GRIFF THE INVISIBLE
Australia, 2010, 90 minutes, Colour.
Ryan Kwanten, Maeve Dermody, Toby Schmitz, Heather Mitchell, Marshall Napier, Patrick Brammall.
Directed by Leon Ford.
More than a touch of whimsy in this inner Sydney fantasy.
If Bruce Wayne can become Batman and The Green Hornet can send up this idea of an ordinary citizen (though they are both ultra-rich) becoming a superhero at night, cleansing a city of crime, then I suppose that Griff can dream about it even if he does not succeed at it.
Griff is a simple soul who lives quietly at home – except that he has developed some surveillance cameras and screens and looks out on the dark city streets to see what criminals are lurking and goes out to do battle with him. Not all those rescued appreciate it and they report him to the police who are on the lookout for a vigilante.
In the meantime, Griff has a desk job, is bullied and imposed on by one of his co-workers, the girls in the office laugh at him and the boss is losing his patience. So is his brother, who has come over from Adelaide, and has protected him all his life.
But, when his brother meets a charming but seemingly light-headed young girl, Melody, who is a firm believer in science (and how matter can be formatted and manipulated), she falls for Griff instead. Griff finds that it is her father who runs the store where he buys stuff to make invisible suits and the like.
So, what is reality and what is not? Melody is a firm believer in other dimensions, so she is prepared not to see Griff in his invisible suit while others can see him plainly. For a while, Griff becomes ‘normal’, but this is the kind of film where it is best to leave Griff to his imaginary life.
Ryan Kwanten (star of TV’s True Blood and of Red Hil) is nicely fey as Griff. Maeve Dermody is a very likeable Melody.
A younger audience may enjoy it and make allowances for Griff. An older audience might not be so tolerant.
1. The target audience? Younger, adult?
2. Whimsical and fantastical? The blend of reality and imagination? The quotation from Oscar Wilde and masks being used to reveal the truth?
3. The inner Sydney setting, the streets, dark, offices, harbour views, homes, shops?
4. The range of songs, their lyrics and reference to Griff and the action?
5. The introduction to Griff, at home, the multiple TV monitors, the telescope, his costume, going into action, defending those who were attacked, the victims and their reaction to him, the police, the notices around the city?
6. His trying to be a Bruce Wayne, the new Batman, vigilante or defender?
7. At work, meek, his desk, put upon by the staff, Tony giving him the extra job, Tony and his watching him, the taunts, the girls and their laughter, Gary and his giving him the job, supervision? His installing the surveillance equipment on Tony’s desk? The scene where he imagined having Tony stuck in the roof?
8. Tim and Griff’s past? Melody and the date, the story about the restaurant payment, Tim and Melody at the family dinner, the mother’s hopes? Visiting Griff? Taking Melody? Her later visit? The glass of water? The attraction?
9. Melody banging her head against the wall, her imagination, the structure of molecules and atoms, the various dimensions and moving in and out, parallel worlds? Her parents, her mother’s concern and questions? Her father working in the shop, knowing Griff and helping him? The invisible suit and the ingredients, the magnetic suit? The top secret packages?
10. Tony, bullying, being the victim of Griff’s emails, everybody laughing, Tony and the violence of his revenge and bashing Griff? Watching him at the end?
11. The police commissioner, finding Griff, Griff hurt, the interrogation, the warning?
12. Tim and his giving up, wanting to return to Adelaide, breaking with Melody, finally encouraging Griff?
13. Griff as visible and invisible, his suit? Making it in the bath? People agreeing? Melody and her mission, not seeing Griff while others did see him, her explanation? Her mission for him, the attack, rescuing the police commissioner? The visuals of his defence? The radio connection, his hearing her talk about freaks?
14. The sequences with Griff as normal, going through the routines, the meal with the family, polite, his clothes? Melody and the new suit? Tim and his gift of the glasses, Melody able to see the invisible Griff?
15. Fantasy and reality, sanity and insanity?
