The Delinquents
Production Credits:
Director - Chris Thompson
Screen Writer - Clay Frohman
Mac Gudgeon
Cinematography - Andrew Lesnie
Editor - John Scott
Music - Miles Goodman
Producer - Alex Cutler
Michael Wilcox
Production Design - Laurence Eastwood
Art Direction - Rob Robinson
Costume Design - Bruce Finlayson
Production Management Rosslyn Abernethy
Cast:
Kylie Minogue Lola Lovell
Charlie Schlatter Brownie Hansen
Bruno Lawrence Bosun
Todd Boyce Lyle
Desiree Smith Mavis
Angela Punch McGregor Mrs Lovell
Melissa Jaffer Aunt Westbury
Lynette Curran Mrs Hansen
Lyn Tredgold Prison Matron
Duncan Wass Bert
Plot Synopsis:
The Delinquents is a romantic drama set in Bundaberg 1957. It tells the story of teenage love between Lola Lovell and Brownie Hansen. The main characters are caught in a Romeo and Juliet situation where their love defies the wishes of their parents. The love affair progresses quickly and soon fifteen-year-old Lola finds she is pregnant. The young couple decide to leave their small town and try to make it in the city away from the pressures of their families. It does not take long before Lola's over bearing mother finds the pair and whisks Lola off for an abortion. The separation does nothing to dissolve their love; in fact it makes it stronger. The pair breaks all the rules in the name of reuniting. They are branded as rebels and troublemakers defying the law to stay together. The tag line for this film is 'NO person, NO law and NO institution will ever keep them apart. To Lola and Brownie the first love is the ONLY love'.
Main Actors:
Kylie Minogue was born in Melbourne in 1968. She began her acting career on the popular Australian T.V series Neighbours in 1985. She was also well known for her regular appearance on the musical program Young Talent Time. The Delinquents was her first feature film role. She has since gone on to work on other films such as Street Fighter in 1994. Most recently was her role as the Green Fairy in Moulin Rouge in 2001. Kylie is most well as an accomplished singer who has maintained a presence in the Australian and U.K pop charts spanning three decades.
Charlie Schlatter was born in New Jersey, USA in 1966. His film career began in the late 80's and continues until now. He has done a lot of voice over work for some low budget American films. Charlie is well known for his role in Heartbreak Hotel where he played Johnny Woolfe in 1988. In 1990 he worked on a sitcom remake of the popular movie Ferris Bueller where he played the lead actor.
Director:
Chris Thompson was born in 1945 in New Zealand. His career began in the early 80's writing for a variety of T.V series. In 1981 he wrote for the popular series A Country Practice and then in 1986 he worked on the Flying Doctors. The Delinquents was his third feature film. Prior to this he directed The Empty Beach in 1985 and then The Perfectionist in 1987.
Screen Writers:
The Delinquents is the only screenplay that Clayton Frohman has written to date.
Mac Gudgeon was born in 1949 in Wollongong NSW. The first film he wrote was in 1987 called Ground Zero. The Delinquents was his second feature film. He has since gone on to write for T.V shows and a number of mini series. His most recent work is on the show Halifax f.p in 2001.
Specifications:
Rating - M
Classification - Drama/Romance
Running Time - 101 minutes
Country - Australia
Distributor - Roadshow
Release Dates:
Australia - 1989
Finland - 1 June 1990
Sweden - 1 June 1990
Netherlands - 8 June 1990
Box Office Figures:
Australia Gross - $8,591,568 (AUD)
England Gross- 3507,769 pounds
Film Databases:
International Movie Database
www.imdb.com/title/tt0050302/-41k
The Movie Tome
www.movietome.com/movietome/servlet/MovieMain/movieid-43925/The_Delinquents/-12k
Box office statistics
www.afc.gov.au/gtp/mrboxuk.html
Movie Reviews
www.timeout.com/film/65243.html-30k
www.rottentomatoes.com/m/delinquents/-41k
www.moviehole.net/reviews/1485.html-18k
www.hollywood.com/movies/detail/movie/176659-37k
www.webwombat.com.au/entertainment/dvds/delinquents.html-46k
Merchandise:
www.sanitiy.com.au/product.asp?intProductID=603110&intArtistID=201115-24k-22Apr2005-04-25
www.nndb.com/films/643/000084391/-5k
www.michaeldvd.com.au/Discs/Disc.asp?ID=16266-11k
Readings:
Mary Ann Doane, 1987, 'Remembering women: physical and historical constructions in film theory', Continuum, 1,2:3-14.
Sandra Hall, 1992, 'Australian Film Index: a guide to Australian Feature Films since 1900', Port Melbourne: DW Thorpe.
Steve Neale, 2000, 'Genre and Hollywood', Routledge, London & New York.
Gillian Swanson, 1991, 'Building the feminine: feminist film theory and female spectatorship', Continuum: The Australian Journal of Media & Culture, 4,2 ed. John Hartley, Television.
Linda Williams, 1992, 'When the woman looks', from Mary Ann Doane, Patricia Mellencamp & Linda Williams eds. Re-vision: Essays in feminist Film Criticism, University Publications of America, & the American Film Institute, Frederick, Md. 791.435R454.
Online Presence:
I was surprised to find so much information on the web on this film as it is getting old now. With the release of the DVD though there are quite a lot of reviews available. The IMDb website was really helpful because it had so much background information about all the actors and crew. I found it impossible though to find the actual date that the film was released; on all the websites I found the dates of release for other countries but not the exact date for the Australian release. There are plenty of conflicting reviews on this film available, which were very interesting.
Researched Readings:
I looked at the readings relating to women and the construction of femininity. I found these interesting in relation to the character Lola. I researched this area because I found the character Lola was very different to the typical 1950's woman. These readings were very helpful in understanding the character and recognising her uniqueness.
DVD Extras:
The Delinquents has just been released on DVD and includes interviews with the director and the lead actors. This information was helpful because it gave me an insight into where the movie was intended to go. It was also interesting to hear what the director had aimed to portray to the audience.
I chose to do this film because I loved it as a child. Perhaps I was going through a Kylie Minogue faze at the time but it was one of my favourite films. When I watched it again for this assignment it no longer had the same appeal that it did when I was younger. Obviously I have become far more critical of films because I found myself disappointed in places. However I do still think that the story is strong but I think that it could have been better.
Critical Review:
The Delinquents is a dramatic romance that was considerably popular when it was released in 1989. The film tells the story of two teenagers growing up in the small town of Bundaberg. They quickly meet and fall into a very passionate and intimate relationship. The character Brownie is a boy who comes from a shady background. He has an absent father and a mother who has a relationship with an abusive man. Brownie works hard at his job delivering mail but comes under constant physical abuse from the overbearing father figure. Lola is a young naive girl who has grown up without a father with a mother who plays the piano in the local pubs. As neither has an exemplary family background they soon fall into a romance with fantasies of being together forever. They soon find out that they are pregnant and decide to head to the city to escape Bundaberg and their disapproving parents.
The Romeo and Juliet style romance develops as the authorities and parents believe that they are too young to be out in the world alone. Lola's mother finds her and drags her away for a quick abortion ignoring the protests of her daughter. Lola runs away and for the rest of the movie the couple are trying to unite only to be separated time and again. After many trials and tribulations the couple marry and live their dream of happily ever after.
Part of the films acclaim was due to the lead actress Kylie Minogue's already established career on Australian television. She was an established figure in the Australian soapie Neighbours and was actively pursuing a musical career. Her attractive leading man was new to Australian screens but quickly became a 'heart throb' to the younger viewers. This movie captures a varied audience because it was not only aimed at teenagers who were dealing with the tribulations of love but it also had a sense of nostalgia for its older audiences.
This film is undeniably a romance because we see these star crossed lovers being together and then being torn apart over and over again. Even though they are separated by time and distance they remain committed to one another. The obstacles that they face also slot this film into the drama genre because the authorities or their parents thwart every attempt that these two make for reconciliation. The film shifts back to romance when in the end nothing can separate them and they marry. They are triumphant over adversity and show everyone who doubted them they knew better all along.
I felt that the film was quite basic in its character development. The romance begins and these two kids from a country town in the 1950's fall into bed without a second thought. I found their lack of comprehension of societal norms of this period somewhat unconvincing. Even the mother's reaction to the pregnancy was flawed. She reacted by insisting on an abortion, however she didn't get angry and she didn't reiterate the fact that such an occurrence had the potential to ostracise the family from the rest of the community. Kylie Minogue was irritatingly naive with her grand plans of going out into the world at fifteen and pregnant. She has a girlish giggle that is over the top and almost unbearable after twenty minutes into the film.
Kylie Minogue's character Lola was the most interesting and conflicting of the film. As I mentioned earlier she does not appear to be a product of her generation. For a fifteen-year-old girl she is extraordinarily in touch with her own sense of desire. This film can be classified in some ways as being a women's film because it deals with love and pregnancy and the challenges of being a woman in a particular society. However In many women's film the notion of desire usually extends from the male perspective as the woman is seduced but this is not the case here. In the first sexual encounter with Brownie it is Lola who goes to him, closes the door and gets into his bed. The audience is given the impression that she knows what she is doing and acting from a place that is entirely her own decision. She has a sense of surety about what she wants and acts without hesitation that is not common for a 1950's film portraying a female seductress. Lola is definitely a different type of woman in this film and thus this is why she is type cast as a delinquent and an outcast.
It seems that Lola is the one who is continually punished for the crime of wanting to be with her teenage lover. She is first sent to stay with Aunty Westbury where she is encourage to act, dress and become more like the conservative ideals of a lady. The Aunty is confronted by Lola's provocative talk about her relationship with Brownie. She tells her how much she enjoys sex and goes into further details in an effort to antagonise the prudish woman. She soon escapes the confines of the Aunty only to be sent to serve a sentence in a correctional home for wayward girls. It is interesting that Lola receives a sentence and Brownie is given a fine.
Though The Delinquents is typically a dramatic romance it is also a cross pollination of a social problems film and a teen pic. It deals with social issues of juvenile delinquency, family tension and social issues. It ties in with Steve Neale's notion of the "conflict being structured around two opposing poles definitively representing good and evil, with a readily identifiable hero and villain" (Neale, 2000, p.114). The characters Lola and Brownie are presented at the good end of the spectrum by being portrayed as having a love that will conquer all adversity and in the end this is the case. Eventually they are united supposedly forever in marriage proving that they were right all along. Society and mainly their parents are the bad guys because they did not believe that these young people knew their own minds. Societal views are being challenged here.
The story questions the conservative values of the 1950's. It suggests that if people are given the freedom to make their own choices then a happy outcome is to be ensured. Like most social problem films though it seems that "the problems they deal with are not resolved, and which often replace the possible resolution of social problems with the actual resolution of personal ones" (Neale, 2000, p. 116). Though I am not suggesting that director Chris Thompson was aiming to change the world with this film I feel that he has highlighted a social problem and glossed over the real politics that lie beneath.
Another undeniable fact of this film is that it is definitely another teen pic. It looks into the lives of two teenagers as they hang in limbo between childhood and adulthood. The characters are adamant about leading an adult life together and their ups and downs are a direct consequence of this. The obstacles they incur directly relate to "issues of autonomy, identity, allegiance and difference in the context of the teenage peer group and on the one hand and adult society on the other" (Neale, 2000, p.123). I am suggesting that this film was not made to show how much trouble a pair of naive teenager can get themselves into I think that it draws "much more on an image of counter-cultural rebellion than on an image of irresponsible juvenile delinquency" (Neale, 2000, p.123).
It is interesting to note the directors intentions for this film that were included on the DVD recorded in 1989. His objective with the two lead characters was to show that "their love is about the only thing they have to hold onto in their struggles against the society they are living in". I think that this aim is somewhat simplistic and that shows in the reaction to the film. It seems as though the idea that love will conquer all is fine but there needed to be more substance. He also said, "I hope people come away feeling delighted and perhaps also a little thoughtful to the responsibility we all have to young people". The story line and the characters are not really strong enough to carry a weighty social message that will make the audience sit back and take a long hard look at themselves.
For a film that was set in the 1950's its setting and lighting is adequate. In the beginning the film begins in country Bundaberg with spatial fields and clear blue skies. The cityscape by comparison is dark, glum, busy and seedy. The weather always appears cloudy and rainy. Lola's has an apartment in the city that is small and dimly lit. Brownie lives on the ship he works on which is cramped and appears quite dank.
The music is possibly the best part of the film. The 1950's are known for their embracement of rock n roll and this sort of music seems to accompany the couple whenever they are happy and enjoying one another. Early in the film Lola is learning classical pieces on the piano and she is chastised for attempting anything more up beat. Later in the film Lola and Brownie are dressed in full rockabilly style. They enjoy dancing and the rock n roll scene that has hit the city.
This film has attracted varied reviews, the main criticism being handed to Kylie's acting ability. Chris Morris reviewed the film saying it was a "reasonably well-written teenage drama only slightly impaired by the fact that its lead was as good an actress as she was a carpenter". This review appears quite balanced in comparison to the review that Time Out gave saying "the acting is universally atrocious, the direction flat and tedious, and the script, which cuts through every cliché in the book". This web site has a message board that asks for viewer's feedback on the film, to which one viewer added, "I want those 101 minutes of my life back". The majority of the reviews that have bagged the film are recent ones in relation to the film just being released on DVD. It seems that the film is not penetrating its contemporary audience. I could suggest that this is because the story is basic and the characters are lacking in depth. The acting comes across as a T.V soap opera rather than a feature film.
This film was set in 1957 and society had a whole different set of values than it did when the film was released in1989. But times have changed from 1989 to where we are today in 2005. Initially this film was enjoyed in 1989 with its popular leading actress and great soundtrack. But now the persuasion of Kylie has worn a little and Australian cinema has come a long way. Audiences expect that each moment should add to the overall theme of the story. I think that they are no longer willing to forgive the flawed acting and flat story lines because we have come to expect so much more from Aussie films. In an interview with Kylie in 1989 she stated that "people still relate to it now days even though it was set in the 50's because lets face it all kids argue with their parents and they dream of running away from home and falling in love, it’s a very symbolic movie". Part of the attraction to this film when it was released was that these kids are so young and thus why it is titled the delinquents. Now days though society has changed and two fifteen-year-old kids professing their undying love is not all that shocking anymore.
References:
www.movietome.com/movietome/servlet/MovieMain/movieid-43925/The_Delinquents/-12k
Steve Neale, 2000, 'Genre and Hollywood', Routledge, London & New York.
Chris Thompson, 1989 (2005), 'The Delinquents', DVD, 1989 interviews.
www.timeout.com/film/65243.html-30k