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Some say that amidst the heat of the Australian summer it's virtually
impossible to develop that Christmas feeling, seemingly so
inextricably linked to the snow and the cold. So, they suggest moving
the celebrations to the Australian winter -- say, to June
or July.
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But as they do every so often, Brisbanites get the
best of both worlds: in the summer, they have Christmas barbecues in the
shade of their backyard greenery, while in winter, a
small but dedicated group of people make them the annual
gift of the ever-expanding Brisbane Intenational Film Festival, now
in its eighth year.
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Thanks to an appreciative audience, and despite increased competition, the
festival seems set to continue to prosper -- in fact, in 1999 it has expanded
to include a third cinema in the venerable Hoyts Regent complex, further
extending its repertoire, but making the choice of which movies
to see ever more difficult.
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Election, one of my selections on the first full
night of the festival, centres around the student presidential elections at
a typical small-town U.S. high school. Young overachiever Tracy Flick
(Reese Witherspoon) seems a shoo-in for the position -- she is
already involved in almost every other student project, so much so that
nobody even seems interested in standing against her. Until, that is, civic
identity and current affairs teacher Mr. McAllister (Matthew Broderick)
becomes involved: not least because Tracy, whose determination to succeed by
any means has already cost one colleague his job, poses a sexual
temptation McAllister knows he could hardly resist throughout a whole year
of student council meetings. So he persuades popular school
quarterback Paul Metzler (Chris Klein), currently laid low with a broken
leg, to run for election. When Paul's sister Tammy (Jessica Campbell),
still smarting after the loss of her girlfriend to her brother, also joins
the race -- on a platform of abolishing the student council altogether, since it has no
practical influence anyway --, an hilarious, hard-fought electoral battle
ensues.
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It's the ultimate believability of these characters, despite the obvious
exaggerations, which makes Election such an excellent movie. The
film is written and directed with a fine eye for detail, and anyone who has
ever observed (or participated in) the serious, but ultimately nearly
meaningless, interactions in student councils and similar
pseudo-democratic institutions will recognise (or cringe at) the social
dynamics in this election.
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At the same time, while Election is on the surface a farcical comedy,
it also exposes the grimy underbelly of the American political process,
where honesty and integrity (on either side of the political divide) have
long since been replaced by a drive for power at all costs and ruthless
opportunism.
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Witherspoon is instantly recognisable as the unstoppable achiever everybody
has come across at some time in their lives, while Broderick, whose reappearance
in a school setting might at first
conjure up inevitable memories of his performance as Ferris Bueller,
fits perfectly as the tragically well-intentioned Mr
McAllister. The farce of the story itself is also heightened by bold and
inventive cinematography, slick editing, and spot-on use of voiceovers from
the central characters.
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Where Election works to expose an underbelly,
my second Friday movie, Go, wears it proudly, navel-ring and all.
With a narrative structure perhaps somewhat too closely matching that of
Pulp Fiction (down to an opening scene set in a diner, and a later
return to the setting), it follows the individual stories of four grocery store
attendants getting into ever-increasing amounts of trouble.
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While three of them attempt to sell harmless pills as Ecstasy at the
"Mary Sex-Mas" rave to fend off Ronna's (Sarah Polley) threatened eviction
-- and end up running from the law, running
from a rival dealer, or simply running high on the real stuff --, the fourth, Simon
(Desmond Askew), on a trip to Las Vegas with his mates, gets tied up in an even
longer string of difficulties that
involves prawns well past their use-by date, seriously stoned bridesmaids, someone
else's Ferrari, and a bumbling bouncer.
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Add to this two TV cops assisting a drug bust (to avoid being
busted themselves) while fending off sexual and other advances from the
real-life cop, as well as dynamic cinematography and a bouncy soundtrack,
and you have an exciting movie that may not win prizes for breaking new
ground, but that need not be ashamed to be named in the company
of Pulp Fiction or Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels. Go goes off,
and keeps on running at a faster pace than last-minute Christmas shopping.
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In fact, there's a certain pace and dynamic of development that's common to
both movies; backed by strong scriptwriting, the
directors are able to present their work with confidence and panache. I can
only hope that both films will receive the wider release they deserve; for
now, however, I'm happy just to open Saturday's BIFF Christmas box!
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Details
Election, by United International Pictures 1999.
Director: Alexander Payne.
Writers: Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor, based on the novel by Tom Perrotta.
Cinematography: James Glennon.
Editor: Kevin Tent.
Cast: Reese Witherspoon, Matthew Broderick, Chris Klein, Jessica Campbell.
Go, by Columbia 1999.
Director: Doug Liman.
Writer: John August.
Cinematography: Doug Liman.
Editor: Stephen Mirrione.
Cast: Sarah Polley, Desmond Askew, Katie Holmes, Taye Diggs, Nathan Bexton, Timothy Oliphant, Jay Mohr, Scott Wolf, William Fichtner.
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Citation reference for this article
MLA style:
Axel Bruns. "Christmas in July: 'Election'/'Go' (BIFF #1)." M/C Reviews 30 July 1999.
[your date of access] <http://www.uq.edu.au/mc/reviews/screen/go.html>.
Chicago style:
Axel Bruns, "Christmas in July: 'Election'/'Go' (BIFF #1)," M/C Reviews 30 July 1999,
<http://www.uq.edu.au/mc/reviews/screen/go.html> ([your date of access]).
APA style:
Axel Bruns. (1999) Christmas in July: 'Election'/'Go' (BIFF #1). M/C Reviews 30 July 1999.
<http://www.uq.edu.au/mc/reviews/screen/go.html> ([your date of access]).
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![[image]](http://www.electionmovie.com/images/picture2.jpg)