Checked out
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Checked out |
| Original title | Stranded |
| Country of production | Australia |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 2005 |
| length | 52 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Stuart McDonald |
| script | Kathleen O'Brien |
| production | Lizzette Atkins, Beth Frey |
| camera | Greig Fraser |
| cut | Bill Murphy |
| occupation | |
| |
Checked Out (Original Title: Stranded ) is an Australian feature film by director Stuart McDonald from 2005. Screenwriter Kathleen O'Brien wrote her first screenplay for the film and stages the everyday suburban life of a family with numerous problems. The film received international renown and numerous awards, including the Australian Film Institute Award .
action
In the Melbourne suburb of Altona, the 17-year-old Claudia lives with her father Rex and her younger sister Penny. The mother's suicide last year shook the family badly. The unemployed and grumpy Rex takes refuge in passivity and has no control over the household or his two daughters. The house is becoming increasingly neglected, while Claudia and Penny have long since given up going to school. The cramped living conditions lead to constant arguments between the two teenagers. After a single mother successfully foisted her two pupils on Rex for an indefinite period of time, Claudia decides to break out of the dreary everyday life. She packs her things and moves into the mother's car in need of repair on the doorstep. As soon as she has it set up, she plans to go to Queensland and work at the amusement park there.
She makes the acquaintance of the good-looking Cam, who works at the checkout of the supermarket and supports her increasingly. He gets her new tires for the car and wants to accompany Claudia to Queensland. However, she initially rejects Cam's efforts and the family's problems get deeper and deeper into emotional rifts. She wants to do the same as her mother and take her own life in a motel, but refrains from the plan. A little later, Rex breaks out of his helplessness in the face of the situation: He banishes the single mother and her children from his house and sends Penny back to school. After the car is repaired, Claudia leaves the family with Cam for Queensland.
History of origin
Enthusiastic about the film script, director Stuart McDonald, who mainly works for television series, took on the staging of Checked Out . The film, the original working title of which was Space Travel, was shot in just 15 days in the Melbourne suburb of Altona. The organization SBS Independent and the Australian Film Commission contributed to the financing . The well-known Australian up- and- coming actresses Emma Lung and Emily Browning could be won for the leading roles . Lung had become known to a wider audience for her lead role in the Australian drama Peaches (2004), while Browning had starred in the 2004 Hollywood production Lemony Snicket . McDonald and his cameraman Greig Fraser borrowed the style of the film from the work of the Australian photographer Bill Henson . In the interior of the house, the walls were therefore subsequently painted with dark colors in order to make the faces of the two main actresses more prominent in interior shots.
reception
The film was first shown on August 3, 2005 at the Australian Center for the Moving Image (ACMI) in Melbourne, as part of the Melbourne International Film Festival . Checked out was also shown at the London Film Festival in 2005 and at the Titanic Budapest Film Festival and Los Angeles Film Festival in 2006 . The Australian trade press particularly praised the performance of the two young Australians Emily Browning and Emma Lung and the screenplay by Kathleen O'Brien. Despite the gloom of the material and the bleak portrayal of life in the suburbs, director McDonald balanced the drama with ironic humor and celebrated the original and rebellious disposition of his teenagers, according to the Australian weekly newspaper The Age in February 2006, shortly before the premiere of the film on Australian television. O'Brien's script, meanwhile, would offer some hopeful, if unexpected, resolutions for the characters. On the occasion of the screening of Checked Out at the Los Angeles Film Festival , film critic Ron Stringer compared the portrayal of Emma Lung to the fire and vulnerability of the young Betty Davis . In Germany as well as in France (under the title À la dérive ) the drama was first broadcast in the original language on September 18, 2007 by the television station Arte .
Awards
The film won several Australian festival and critic awards in 2006, including the most important Australian film award, the Australian Film Institute Award , in the categories of Best Short Film and Screenplay for a Short Film . Leading actress Emma Lung was also honored with the Australian Film Award and the Actor Award of the Shanghai International TV Festival . The awards at a glance:
- Australian Film Institute Award
- Best short film
- Best Screenplay (Short Film)
- Outstanding Achievement in Short Film (Emma Lung)
- Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards : Best Australian Short Film
- If Award: Best Short Film
- Logie Award : Graham Kennedy Award for Outstanding New Talent (Emma Lung)
- Shanghai International TV Festival: Best Actress (Emma Lung)
Web links
- Checked out in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ cf. Film description ( page can no longer be called up , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at arte.de (accessed on February 21, 2009)
- ↑ cf. Luke Benedictus: When things fall apart . In: Sunday Age. July 24, 2005, p. 5.
- ↑ cf. Critic's View . In: The Age. February 16, 2006, p. 34.
- ↑ cf. Rest of the Fest Our Critics Weigh in . In: LA Weekly. June 22, 2006.
- ↑ cf. Release dates in the Internet Movie Database (English; accessed on February 22, 2009)
