Judy and Punch
Directed by: Mirrah Foulkes
Runtime: 105 minutes
The Brisbane International Film Festival has begun, with a large selection of both local and international films to please movie-goers in our small city. I was lucky enough to attend the opening screening of this event, catching a screening of Judy and Punch, a film that has toured the Australian festival circuit all year, and even had a screening at Sundance. A directional debut from Mirrah Foulkes, the film is a whimsical fairytale fermented with offbeat humour and dark content. Debut films are usually fraught with teething issues; however none were present here—Foulkes presents a fantastical, entertaining tale with a unique vision.
Set in the town of Seaside (which, incidentally, is nowhere by the sea), the film follows married puppeteers Judy (Mia Wasikowska) and Punch (Damon Herriman). Punch believes he is the ‘greatest puppeteer of his generation’, but it quickly becomes clear the true talent lies in his wife. Soon, cracks begin to emerge in their marriage, culminating in a tragic accident, a betrayal, and a quest for vengeance. The plot of the film is relatively simple, but the script is written with a daring wit that elevates the story; the humour is so dry, it comes across as a parody while also, oddly, remaining sincere.
The performances are stellar; every cast member seems to be giving their all, walking the fine line between over-the-top campness and grounded realism quite well. Wasikowska is at her most mature here, far from the starry-eyed innocent that she usually seems to play. Herriman plays the devilish Punch with a tongue-in-cheek bravado that makes you love to hate-watch him. The supporting characters were also just as richly performed; Benedict Hardie sympathetically portrays the sweet, and hard-done-by constable, and Lucy Velik does a brilliant turn as the local ‘tart with a heart’.
Really, the film shines in its direction. Foulkes keeps the tone delightfully silly without undercutting moments of genuine emotion. The town of ‘Seaside’ has all the trimmings of an 18th-century small village, yet still presents as unique, and every frame of the film is laced with a consistency in vision that is incredibly hard to manage in a first feature. I also must note the phenomenal soundtrack throughout the film; it really is the cherry on top of an already sophisticated feature.
A solid film-festival opener, Judy and Punch is a mixture of the dark revisionism of The Favourite with some Monty Python-esque flair. This is probably my favourite Australian film of the year so far, and is a showcase of the universal, yet unique, stories this country has to offer. With slick, high-quality visuals, yet a uniqueness in spirit and flair, Judy and Punch is the feminist feature that I didn’t think I needed, but was ecstatic to have received.
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