LOVE SERENADE Movie Review

Into the strange and barren little town of Sunray, Australia ambles D.J. and self-appointed king of cool Ken Sherry (George Shevtsov)—fresh from Brisbane—to take over the town's airwaves (such as they are) and position himself as a heartthrob/dreamboat fantasy to the town's female population. Two of those females are sisters Vicki-Ann (Rebecca Frith) and Dimity (Miranda Otto), whose manipulation by—and, eventually, of—the sleazy, disingenuous and philandering lord of radio provides the driving force behind this demented and surrealistically hilarious debut film from writer-director Shirley Barret. Love Serenade's amiably slow, seemingly casual rhythm gradually draws us in to a wonderfully detailed, pitch-black comedy that—despite its small-town setting—feels epic in its perversely cynical kick. If the “surprise” ending is vaguely disappointing in its predictability—the only element in the picture that really feels like a gratuitous afterthought—it's only because what's gone before has been so starkly and refreshingly original. If Jim Jarmusch and Luis Buñuel had ever had a few drinks together and decided to make a movie in Australia, it might well have turned out something like the bizarre, suspenseful, quietly witty Love Serenade. Mandy Walker's widescreen, wide-open-spaces cinematography should be seen letterboxed for the maximum comic effect. And get your Barry White albums together—you'll be looking for them afterward.

NEXT STOP … Sweetie, Comfort and Joy, Muriel's Wedding

1996 (R) 101m/C AU Miranda Otto, Rebecca Frith, George Shevtsov, John Alansu, Jessica Napier; D: Shirley Barrett; W: Shirley Barrett; C: Mandy Walker. VHS, LV, Closed Caption TOU