PERFECT STRANGERS
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Paolo Genovese has an idea for the next time someone starts using their mobile phone in the middle of a meal, or any inappropriate social situation. Instead of berating them for their bad manners, start a simple game. The next time a phone goes off, share the conversation; after all, no one’s got anything to hide, right?
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That’s the premise of his riveting comedy, Perfect Strangers. Close friends are having a dinner party at home and when the inevitable happens and the game commences. The next call, text or social media message received will be shared to the group. It’s a bit of fun, truth-or-dare with a slice of Russian roulette because despite the assorted personalities, they’re close friends who know one another’s intimacies. There’s nothing to hide. Right?
Well it’s obvious to anyone that this is a disastrous idea and the consequences will be swift and violent, which they are. As each call prompts a new revelation, skeletons come marching out of the closet in the most unexpected ways. Great fun for us, not so much for manicured relationships that fracture and splinter in the glaring heat of honesty. Ouch.
Genovese commands this exhilarating if suffocating car-crash experience with great skill: being in such close confinement with the warring parties (almost all the action takes place in two rooms) is like attending the worst kind of family Christmas with no escape plan. Fortunately, there’s a lot going on between the fearsome and fearsomely witty exchanges – notably the danger of over-sharing in the age of instant information. We’ve all got something to hide, right?
Fortunately you know there’s a sting in the tail and what a sting it is. For as uncomfortable a watch-between-your-fingers experience as Perfect Strangers becomes – you’ll loose count of how many times you plead with a character to leave the phone where it is – it’s also a challenging, thought-provoking, entertaining and hilarious take on the digital age; love it or hate it. One that sends you reeling back into the street afterwards.
As a pre cursor to the upcoming The Circle, you’ll not see a more timely nor insightful comedy of manners this year.
// COLIN FRASER
Previewed at Verona Cinema, Sydney on 6 September 2016.
Well it’s obvious to anyone that this is a disastrous idea and the consequences will be swift and violent, which they are. As each call prompts a new revelation, skeletons come marching out of the closet in the most unexpected ways. Great fun for us, not so much for manicured relationships that fracture and splinter in the glaring heat of honesty. Ouch.
Genovese commands this exhilarating if suffocating car-crash experience with great skill: being in such close confinement with the warring parties (almost all the action takes place in two rooms) is like attending the worst kind of family Christmas with no escape plan. Fortunately, there’s a lot going on between the fearsome and fearsomely witty exchanges – notably the danger of over-sharing in the age of instant information. We’ve all got something to hide, right?
Fortunately you know there’s a sting in the tail and what a sting it is. For as uncomfortable a watch-between-your-fingers experience as Perfect Strangers becomes – you’ll loose count of how many times you plead with a character to leave the phone where it is – it’s also a challenging, thought-provoking, entertaining and hilarious take on the digital age; love it or hate it. One that sends you reeling back into the street afterwards.
As a pre cursor to the upcoming The Circle, you’ll not see a more timely nor insightful comedy of manners this year.
// COLIN FRASER
Previewed at Verona Cinema, Sydney on 6 September 2016.
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STARRING
Giuseppe Battiston
Anna Foglietta
Marco Giallini
DIRECTOR
Paolo Genovese
SCREENWRITER
Fillipo Bologna
COUNTRY
Italy (subtitles)
CLASSIFICATION
M
RUNTIME
97 minutes
AUSTRALIAN
RELEASE DATE
January 26, 2017
Giuseppe Battiston
Anna Foglietta
Marco Giallini
DIRECTOR
Paolo Genovese
SCREENWRITER
Fillipo Bologna
COUNTRY
Italy (subtitles)
CLASSIFICATION
M
RUNTIME
97 minutes
AUSTRALIAN
RELEASE DATE
January 26, 2017
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