Over the weekend, I was browsing through Netflix Instant Viewing when I happened upon The Year My Voice Broke,
an Australian 80s movie involving a teenage love triangle. It was
listed as a “first love” story, and I tend to enjoy those, so I decided
to give it a try. It’s always a shot in the dark watching a movie I’ve
never heard of full of unfamiliar actors and helmed by a director whose
name means nothing to me. In this case, I’d have to say it was a miss.
The 1987 movie, written and directed by John Duigan, stars Noah Taylor
as Danny, a run-of-the-mill teen in love with the slightly older Freya
(Loene Carmen), who has been his close friend since early childhood.
Danny serves as our narrator; we often get to hear his thoughts, and
even if he weren’t narrating we’d have a pretty good idea of them
because of his tendency to make his internal monologue external and to
voice desperate prayers about his love life. Danny is fairly likable;
it’s easy to feel sorry for him as the stereotypical nice guy who always
finishes last. On the other hand, he’s a bit pervy, peeking in on Freya
through the window as she undresses and keeping a pair of her underwear
as a totem.
I like him better than Freya, though. Granted,
she has a compassionate side that particularly comes out when she is
visiting with the elderly, and she does seem to cherish Danny’s
friendship. But she’s also stringing him along to some extent. His
devotion to her is written all over his face, and if that weren’t
enough, some bullies get ahold of his love poetry and decide a public
recitation is in order. One of those thugs is Trevor (Ben Mendelsohn),
who quickly takes an interest in Freya, and the interest seems to be
mutual. He’s supposed to be the typical jerk jock, though in terms of
looks he’s got nothing on Danny, and I would think his hyenic laughter
would be enough to send anyone packing before too long. Even worse are
his prankster tendencies, which often result in truly dangerous stunts.
While Trevor’s behavior is especially abhorrent, the antics of most of
the teens here had my mom yelling at the TV. They’re vulgar and
disrespectful, they engage in injurious roughhousing and they’re
constantly smoking. On the one hand, they seem incredibly juvenile; on
the other, they run loose without any sort of parental supervision. The
movie is very visually dark, and it matches the emotional tone of the
film. Reminding me a bit of Rebel Without a Cause, only with a much more indie feel to it, The Year My Voice Broke – which takes place in 1962 – feels almost unbearably bleak most of the time.
In addition to that, the cinematography is shaky and none of the stars
stands out as a particularly good actor. Mostly, they all sound as if
they’re mumbling. I suppose the heavy accents don’t help with that, but I
also blame poor delivery. The only character who really grabbed me was
Jonah, a wise, eccentric adult friend of Danny’s. He is played by Bruce
Spence, and while I didn’t recognize his name, he has had roles in
several major film franchises, including Star Wars and Lord of the Rings,
which doesn’t surprise me since his was the only performance that truly
captured by attention. He seems like a veteran who knows what he’s
doing.
But he’s not in the movie enough to make it worthwhile
for me. Though there are elements of the film that are reasonably
engaging, the movie mostly just left me feeling flat and wishing I’d
picked something else. While Danny picks up the pieces of his broken
heart (and voice), I think I’ll go look for a more enjoyable movie.
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