One Perfect Day (2003)
Critical Film Review by Stephanie Kho.
Directed By Paul Currie
Written By Paul Currie and Chip Richards
Cast
Danny Spielman Tommy Matisse
Leeanna Walsman Alysse Green
Nathan Phillips Trig
Abbie Cornish Emma Matisse
Kerry Armstrong Carolyn
Andrew Howard Hector
Rory Williamson Noah
Syd Brisbane Hamish
Frank Gallacher Malcolm
Alex Menglet Bernard May
Dawn Klingberg Bag Lady
Dimity Shepherd Maria
Leigh Whannell Chris
Malcolm Robertson Beck
Josephine Eberhard Nurse
Roy Davies Sick Old Man
Anthony Littlechild Sick Boy
Nathan Wentworth Stevie
Mark Currie Junkie
Carly Schmidt Drug Rever Girl 1
Emily Milburn Drug Rever Girl 2
Robbie Vagana Head Doorman
Adam May 2, 2005 Drunk
Maria Nella DJ Kundalini
Produced By
Producers: Paul Currie
Phil Gregory
Charles Morton
Co-Producer: Jason Byrne
Executive Producers: Phil Gregory
Charles Morton
Executive Soundtrack Producers: Phil Gregory
Anton Monsted
Production Company: Lightstream Films
Distributor: Roadshow Film Distribution
The film was released in Australia cinemas on the 19th of February, 2004.
Tagline
“All you have to do is listen”
Soundtrack
Universal Music Australia released the One Perfect Day soundtrack album on the 15th of February 2004, debuting on number 46 on the Australian album charts in the week beginning 23rd of February 2004. The soundtrack’s selection is accompanied by a combination of score from Opera Australia’s David Hobson, Josh Abrahams and Lisa Gerrard. It also features a unique collection of exclusively commissioned, licensed and previously unreleased tracks from local and international artists. The title track sung by Lydia Denker debuted at number 35 on the Australian single charts.
Interview with the Director, Paul Currie,
found at http://www.onerperfectdaythefilm.com
Details of Reviews
“One Perfect Day” by Bruce Redman, ABC Brisbane website, found at http://www.abc.net.au/Tasmania/stories/s1047496.htm
“One Perfect Day”, by Jonathan Dawson, ABC Tasmania website, found at http://www.abc.net.au/Tasmania/stories/s1050324.htm
“One Perfect Day”, The Age Melbourne Movie Review, found at http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/02/18/1077072692317.html
“One Perfect Day: all you have to do is listen”, Metro Magazine, Winter 2004, found online at http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0PAM/is_139/ai_112861555
“Underneath the surface of One Perfect Day”, by Peter Mattessi, Metro Magazine,
Spring 2004, found online at http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0PAM/is_140/ai_n6112574
“Perfecting the mix: in One Perfect Day”, by Marta Jary, Metro Magazine, Spring 2004, found online at http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0PAM/is_140/ai_n6112580
“One Perfect Day”, Internet Movie Database Article, found at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0316353
“One Perfect Day”, by Ruth Williams, Cinefile website, found at http://www.cinephilia.net.au/show_name.php?movie_name=one+perfect+day&submit=Find+it%21
“One Perfect Day”, IFilm website, found at http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2535085?htv=12
“One Perfect Day”, by Clint Morris, MovieHole website, found at http://www.moviehole.net/reviews/1107.html
“One Perfect Day”, MovieWeb website, found at http://movieweb.com/movies/film.php?2310
“One Perfect Day”, by Matthew Toomey, The Film Pie, found at http://www.thefilmpie.com/reviews2004/zz-oneperfectday.html
“One Perfect Day”, The Z Review, found at http://www.thezreview.co.uk/comingsoon/o/oneperfectday.shtm
“One Perfect Day”, WebWombat, found at http://www.webwombat.com.au/entertainment/movies/one-perfect-day.htm
“One Perfect Day”, Wikipedia website, found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/one_perfect_day
Online Presence
After researching the Internet, I found that most of the information on the film consisted of reviews. A search on Google and Yahoo revealed that many sites were reviewing the film, for both its cinematic appearance and on DVD. Other articles found included reviews from television stations such as ABC Brisbane and ABC Tasmania, as well as newspaper website such as The Age and online magazine site such as the Metro Magazine. Other film websites such as the Internet Movie Database, Cinefile, IFilm, MovieHole, MovieWeb, The Film Pie and The Z Review had reviews and other information on their sites. In addition, miscellaneous websites such as WebWombat and Wikipedia consisted of personal public reviews on the film.
One Perfect Day also has its own official homepage, www.oneperfectdaythefilm.com. This website provides much information and interesting interactivity for its visitors. There are behind the scenes footage, engage in personal mix beats on the “One Perfect Day Mixer”, listen to tracks from the movie, download desktop pictures and register to score exclusive One Perfect Day updates and giveaway opportunities including premiere tickets and the One Perfect Day soundtrack.
History of Research
The first thing I did for this assignment was to watch the film. I then started to look it up on the Internet. I primarily used the Google and Yahoo search engine, using “One Perfect Day” and “Paul Currie” as my search terms. I also looked up in popular movie databases and websites, such as Internet Movie Database, Cinefile, IFilm, MovieHole, MovieWeb, The Film Pie and The Z Review. Other categories of websites I looked up on that provided film reviews were television station website such as ABC (Brisbane and Tasmania), newspaper website such as The Age (Melbourne) and online magazine website such as the Metro Magazine. One of the websites I made sure to search was SBS’s Movie Show website, which has archives of most film they have reviewed over the years. On a recent public rating list of 13 Australian movies on the 27th of April 2005, One Perfect Day was rated first on the list with a score of 97%, and the lowest (ranking 13th) with a score of 66%. The Internet was my only source of information during my research. Information from the Internet provided up-to-date information from all aspects, such as the production company and crew, as well as the interviewers, reviewers and public.
Synopsis
One Perfect Day is a story about love and “life’s secret symphony”, set in the party drug fueled, strobe lit, bass pumping rave party culture. It is a story that explores the quest for dreams in unlikely situations and celebrates the genius that lies deep within all of us.
Tommy Matisse is a Melbourne boy studying at the Royal Academy of Music in London. He is a pianist, violinist and composer who hears music in everything, especially in the unusual sources – the interpretation of a sweeping broom as a snare drum roll, the homeless old woman’s humming as crying out of her loneliness, pain and memory and the rhythm of the beating heart of his girlfriend, Alysse. “Tommy Time”, which was mentioned many times throughout the film, is about his ability to hear something special in everyday situations that most people take for granted. Tommy is a rebel against the traditions of classical music, bringing a homeless old woman living in the underground tunnel and men who live on the streets on stage for his concert. An appreciative professor decides that he is the type of innovative artist needed to revive the dying opera music confines.
As his younger sister Emma attempts to reach out to him for solace and understanding, Alysse quietly dreams of the day they will be together again, searching for the inspiration to write lyrics for their song – a simple melody Tommy has written for her. Disaster strikes when Emma experiments with drugs while out partying with Alysse, and suffers a fatal overdose. Alysse, overwhelmed with guilt by the tragedy, attempts to unburden her secret to Tommy on his return. But when the truth is uncovered, Tommy’s grief takes control, and his pain and anger tears them apart.
The two soul mates embark on solitary journeys. Tommy, attempting to seek out the memory of his sister, uncovers a whole new world deep within the depths of Melbourne night life. His experience becomes one of self-discovery. Using his sample sounds and classical background, he begins to fuse his music with electronic beats, finally finding his place amongst the culture and sound of his own generation. He pulls himself from his studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London into Melbourne’s dance world, a place where he can be himself.
Alysse’s path becomes a spiral of self-destruction, with her grief over Emma’s death and her broken relationship with Tommy leaving her searching for something to ease her pain. Finding comfort in drugs, Alysse falls under their sway, and into the arms of Hector Lee, a manipulative music producer, promoter and owner of famed underground nightclub Trance-Zen-Dance. Recognising her talent, Hector plays on Alysse’s vulnerability and seduces her into his dangerous world. Hector’s assistant, Trig, who always carries a video camera, also has a crush on Alysse.
When Alysse hears Tommy DJ-ing in outdoor party, their paths intersect and the two are reunited at last. However, when Alysse tries to leave Hector, his jealousy drives him over the edge. As Hector lashes out to destroy them, the two soul mates fight for their love and the fate of their song, leaving Tommy with the ultimate chance to speak the truth through music.
Critical Uptake
Australian films have in the past has a reputation because they have been innovative and unique. However, the Australian film industry in the past few years has been in the doldrums as they are said to be cheap and nasty Hollywood clones. One Perfect Day is said to be the most passionately crafted and refreshing Australian film in the past years that has done well and potentially pulled out of the doldrums. It groves to a dynamic and passionate electric beat while speaking down to the niche youth audience it is targeted at.
The opinion of this film seems to be somewhat divided between appreciating it as a cautionary television advertisement from an anti drug body and a morally threatening film as it encompasses the most exhilarating club sequences ever seen in an Australian film. Most people in society know about drugs, have interacted with them and/or know someone who has. This is a very sophisticated anti-drug film, one that aims not to preach to its audience but instead empower youth to consciously recognize the impact of their choices. Though the film displays great insight into what the youngsters are really up to and effectively portrays the intoxicating blend of party drugs and the DJs “thang”, it has to withstand the marginalization of the press because of the perceived scourge of “party drugs”, despite the fact that these enormous events go off with little or no violence or injury. The “clubbers” in the film look realistically “high”, adding to the discussion of whether they are real or unreal.
My Opinion
Technically, Paul Currie often relies on cinematic signifiers of an emotional highpoint – escalating music, an ecstatic crowd, the sun rising over the dust – rather than creating the emotional build-up which allows the characters and audiences to reach a genuine turning point. It does not help much that much dance party music has the same techno beat and a limited repertoire of technical bells and whistles, because subtlety is not needed at a dance party. Take away the lights and music and it all seems a little hollow.
There was little introduction to all the characters and I was un-emotive towards their plight and eventual destiny. Tommy’s motivations were never completely understood: Is he trying to find out what happened to his sister, understand her world, trying to win back his girlfriend, become a great DJ, create a modern opera, or all of them? It is never really made clear thus the film’s climax is a confusing one. The female characters, Emma and Alysse, seem to die as an awful warning from the anti drug body message and I find that Tommy is greatly lacking in emotion after losing the two people whom he loved the most. Also, the character of Hector displays absurd stereotypes. There was a great lack of opportunities to see how Hector really feels about Alysse. He thinks that she has a great voice and is in love with her, but murder? Hector is certainly a bad and jealous guy, but cold blooded killing seems to be way out of the league, and thus illogical.
Circumstances of Production
After training actors and directing theatre for many years, Paul Currie produced his first feature film, Under the Gun. Paul Currie then briefly departed from the film industry and co-founded the highly successful Victorian based youth charity organization, Reach Youth. Involving group interaction and using creative expression and sensory based technology to make a positive impact, Reach has assisted over 130,000 young people in a variety of experiential activities, including school programs, workshops, weekend discovery camps and major events. It was Paul’s experiences with Reach Youth, and his understanding of the battles and triumphs of young people that inspired the vision for his debut feature film.
Using the character of Tommy as a reflection of teenagers everywhere, One Perfect Day champions the idealist, and illustrates that maintaining the strength to stand by your dreams is the most powerful and positive way to live.
Prior subsequent work of director/actors
After training actors and directing theatre for many years, Paul Currie produced his first feature film, Under the Gun. His work ranges from commercial and film directing to massive scale live events. Most recently, Paul directed the critically acclaimed documentary, Lionheart – The Jesse Martin Story. In One Perfect Day, Paul became the first Australian to experiment with a fully digitized print of the film, allowing for a wide range of choices in color grading and effects. He added atmosphere to the film by choosing different palettes to represent different locations and mindsets. This attention to detail is also obvious in the sound design and soundtrack.
Dan Spielman is popularly known for his role as “Electron” in Hackers. His pioneer appearance was in 1997 where he played “Mark Mulholland” in the television series Raw FM. He was then involved in a yearly production of movies such as Blabbermouth & Stickybeat, The Date, the television mini series Queen Kat Caramel & St Jude, The Pitch and television series The Secret Live of Us. He also made a couple notable television guest appearances in Wildside and Farscape.
Leeanna Walsman has appeared in numerous movies, television shows and theatre since 1996. She is perhaps most well known for her role as “Zam Wessell” in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones.
Film in relation to Australian cinema
One Perfect Day is classified as a drama. However, I would see it as a combination of musical, teenpic and social genres. Obvious contents of the music make up the component of musical genre for this film. Music is used in this film as a medium to express beyond the capability of words, capture the essence of love and loss, inspire hope and idealism and provide a gospel for a new generation. Music is truly a universal language, and dance music is a movement that spans the globe, reflecting contemporary culture. There is barely a moment when a floor-shaking techno track is not playing or a scene set in the confines of a disco or record store. This film is all music with a stunning soundtrack. This film uses music seldom heard before, a hybrid of opera fused with electronic sampling.
Filmography
One Perfect Day (Paul Currie, 2004)
Under the Gun (Matthew George, 1995)
Raw FM (Susan MacGillicuddy, 1997)
Blabbermouth & Stickybeak (Julian Kemp, 1998)
The Date (1999)
Queen Kat, Caramel & St Jude (1999)
The Pitch (2001)
The Secret Live of Us (2001)
Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (George Lucas, 2002)