The Daughter

Untangling the narrative thicket of The Daughter is not easy and the plot line is slow to unfold. It helps to take a step back and look at the story as a metaphorical collision between a single ray of truth and the lie that connects two families. It is only at this thematic level that we can understand why Henrik Ibsen's 1884 play The Wild Duck keeps reappearing on stage and screen. The Daughter is the latest re-imagining, with new characters and a modernised story that retains the glasshouse fragility of lives built upon secrets. It is timeless precisely because secrets are a part of life, yet some are so destructive that a few words can be a missile that shatters everything.

A gunshot is fired at the start and end of the film, and in between is a high-tension wire that is slowly pulled tighter and tighter until it snaps. When a timber mill closes in an unnamed Australian town disgruntled workers are laid off while the aloof and wealthy owner Henry plans to marry his much younger former housekeeper. His estranged son Oliver returns for the wedding looking for someone to blame for his mother's suicide. When Oliver learns of his father's previous infidelity he feels compelled to reveal all. Tensions explode when Oliver tells his best friend Christian, as the affair involved his wife and now affects the relationship with his daughter Hedvig. One revelation of a buried truth triggers a chain of events that nobody can control.

Although melodramatic and claustrophobic as family relationships can be, the story gathers pace in the second half, carried forward by outstanding acting from a stellar cast. It is beautifully photographed in Gothic style with haunting atmospherics amidst iconic landscapes reminiscent of The Piano (1993). Several overlapping scenes and restless camera viewpoints evoke the vulnerability of relationships teetering on lies. Often we are not sure who is the protagonist of the story as events unfold from various viewpoints but it is the daughter Hedvig who emerges as the innocent heroine tragically burdened by the sins of family. As she did in Looking for Grace (2015), Odessa Young plays the rebellious daughter and again her star shines brightly all over this film. Tense, challenging, and wonderfully crafted, this complex film mixes a psychological thriller with tragedy and its ending will leave you stunned.

The premise of the film may have been interesting? However, the American lead is weak and unsatisfying. I think casting a capable Aussie in the lead would have given the film much more authenticity. Having said this the film doesn't work very well from a viewer's perspective anyway.

Henrik Ibsen has been a great Scandinavian playwright, very well known until the 80s in most Western Countries. Currently his (great) works are played less often and the man is less known.

So I won't be surprised if someone watched the present film unaware that its beautiful plot was taken from one of his masterpieces: 'Vildanden', published more than a Century ago.

The young Simon Stone showed a great deal of talent and very good taste in changing the story to make it more interesting and fitting with modern times (and Australia). Until I heard the name 'Hedvig' (only name left unchanged from the original play, a nice touch) I didn't recognize the source.

He made a very clever choice: on a soundest plot he built a catching movie, full of passion and realism, enhanced by great performances.

I won't tell anything about the changes he made: for those who know the original, you won't know if the ending has changed. For the others: enjoy.

On paper, 'The Daughter' has lots going for it: An adaptation of a successful theatre production which in itself is an adaptation of a classic Ibsen play; Oscar winner Geoffrey Rush; top notch local actors Miranda Otto, Ewen Leslie; and veteran Sam Neill. But i ultimately found this a disappointment; despite some strong ingredients. From the early scenes, there was a heavyness and at times overly self conscious style from both the director and the actors. I wondered how this was going to work.... Geoffrey Rush, one of Australia's finest actors was just too arch in this performance. The film may not have been made without his 'name', but the incredulity of the much younger women being so drawn to him was inescapable for me; that and a very stiff and unlikable character. Paul Schneider, so powerful in Jane Campion's 'Bright Star' was all at sea here. Inconsistent direction and a bizarre character arc made this wonderful American actor look out of place. Yes he was the outsider, but i didn't believe for a moment that he was Rush's son; nor a former best friend of Ewen Leslie's character.

The positives: The aforementioned Mr Leslie is building a great portfolio of stage and screen work, and despite those early 'ocker' moments, he developed his character and displayed much potency especially in the last act. Miranda Otto is always watchable but again credibility and some very pedestrian dialogue did not help this viewer much. As the title character, Odessa Young is a real find and definitely the saving grace for me with this film. An absolute natural; the youngest cast member was perhaps the only one to rise above the soap operatic material and direction to give a naturalistic performance. Her place in the industry seems assured after this and her other feature 'Looking For Grace'; proof that a star is born.

Maybe I just don't like soap dressed up as art or high drama; but this film didn't sit right with me. It felt like it had all been done before and done better! Shame, as there is lots of talent on screen, but an overdone, overly signposted tragedy, for me, needed to be done in a far more clever way - ala The Dressmaker.

In the grand old tradition of Australian films of the past 10 – 15 years, young theatre director/actor turned feature filmmaker Simon Stone's adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's play that has here become The Daughter is a sombre, bleak and sometimes hugely impressive film that's moments of greatness are sadly washed away by a tendency of over-dramatics and underdeveloped characters that hamper the films intentions to be the next big Australian drama kingpin.

Stone who had the fortune of gathering some of Australia's best talent in the form of Geoffrey Rush, Sam Neill, Miranda Otto as well as American actor Paul Schneider in the key role as the thankless Christian certainly had the tools at his disposal to create something special (something that he did from all reports on stage with this same story) but while The Daughter is a polished local production thanks in no small part of Andrew Commis's noteworthy work as DOP and Mark Bradshaw's effective score as well as the to be expected work of the experience cast, you can't help but feel as though The Daughter doesn't ring true in its most important moments and some players within this family drama barely get a chance to breathe in the 90 minute run time.

Christian may be our central figure here and his an unlikeable and tormented soul but relative newcomer Odessa Young gets the films biggest weight put upon her shoulders as the young and vulnerable Hedvig. Young's performance is solid without being overly impressive but Hedvig as a fictional creation is somewhat unengaging and with an important part to play in the stories proceedings as Hedvig and her family have to deal with unearthed secrets, Young can't bring the stories wannabe emotional payoff home despite the best attempts of those around her with a particularly disappointing final few minutes feeling rather underwhelming.

With supports from the aforementioned Neill, Rush and Otto, The Daughter is never allowed to fall down to any detrimental levels and while the shipped in Schneider doesn't get great rewards from his Christian, Stone shows himself a director to watch out for with his handling of stars and the mostly unknown Ewen Leslie as the hard done by Oliver is another of The Daughter's participants that will likely benefit from a starring role in this well received production.

Devoid of much light and frivolity, The Daughter is as glum as Australian films get and while this Home and Away with a budget is sometimes too much to bare or care, there's enough impressive filmmaking going on here that Stone's film is a worthwhile watch for all those seeking out their next dose of Australian drama, like only we Australian's can make.

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