremy Heilman)
http://apolloguide.com/mov_revtemp.asp?cld=3404
Nitrate Online (capsule)
http://www.nitrateonline.com/tsift97-1.html#Lilian's-story

Rotten Tomatoes. Reviews from the Nation's top critics
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/movie-1096549/reviews,pht

Channel 4 Film
http://www.Channel4.com/film/reviews/film.jsp?id=105349

CinemaNow-Movie Details
www.cinemanow.com/watch/watch.asp?movieid=1176+doreset=1&aftid=53-77k-

Internet Movie Database
IMD.com

PART TWO:
MY CRITICAL REVIEW
Jerzy Domaradzki's Lilian's Story, based on the novel by Kate Grenville, is the tale of one woman's fight to confront her past in an attempt to find future happiness. Based on the life of infamous Sydney vagrant, Bea Miles, this Australian Social Problem film neither does justice to other Australian films within the same genre, nor the big name stars it contains. Instead of bringing an emotionally compelling tale to life as other Australian films like Scott Hick's Shine, have managed to do so uniquely and successfully, Lilian's Story merely tries to get by on sole performances and a theme that is both overdone and poorly explored. Overall I rate this film as being about a four out of ten and feel that many of it's failures give us insight into some of the weaknesses which have led to the current position and value of Australian film in an international context.

Lilian's Story was released in Australia in 1996. The film was nominated for a Golden Frog Award, as well as an A.F.I for Best Original Music Score, and managed to win Best Supporting Actress at the AFI"S for Toni Collette's performance. Despite these achievements the film was not a huge Box Office hit. On it's opening weekend in Australia it made a mere $68,441 million Aus. Dollars. Its total box Office in Australia only $524,526 Aus. Dollars. It was also a relatively small earner internationally making $1,220 US gross across two theatres over three days. Though there were a few positive reviews of the film, most of the initial response from critics was negative. Critic's initial praise focused on the cast's performance and the cinematic elements in the film. One such critic was the Herald Sun's Margaret Pomeranz. In her review Pomeranz praised the casts performance and cinematography describing Lilian's story as 'an extraordinary film'. (Pomeranz, Margaret, 1996) A reviewer for the Sunday Telegraph also commented on the films "powerful" performances and cinematography and described Lilian's Story as "a film we have been waiting for… a fine achievement." (White, M, 1996) Despite such early praise most of the initial critical response to the film was negative as many felt that the film had fallen short of Glenvich's critically acclaimed novel which had been described as "Spellbinding" (She Magazine) and, "a dazzling fiction of universal appeal" (Patrick White) An early reviewer to criticise the film was James Berardinelli. Berardinelli criticized the film saying that unlike the acclaimed novel the cinematic production "lacks intensity". He likened Lilian's Story to other Australian films of the same genre such as Angel Baby and Shine but condemned it saying that "although it contains many of the same themes, idea and narrative points it isn't as well acted, well directed or well written." Overall Berardinelli describes Lilian's Story as an "occasionally moving tale" that lacked "the freshness and urgency" associated with successful Australian feature films of the same genre. (Berardinelli, J, 1996) A later critic to echo much of Berdinelli's criticism of the film was Jeremy Heilman. Heilman's more recent review basically rips the film apart describing both it's tone and subject matter as "mundane", and accusing the film of "consistently teasing us with the prospect of true aberrance, but routinely settling on a more obvious vision of the world. (Heilman, Jeremy, 2004) In his review Heilman criticised the lack of character development in the film but did describe Cracknell's performance as "a solid piece of work." He also commented saying, "character studies almost always benefit from an abundance of personal details, but Lilian's Story is one that hopes to coast by on stunt acting and good lighting."(Heilman, Jeremy, 2004) Ultimately Heilman's view was that the final product was a waste of allot of good Australian talent and not nearly as "original and eccentric as it desperately wanted to be". (Heilman, Jeremy, 2004) So although the film did receive some initial praise most of critics early and subsequent response reflected the shared feeling that the film had not done justice to the book.

Inspired by the life of famous Sydney vagrant Bea Miles, the films plot revolves around one woman's struggle to free herself from the past in order to find future happiness. Lilian's Story opens with an unseen woman eerily reciting a passage from Shakespeare's The Tempest in a dimly lit cafeteria. In the next scene we learn that the woman in question was merely a Shakespearian -obsessed psychiatric patient named Lilian, who is being released from an asylum after a forty-year stay. In the following scenes Lilian returns to the house inhabited by her brother and father who are both played by Barry Otto. Haunted by the past Lilian is unable to stay in the house and she turns to life on the street reciting Shakespeare to pay for her meagre existence. Through Flashbacks throughout the film we are given glimpses into scenes from the past, and slowly we learn that the reason behind Lilian's present state is the abuse she has suffered from her father in the past. Later in the film she meets up with an old friend who was once what Lilian describes as her "bow". Now a homeless drunk----- (played by John Flaus) he invites Lilian to stay with him, and the two are inseparable until his death. The film ends quite suddenly after Lilian decides to go on a journey. The final scene is of Lilian travelling towards an unknown destination in a taxi. As there is no shortage of films which deal with mentally ill people who are not accepted by the mainstream (Angel Baby, Tim, Cosi) Lilian's Story needed to stand out as unique in order for it's subject matter to have any profound dramatic impact on audiences. Instead with its mundane subject matter, the film seems to simply imitate other films of the same kind, as we hear Shakespearian line after line recited by Cracknell's unoriginal Shakespearian- obsessed psychotic character. Though Idziak's cinematography in the opening scene is strong, immediately grabbing viewer's attention and interest, the explanation that follows seems disappointing. Though insane people who recite Shakespeare are hardly commonplace in the real world, enough films exist that include them for me to describe Lilian's character as unoriginal. (The Fisher King, Cosi, Theatre of Blood) Despite the fact that I do believe the film's plot had potential, its maker's unoriginal treatment of the film's mundane subject matter and characters, made this Australian Social Problem film ultimately nothing special to watch.

Lilian's Storey's inability to stand out as a unique Australian Social Problem film led to it's failure to survive and succeed both in a national and international context. According to Marcia Landy the social problem film is a film that "combines social analysis and dramatic conflict within a coherent narrative structure. In the typical Social Problem film "social context is transformed into dramatic events and movie narrative adapted to accommodate social issues as story material through a particular set of movie conventions (Landy, Marcia, 1981:viii) Lilian's Story is a social problem film as like other films within the genre it deals with topical social issues such as family tension, rape, alcoholism and mental illness. Lilian's Story can also be distinguished as a social problem film rather than simply a personal story as the personal problem within the narrative turns social as institutions and people become involved. After the films protagonist Lilian is raped by her father she is institutionalised for forty years in a mental asylum. Rather than simply creating a film which documented the personal suffering of Lilian, director Jerzy Domaradzki uses an external point of view to tell Lilian's tale and in doing so positions us to examine the social problems at hand rather than simply the internal struggle of the character. I feel that this external point of view used to tell most of the story is one of the major failings of this Social Problem film. Rather than telling this story from Lilian's point of view we are presented with an outward perception of the characters life. Though as viewers we do see Lilian suffering throughout the film we are never really given enough internal insight into the character to become to emotionally attached or involved with her. Though half of the story is told through Lilian's flashbacks, in these we are still positioned to view the character and her suffering from an external rather than internal perception. Rather than feeling emotionally involved and attached to Ruth Cracknell's character in this film, as I did with Geoffrey Rushes David Healthcott in Shine, or the protagonist in Swimming Up Stream, by the end of this Social Problem film I couldn't really care less about Lilian or her story. This lack of internal insight into the character made this Social Problem film lack the intensity of other Australian films in the same genre. As there is no shortage of Australian Social Problem films which deal with mentally ill people who are not accepted by the mainstream, as I have already mentioned, (Angel Baby, Tim) Lilian's Story needed to stand out as unique Social Problem film in order for it to be successful in either a national or international context. Above all this Australian Social Problem Film lacks the originality and intensity needed to survive in a nationally or internationally competitive film market and thus doesn't do justice to other Australian films of the same kind.

Despite the weaknesses that I have mentioned Lilian's Story does contain positive aspects. The main highlights of the film are the performances by the films three leading actors: Ruth Cracknell, Toni Collette and Barry Otto. Cracknell plays an elderly Lilian, whilst Collette plays the character in her youth. Cracknell's casting is ideal as much of the actress's life work has been in Shakespearian theatre. Her theatrical experience contributes to many of her solo performances in which Lilian recites Shakespeare for passer-by's. Though these do become tedious by the end of the film, Cracknell's flare for Shakespearian prose is obvious and is one of the highlights of the film. Overall her portrayal of Lilian is strong and convincing, however, as the film is lacking in both good direction and a well-written screenplay, Cracknell's performance only manages to take this character so far. In this sense I would agree with Heilman that Lilian's story is in the end simply a waste of a lot of good Australian talent. Cracknell's performance is equally matched by that of Collette and Otto. Otto convincingly takes on the contrasting roles of Lilian's aggressive father and passive brother. Collette's re-enactment of the suffering felt by the character is powerful because of its rawness. As in much of Collette's work (Japanese Story) in Lilian's story it is the rawness of her portrayal of Lilian that makes the characters suffering seem so real and human. In the scene after Lilian is raped by her father the character goes into shock and carries out a series of self-mutilations. She slits her wrists with a broken bottle she finds on the beach, and cuts off her long hair whilst in a bath. In the scene that follows she walks in shock, naked, up to the front steps to confront her abuser. In my opinion only an actress like Collette could give these scenes and others like them the rawness and truthfulness needed to make the social problems at hand really hit home with audiences. Along with Cracknell's flare for Shakespearian Verse, I feel that Collette's portrayal of Lilian makes up the major highlights of the film, as during her performance was the only time in the film that I felt emotionally involved with the character.

Overall I feel that many of the failures of Lilian's Story give us insight into some of the weaknesses that have led to the current position and value of Australian film in an international context. In order to compete in an internationally competitive market Australian Filmmakers need to rely on more than just the "Australianness" of their films to survive. Though in order to survive they do need to create films that are in a sense different, their difference cant rely solely on their "Australianness". Instead they must use things such as twists in the generic basis of their plots in order to provide unique cinematic experiences for audiences. Other successful Australian films such as Angel Baby and Shine's ability to do this is what has set them apart from international films of the same genre. Ultimately I feel that it was Lilian's Story's inability to stand out as a unique Social Problem film that led to its failure to survive and succeed in an internationally competitive film market. The mundane subject matter of the plot, and it's makers poor exploration of a theme which is overdone within it's genre, makes this Australian Social Problem film disappointingly average, and ultimately nothing special to watch.

REFERENCES

Garry Gillard, Chapter 4, Social Problem Films, Ten Types of Australian Film (unpublished)
Steve Neale 2000, 'Social problem films', part of Chapter 3 of Genre and Hollywood, Routledge, London: 112-118. (See above for the link.)

Garry Gillard & Lois Achimovich, 'The representation of madness in some Australian films', Journal of Critical Psychology Counselling and Psychotherapy, 3, 1, Spring 2003: 9-19.

Garry Gillard, 'Teesh and Trude: everyday life as heroic', Metro, 134, 2002: 20-23.

Dave Palmer & Garry Gillard, 'Ambivalence, Aborigines and Australian cinema', Metro, 134, 2002: 128-134.

FILMOGRAPHY

Lilian's Story (Jerzy Domaradzki,1996)Shine (Scott Hicks,1996)

Swimming Upstream (Russell Mulcahy,2003)

Mallboy (Vincent Giarrusso, 2000)

Cosi (Murke Jofte, 1996)

The FJ Holden (Michael Thornhill, 1977)

Teesh and Trude (Melanie Rodriga, 2002)