JUDY & PUNCH
***
Director: Mirrah Foulkes
Screenwriter: Mirrah Foulkes
Principal cast:
Mia Wasikowska
Damon Herriman
Benedict Hardie
Jacek Koman
Eddie Baroo
Virginia Gay
Country: Australia
Classification: MA15+
Runtime: 106 mins.
Australian release date: 21 November 2019
Previewed at: Palace Central, Sydney, on 30 July 2019.
The Australian actress Mirrah Foulkes is best known, up until now, for her work in front of the camera in television series like Top of the Lake, Harrow and Mr Inbetween, but that maybe about to change with the release of her first feature as writer and director. Judy & Punch is an unusual choice for a debuting filmmaker but her unique film will certainly make Foulkes a name to remember. It’s possibly the strangest movie you’ll see all year, a bizarre reworking of the classic British puppet show, Punch and Judy, which in turn emerged from the 16th-century Italian commedia dell'arte figure Pulcinella. In the English derivation, Pulcinella became Mr. Punch, a thoroughly nasty character, and the puppeteer’s act usually saw him beating his wife Judy and their baby. In Foulkes’ film the tables are turned, although not before the long-suffering Mrs. Punch and her child suffer most grievously.
In the 1770s in the town of Seaside (which is nowhere near the sea), a couple of puppeteers, ‘Professor’ Punch (Damon Herriman) and his wife Judy (Mia Wasikowska), are presenting their marionette play. Although the show is popular, thanks largely to Judy’s skill, they are constantly teetering on the brink of ruin because of Punch’s love of booze and his wandering eye. A terrific opening informs the audience of all this with a theatrical flourish and immediately lets you know that you’re in for something different and unusual. With a baby to raise, Judy puts up with Punch’s alcoholism stoically (plus, he’s always promising to reform) but a tragic event and its immediate aftermath set her on a very different path, and she becomes a woman possessed, consumed by the desire for justice. She is taken in by a group of outcasts and misfits who live communally in a forest outside of town; it’s a feral existence but one that provides her with a refuge where she can plan her revenge.
Judy & Punch looks incredible. Its 18th century European locations were almost entirely created in the environs of Melbourne, at the artists’ colony Montsalvat in Eltham and in Olinda, but you wouldn’t know it. There’s not a gum tree in sight. It’s a credit to Production Designer Jo Ford and her team, plus the talents of Art Director Adele Flere and Costume Designer Edie Kurzer. They’ve successfully created a strange world that, despite its period setting, seems to occupy its own dimension in space and time. The language of Foulkes’ screenplay adds to this sense of otherworldliness, too. Herriman and Wasikowska are exemplary in their portrayals of a couple who are the polar opposites of each other, she initially all sweetness and light before her transformation, and he a weak, violent man who still manages to come across as likable on occasion. These two fine actors bring out the contradictions in their characters with great skill. They are supported by a large cast of supporting roles, many of whom are familiar to fans of Australian films. People like Terry Norris, Gillian Jones, Tom Budge, Benedict Hardie and Virginia Gay have small but important parts to play and help to bring Seaside and the forest-dwelling community to life. Finally, a fascinating score from François Tétaz provides a satisfying backdrop to the action.
There’s fun to be had in Foulkes black comedy, and it keeps you on your toes as you swing from laughter to shock as the film switches between humour and violence. Judy & Punch ultimately goes out with more of a whimper than a bang, however, despite its strangeness. It’s as though Foulkes ran out of ideas in the home stretch and we are left hanging in the wind, or, put another way, her odd kettle of fish ran out of steam.
Screenwriter: Mirrah Foulkes
Principal cast:
Mia Wasikowska
Damon Herriman
Benedict Hardie
Jacek Koman
Eddie Baroo
Virginia Gay
Country: Australia
Classification: MA15+
Runtime: 106 mins.
Australian release date: 21 November 2019
Previewed at: Palace Central, Sydney, on 30 July 2019.
The Australian actress Mirrah Foulkes is best known, up until now, for her work in front of the camera in television series like Top of the Lake, Harrow and Mr Inbetween, but that maybe about to change with the release of her first feature as writer and director. Judy & Punch is an unusual choice for a debuting filmmaker but her unique film will certainly make Foulkes a name to remember. It’s possibly the strangest movie you’ll see all year, a bizarre reworking of the classic British puppet show, Punch and Judy, which in turn emerged from the 16th-century Italian commedia dell'arte figure Pulcinella. In the English derivation, Pulcinella became Mr. Punch, a thoroughly nasty character, and the puppeteer’s act usually saw him beating his wife Judy and their baby. In Foulkes’ film the tables are turned, although not before the long-suffering Mrs. Punch and her child suffer most grievously.
In the 1770s in the town of Seaside (which is nowhere near the sea), a couple of puppeteers, ‘Professor’ Punch (Damon Herriman) and his wife Judy (Mia Wasikowska), are presenting their marionette play. Although the show is popular, thanks largely to Judy’s skill, they are constantly teetering on the brink of ruin because of Punch’s love of booze and his wandering eye. A terrific opening informs the audience of all this with a theatrical flourish and immediately lets you know that you’re in for something different and unusual. With a baby to raise, Judy puts up with Punch’s alcoholism stoically (plus, he’s always promising to reform) but a tragic event and its immediate aftermath set her on a very different path, and she becomes a woman possessed, consumed by the desire for justice. She is taken in by a group of outcasts and misfits who live communally in a forest outside of town; it’s a feral existence but one that provides her with a refuge where she can plan her revenge.
Judy & Punch looks incredible. Its 18th century European locations were almost entirely created in the environs of Melbourne, at the artists’ colony Montsalvat in Eltham and in Olinda, but you wouldn’t know it. There’s not a gum tree in sight. It’s a credit to Production Designer Jo Ford and her team, plus the talents of Art Director Adele Flere and Costume Designer Edie Kurzer. They’ve successfully created a strange world that, despite its period setting, seems to occupy its own dimension in space and time. The language of Foulkes’ screenplay adds to this sense of otherworldliness, too. Herriman and Wasikowska are exemplary in their portrayals of a couple who are the polar opposites of each other, she initially all sweetness and light before her transformation, and he a weak, violent man who still manages to come across as likable on occasion. These two fine actors bring out the contradictions in their characters with great skill. They are supported by a large cast of supporting roles, many of whom are familiar to fans of Australian films. People like Terry Norris, Gillian Jones, Tom Budge, Benedict Hardie and Virginia Gay have small but important parts to play and help to bring Seaside and the forest-dwelling community to life. Finally, a fascinating score from François Tétaz provides a satisfying backdrop to the action.
There’s fun to be had in Foulkes black comedy, and it keeps you on your toes as you swing from laughter to shock as the film switches between humour and violence. Judy & Punch ultimately goes out with more of a whimper than a bang, however, despite its strangeness. It’s as though Foulkes ran out of ideas in the home stretch and we are left hanging in the wind, or, put another way, her odd kettle of fish ran out of steam.