Film Review - My Melbourne
I like to write reviews on films that are personal to me, and none so far has been as personal as My Melbourne, an anthology film composed of four stories, each navigating themes of belonging and connection in the city of Melbourne.
The first film Nandini (directed by William Duan and Onir) follows Indraneel (Arkas Da), an Indian-Australian man in a relationship with another Australian man, reuniting with his father after the death of his mother. The story is simple and dialogue-heavy, emphasising the tense relationship between Indraneel and his father. There was a touching parallel between father and son not being able to sleep which I found to be subtle, but deeply emotionally effective.
Jules (directed by Zhao Tammy Yang and Arif Ali) follows Sakshi (Arushi Sharma), a young Indian migrant projecting a successful image, though her current lifestyle is much less than successful. She has a complicated relationship with a homeless woman named Jules, where they have a bond of sorts, but struggle to stay on the same page. The portrayal of community engagement is compelling, capturing both the pain of exclusion, and the joy of belonging. The film portrays a bad day as a hospitality worker so convincingly that it made me feel queasy.
Emma (directed by Samira Cox and Rima Das) explores living with a disability and feeling like an outsider. We follow Emma (Ryanna Skye Lawson) as an illness gradually affects her vision and hearing, and how it impacts the connections she explores in that time.
Setara (directed by Puneet Gulati, Kabir Khan and Rahul Vohra) is based on the lived experience of the main actress, Setara Amiri, a 15 year old Afghan refugee who excels at cricket and paves her own way as a cricketer in Australia.
To get the technicalities out of the way, the cinematography is decent, the shots are neat and telling, but there is room for more dynamics with lighting and colour grading. I noticed sound editing that needs work and clips in parts, but it never distracted me. The storytelling feels sparse at times, a common theme in Australian media -characters such as Emma’s mother, or Setara’s boss could have been further explored, as they were important parts of the story, but not thoroughly fleshed out. While the acting isn't perfect, and some dialogue feels forced, for the most part I found myself to be quite impacted, particularly considering the slim budget. Arushi Sharma and Setara Amiri were standout performances.
Although we may not have the same experiences as the characters My Melbourne presents, we can all relate to them in some way or another. Rather than complete narratives, we glimpse these characters at pivotal moments of change.
My Melbourne is the people we all know: our friends, our family, our neighbours, our coworkers, our bosses, our classmates, the people on our tram rides in the morning, and the people we talk to on a night out. Most importantly, My Melbourne is ours.
It's one of the few pieces I've seen that captures the true visuals of Melbourne—the iconic backdrop filled with Melbournians of all ethnicities, the Melbourne I've grown up in.
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My Melbourne is screening in select cinemas now. For tickets and more info, click here.