michael65 writes:

Sandra Sciberras’s The Caterpillar Wish is an emotional drama set in an Australian coastal town preoccupied with secrets, lies, infidelity, cameras, topless barmaids, alcohol, bicycles and rain, lots of rain. Actually, it's equal parts Lantana, Sons & Daughters and Soft Fruit but I’m afraid after seeing it, all I can remember are Susie Porter’s eyes.

Susie plays Susan Woodbridge, mother to Emily (Victoria Thaine) who is a dull but sweet adolescent desperate to discover the identity of her father. According to her mother, dad was just a traveller (a tomcat) who wandered through town one day, they enjoyed an intimate moment and she never saw him again. Susan has no contact with her parents but Emily’s curiosity leads her to hunt them down and they, in turn, lead her to believe her mother might not be telling the truth. Then there’s the police chief Carl (Philip Quast) who seems to have a fondness for schoolgirls (and maybe their tunics) and is married to Elizabeth (a beautiful Wendy Hughes); they have a ridiculously handsome son called Joel (Khan Chittenden) who loves Emily.

Robert Mammone plays Stephen, a studly yet curiously expressionless boat maintenance operator, and brother to Elizabeth. He is grieving the death of a wife and child he lost in a murder/suicide; it’s the overworked melodramatic elements that scuttle The Caterpillar Wish. As the narrative progresses, tensions build and an explosive climax involving all of the characters is so dramatic I almost expected a voiceover to say “To Be Continued.” Yes, indeed, there’s a lot going on here, some of it unintentionally funny, but dash it all if I can forget Susie Porter’s eyes

Bit by bit, Emily pursues the truth about her father and like any juicy soap opera, the audiences will find themselves enticed enough to see how it all pans out. Nothing is quite as obvious as it looks in this little town and it’s a refreshing enough approach taken here with the interpretation of universal themes. Wendy Hughes does a beautiful job as Elizabeth; hers is a natural presence and it’s no effort to believe every word she says or, indeed, her situation. Of all the actresses in Australian cinema she’s the best at using her body to communicate emotion; her stance indicates so much. There’s a great moment when her philandering (and physically imposing) husband returns home late. Her back is to the camera but the energy’s there and it isn’t hard to see it and feel it.

Susie Porter is a great actress with a solid presence. She knows how to make the most of a line and she knows how to use Those Eyes. Porter is one of that rare breed of performers who tells us everything we need to know with one glance; there are so many moments here where dialogue seems redundant. When we first meet Susan, she’s waking up after spending the night with a former teacher of Emily’s. Susan’s personality is bruised and we learn, economically, that a judgemental attitude, here its Emily’s, doesn’t faze her for a second. Porter’s eyes blaze, narrow, smile and cloud over and it’s a treat to watch; in foreign countries inaccurate subtitles wouldn’t matter a damn. Porter’s eyes tell us everything we need to know and she makes The Caterpillar Wish her own.

In the notes of the press kit that accompanied the screening, someone announced that Victoria Thaine “is a revelation”. I’m always eager to check out young actresses everyone sings about and after the raves Abbie Cornish copped for her alarmingly subdued work in Somersault, I was a little suspicious. I hope Thaine gets another film. I’d love to see what all the fuss is about.

The Caterpillar Wish
2006

Writer/Director: Sandra Sciberras
Producer: Kate Whitbread
Executive Producers: Zelda Rosenbaum and Antonio Zeccola
Director of Photography: Greig Fraser
Editor: Jason Ballantine
Cast: Susie Porter, Victoria Thaine, Robert Mammone, Wendy Hughes, Philip Quast, Khan Chittenden, Will Traeger, Elspeth Ballantyne, Bruce Myles, Nicholas Bell