6/1/10

Blessings

This beautifully directed Australian film perfectly captures the lives of six Melbourne teenagers and their personal dramas, then it switches to the lives of their mothers and their corresponding motivations. When we see one point of view, we naturally tend to "side" with that perspective. In the second half of this 2010 Seattle International Film Festival entry, when we see the rationale of the adults, our loyalties become a little fuzzy.

The teenagers include:
  • A pair of shoplifters
  • A runaway boy whose younger sister insists on following him
  • A would-be cat burglar
  • A boy raising money via the porn trade
The adults are:
  • A health-care worker
  • A compulsive gambler
  • A seamstress
  • A semi-dotty old woman
  • A former call girl
Most of the faces are new to me, other than English-born Frances O'Connor ("Iron-Jawed Angels" and "Timeline"), so this movie had a semi-documentary feel to it. In my opinion, director Ana Kokkinos did a flawless job.