Judy & Punch
Director: Mirrah Foulkes
Starring: Mia Wasikowska, Damon Herriman
Genre: Strings attached
If you have a problem with the lack of strong female roles in cinema then Judy & Punch is the film for you. It’s overflowing with them. Judy (Mia Wasikowska) flips the Punch and Judy paradigm on its head as she seeks revenge on her partner, Punch (Damon Herriman), the “greatest puppeteer of his generation”, and a drunk, womaniser, baby-killer and woman-beater to boot.
Judy & Punch is nominally set sometime in the 18th century, but its cleverness is in integrating modern music, phrases and conventions into the story-telling in such a way that it is clearly understood that this is a parable for the modern age, and in particular for the #MeToo generation. Judy is just one of many women, in the film and in real life, forced to the fringes of society by circumstances beyond their control. In Judy & Punch, their collective support for each other leads to hope and redemption.
But where Judy & Punch gets even more interesting is as a piece of film making, because while this is an Australian film in every sense of the word (directed, acted, funded, located), it could be anywhere. Indeed given the subject matter, it should be and is, everywhere. There are no Australian sweeping landscapes, piercing sun or bronzed Aussie ockers. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. But Judy & Punch proves that the Australian film industry is mature and confident enough to tell stories the whole world can and should relate to.
Rating: Four-and-a-half punchlines.
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