TRUE THINGS
****
Director: Harry Wootliff
Screenplay: Harry Wootliff and Molly Davies, based on the novel True Things About Me by Deborah Kay Davies.
Principal cast:
Ruth Wilson
Tom Burke
Hayley Squires
Elizabeth Rider
Frank McCusker
Ann Firbank
Country: UK
Classification MA15+:
Runtime: 102 mins.
Australian release date: 1 September 2022.
Love is in the air! True Things is the second film to be released in Australia this week that examines love and desire through a female gaze, the other being Claire Denis’ Both Sides of the Blade. Directed and co-written by English filmmaker Harry Wootliff, whose sole previous feature is 2018’s Only You, True Things is a tale of what the French would call l’amour fou because it shows us what happens when a woman becomes infatuated with a man who treats her badly, and the worse he treats her the more she becomes besotted with him. It is adapted from a 2010 novel by Welsh author Deborah Kay Davies and it appealed to Wootliff as soon as she learnt of the project. She says, “My take on the source - what really spoke to me in the book - was the obsessiveness: that feeling of being consumed by infatuation. Your whole life rests on it, you get sucked into it - it’s Shakespearean in a way, it’s like somebody sprinkles magic dust on you and you see the donkey as this amazing perfect man!”
The “amazing perfect man” in this case is portrayed by Tom Burke, who’s making a habit of this kind of ‘bad boy’ role; he played a somewhat similar part in Joanna Hogg’s Souvenir, albeit without the rough edges of his character here. Kate (Ruth Wilson) meets ‘Blond’ (Burke) when he comes to her government office in Ramsgate, Kent, seeking unemployment benefits. She is in her early thirties, hates her bureaucratic desk-job and pays it scant attention but she’s flattered when he flirts with her, so when she finds him waiting for her at the end of the day she is immediately smitten. Blowing off her best friend Alison (Hayley Squires), Kate takes off with ‘Blond’ into a world of sexual intoxication. It’s like Juliette Binoche’s Sara says in Both Sides of the Blade, “Here we go again… the love, the fear, sleepless nights, feeling aroused,” but neither Kate nor Sara are victims – they enter this heady realm of toxic obsession with their eyes wide open, knowing what they’re in for and recognising that it’s probably not going to end well. With Kate, there’s also the desire to go against her parents and friends’ expectations; she’s not interested in a life in the ‘burbs with a clutch of kids around her feet. She’s looking to find out who she truly is and if this charismatic, cruel man can help her reach that goal, so be it. Whatever it takes, seems to be her motto.
What could have easily become banal has been transformed in the hands of this talented team of actors and behind-the-scenes practitioners. Wilson (who’s also one of the producers of True Things; Jude Law is another one) makes Kate, who’s not entirely likeable, completely relatable – you fully understand her aimlessness and why she behaves as she does, even while not condoning her actions. Burke’s character isn’t exactly likeable, either, but the actor does an excellent job of making us see what makes him attractive to Kate. He represents everything in life she’s been told to avoid. Wootliff’s direction is exemplary (she’s definitely a director to watch) and the largely hand-held camera-work of Ashley Connor adds intimacy to the mise-en-scène. Alex Baranowski has composed a wonderful score to accompany the action.
According to Wootliff, Kate’s story is one that many women will recognise, opining that it “is a cautionary tale of a destructive sexual relationship that is both complex and ordinary - a relationship so familiar to us that it’s almost a rite of passage.” True Things is also a story about people learning from negative experiences and how a woman finds herself through loss.
Screenplay: Harry Wootliff and Molly Davies, based on the novel True Things About Me by Deborah Kay Davies.
Principal cast:
Ruth Wilson
Tom Burke
Hayley Squires
Elizabeth Rider
Frank McCusker
Ann Firbank
Country: UK
Classification MA15+:
Runtime: 102 mins.
Australian release date: 1 September 2022.
Love is in the air! True Things is the second film to be released in Australia this week that examines love and desire through a female gaze, the other being Claire Denis’ Both Sides of the Blade. Directed and co-written by English filmmaker Harry Wootliff, whose sole previous feature is 2018’s Only You, True Things is a tale of what the French would call l’amour fou because it shows us what happens when a woman becomes infatuated with a man who treats her badly, and the worse he treats her the more she becomes besotted with him. It is adapted from a 2010 novel by Welsh author Deborah Kay Davies and it appealed to Wootliff as soon as she learnt of the project. She says, “My take on the source - what really spoke to me in the book - was the obsessiveness: that feeling of being consumed by infatuation. Your whole life rests on it, you get sucked into it - it’s Shakespearean in a way, it’s like somebody sprinkles magic dust on you and you see the donkey as this amazing perfect man!”
The “amazing perfect man” in this case is portrayed by Tom Burke, who’s making a habit of this kind of ‘bad boy’ role; he played a somewhat similar part in Joanna Hogg’s Souvenir, albeit without the rough edges of his character here. Kate (Ruth Wilson) meets ‘Blond’ (Burke) when he comes to her government office in Ramsgate, Kent, seeking unemployment benefits. She is in her early thirties, hates her bureaucratic desk-job and pays it scant attention but she’s flattered when he flirts with her, so when she finds him waiting for her at the end of the day she is immediately smitten. Blowing off her best friend Alison (Hayley Squires), Kate takes off with ‘Blond’ into a world of sexual intoxication. It’s like Juliette Binoche’s Sara says in Both Sides of the Blade, “Here we go again… the love, the fear, sleepless nights, feeling aroused,” but neither Kate nor Sara are victims – they enter this heady realm of toxic obsession with their eyes wide open, knowing what they’re in for and recognising that it’s probably not going to end well. With Kate, there’s also the desire to go against her parents and friends’ expectations; she’s not interested in a life in the ‘burbs with a clutch of kids around her feet. She’s looking to find out who she truly is and if this charismatic, cruel man can help her reach that goal, so be it. Whatever it takes, seems to be her motto.
What could have easily become banal has been transformed in the hands of this talented team of actors and behind-the-scenes practitioners. Wilson (who’s also one of the producers of True Things; Jude Law is another one) makes Kate, who’s not entirely likeable, completely relatable – you fully understand her aimlessness and why she behaves as she does, even while not condoning her actions. Burke’s character isn’t exactly likeable, either, but the actor does an excellent job of making us see what makes him attractive to Kate. He represents everything in life she’s been told to avoid. Wootliff’s direction is exemplary (she’s definitely a director to watch) and the largely hand-held camera-work of Ashley Connor adds intimacy to the mise-en-scène. Alex Baranowski has composed a wonderful score to accompany the action.
According to Wootliff, Kate’s story is one that many women will recognise, opining that it “is a cautionary tale of a destructive sexual relationship that is both complex and ordinary - a relationship so familiar to us that it’s almost a rite of passage.” True Things is also a story about people learning from negative experiences and how a woman finds herself through loss.