IS THIS THE REAL WORLD

Australia, 2015, 91 minutes, Colour.
Sean Keenan, Greg Stone, Susie Porter, Julia Blake, Matt Colwell, Charlotte Best.
Directed by Martin Mc Kenna.

Is This the Real World is a small budget Australian film, set in a city suburbs, the story of a teenager and his trying to cope with his family and at school.

Sean Keenan portrays Mark Glazeby, and the audience initially sees him in a very long opening shot, the camera behind him, walking along the high school pathways and eventually into the office of the Vice- Principal. He is being asked why he has left his previous school and given up a scholarship, the reasons for his bad behaviour, for which Mark has very few answers except to say that he was young. He is to be given a chance in his new high school.

While he seems something of a confident young man, we soon find him put to the test by some bullying, forced to take some football marks but each time being pushed out of the way by hefty fellow-student. He tries to stick it out. He does get some chance for comeuppance, his brother taking the bullies on a car ride and driving fairly recklessly.

A strong part of Mark’s life is his relationships with his brother, Matt Colwell, who also had problems with school and is about to go to prison, with his very busy mother, Susie Porter, and her exasperations, with his younger sister. But, there is also his sympathetic grandmother, played by Julia Blake, and he is very affected by her illness.

Meanwhile, at school, he becomes the target of the Vice- Principal, who makes extraordinary demands on him, including forcing him sit in his office during breaks, and then wanting him to sit there during all classes, audiences not sure why the animosity is so deep. One of the contributing factors is that the Vice- Principal’s daughter is attracted to Mark. When they abscond for the weekend, a somewhat casual sexual attraction emphasised and taken for granted, which leads to dramatic confrontation between Mark and the Vice- Principal.

The film ends with the same tracking shot, the camera following Mark down the same pathway but then into a classroom – Mark and the audience hopeful for his future.

Parents could watch the film with interest, checking the behaviour of their children. teenagers might identify with Mark, with his girlfriend Kim, and check their own behaviour and attitudes. And this kind of film is always a challenge to teachers and those in authority in schools, checking their own behaviour and attitudes.

1. An Australian slice of life? City life? Family? School?

2. The settings and authentic feel? Homes, the streets? School, classes, football field, schoolyard, corridors? Vice-Principal’s? office? Bike riding and the surroundings? The water? The holiday town, hotel? The musical score?

3. The title? For Mark Glazeby? For Kim, for her father, for Mark’s family?

4. The opening shot, the long walk along the corridors and pathways, to the office? The camera at Mark’s back? The repeat of this sequence at the end and the audience knowing all that had gone on in between?

5. Mark, discussions with the Vice- Principal? His leaving the previous school, loss of the scholarship, his saying that he was young, not giving any further reason? The mixture of self-assertion and diffidence? The situation at home, his love for his mother, her being busy, exasperated? His younger sister? The dog? In the classroom, the teachers? The fellow students? On the football field, the kicks, the big student pushing him out of the way, his getting back up again? The sports master looking on? The effect on Mark? His later being with those students, the lift in the car and his brother and his reckless driving and the apprehension of the bully? Their joining the cross-country run? The Vice- Principal watching?

6. The character of the Vice- Principal, his pride in his reputation at the school and its improvement, his interrogation of Mark, not wanting to see him much again, yet preoccupied with him, in the office, Mark writing his name, sitting in the chair during the breaks, his being told to come during all classes? Mark going outside and the repercussions? The irony of the Vice- Principal being Kim’s father?

7. Kim, seeing Mark lying on the ground, the interest, talking to him, their discussions and encounters, the eventual sexual relationship and its credibility, remarking that she wanted to get pregnant and leave school? The decision to go away for the weekend, Mark and his insistence, the airport, the town, the motel, the differences between them, Kim not wanting to ruin her life? Her fear of her father? Later moving to live with her mother?

8. The grandmother, in the house, supporting everyone, especially the boy going to prison, her being ill, hospital, death? The funeral and Mark missing it? His love for his grandmother and the effect of her death?

9. His return, his sister and the dog being sick? Symbolism of the dog recovering? Reconciliation with his mother?

10. Riding his bike, the confrontation by the Vice- Principal, the fight, anger, drowning Mark? Take them out of the water, the resuscitation? The effect on Mark, on the Vice- Principal?

11. Mark, his age, the experience, teenage issues, self-image, self-confidence, family life, school experience? His future?