WISH YOU WERE HERE

Australia, 2012, 105 minutes, Colour.
Joel Edgerton, Felicity Price, Teresa Palmer, Anthony Starr, Otto Page, Tina Bursill, Wayne Blair.
Directed by Kieran Darcy- Smith.

If you decided to go to see this drama because of the title, the trailer and the suggestion that this is a tale about four people living the high tourist’s life in Cambodia with something sinister happening, you would be only partly right. Most of the action takes place in Sydney and is the story of an ordinary family whose lives are disrupted by the events in Cambodia.

The early scenes of the film show Western tourists enjoying the high life in Cambodian resorts, not without indulging in alcohol and drugs. Dave (Joel Edgerton) is seen wandering the fields, bewildered. Then he and his wife, Alice (Felicity Price) are back home with their two children in their home which overlooks the cliffs and beaches of Sydney. They have two children and Alice is pregnant. Here sister, Steph (Teresa Palmer) then arrives back after trying to find her boyfriend, Jeremy (Anthony Starr) who has disappeared. They have gone to the authorities without result.

As the film unfolds, we see Dave having panic attacks, confessing an infidelity to his wife, trying to cope with her emotional reaction, trying to deal with Steph. The flashbacks to what actually happened in Cambodia, Dave’s erratic behaviour, the ugliness of his being exploited by local gangsters and Jeremy’s intervention, are gradually revealed. Alice has her own moment of erratic behaviour as she drives away after confronting her sister.

Moments of truth come for both Dave and Alice. For him, going to the authorities and telling the truth. For her, the birth of her baby and whether she can forgive Dave. By the end, we are quite a way from the beaches and the dives of Cambodia and firmly settled in suburban Sydney.

Audiences will be able to identify with Dave and Alice, if not in the holiday, very much in the troubles in a marriage and how they might be resolved. The screenplay was written by the director, Kieran Darcy- Smith, in collaboration with his wife, Felicity Price, who plays Alice.

1. The title? Postcards and suggestions of holidays? Cambodia and tourists? The contrast with life in Sydney? The irony?

2. The Sydney settings, the coast, the beach, the house, overlooking the sea? Workplaces? Government offices? Ordinary Sydney life? The musical score?

3. The exotic Cambodian locations, the sequences in Phomn Penh, in Sihanoukville? The countryside? The beaches, the resort? The sleazy and dark areas of Cambodia?

4. The introduction, the holiday, the four central characters? The beaches, the sun, touristic activities? The parties, alcohol, the drugs? The Ecstasy? Westerners on holidays in Cambodia? The Cambodian criminals exploiting the tourists?

5. The consequences, David wandering, the recapping of this sequence at the end, with more meaning? Jeremy disappearing? Alice and Dave going home? Steph and her being upset, communications? Going back to Sydney and ordinary way of life, to the family, but the change in attitude? The behaviour?

6. The return home, Dave and Alice and their marriage, their love for their children, domestic ordinariness at home, Alice’s pregnancy? Picking up the kids at school, the cars? The concern about Jeremy, about Steph? The authorities and information?

7. Steph, her return, being upset, her past relationship with Jeremy? The short time? Being Alice’s sister? The parents, home? The revelation about Cambodia, Alice’s being upset? Steph contacting David, Alice seeing the email? Alice going out, her drinking, confronting Steph?

8. Dave, in himself, his love for Alice, the children, the bonds? Upset coming home from Cambodia? His panic attack in the street? The visit to the officials, not having anything to offer? The revelation about his behaviour with Steph? The tension with Alice? Wanting him out? His regrets? At work? Steph contacting him, the email, going to visit her? His wanting her to back off? The insertion of the flashbacks, the gradual build-up of the story? The drinking, the drugs? Dave going out, the local and his tempting Dave with the alcohol, with the drugs? Going to the bar? The group of gamblers? The issue of money? Their presumption that he wanted a little girl, their bringing her out, Dave’s disgust?

9. Alice as strong, her treatment of Dave, her visiting Jeremy’s family? Her relationship with her mother, with Steph? The drinking, going to argue with Steph? The booze bus and her being moved on? The suddenness of the crash? Hospital, the premature birth? At hospital, at home?

10. Dave and the final flashbacks, his behaviour at the bar, his surliness, the attack, Jeremy trying to save him, his continued outbursts, Jeremy’s death? His fear, running away, his fear for the family? His final decision, explaining to Alice, going back to the government official, the dogs and the drugs in Jeremy’s warehouse?

11. The experience, the honesty between Dave and Alice, bringing them together again, hope?

12. The final sequence and the credits, their moving into the new house? The children, the new baby? Dave and his consciousness of what he had done? Alice and her strength?

13. A film about Australians, holidays abroad, letting loose, the consequences – and the contrast with day-by-day ordinary life, having to deal with a crisis? Honesty?