How Deep Is the Ocean

How Deep is the Ocean is worth a watch. It is a mostly improvised film without much scripted dialogue and is well acted. It is an exploration of Eleanor, played by Olivia Fildes, finding herself in a new environment, the larger city of Melbourne, where she is just looking for a job and will not settle for just anything. She faces unexpected and unfortunate circumstances and the film shows the complexities and realities of living and surviving in a big city. Harsh lessons are learned, but most importantly, life keeps on moving forward.

I loved the shots of Melbourne, the camera work and the natural dialogue. This gave me of feel of Cassavete's Shadows, a raw experimental take on the communion and relationships of people. I thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward to see more of Andrew Walsh's work. This is not your conventional film and it was beautiful exploration of the human condition.

As an Aussie, I watch a heck of a lot of Australian Indie films - and I thoroughly enjoyed this one!

Writer/Director Andrew Walsh's debut film 'How Deep is the Ocean' is a character study of a young 20-something, Eleanor, who arrives in Melbourne, Australia, trying to make a new life for herself. Over the course of the next year, we see her drift from job to job and dealing with low-life Aussie men.

There's nothing huge or momentous that takes place - it's a simple film about life, love, and simply getting by in this world. Interesting to note is that the film didn't have a full screenplay. The storyline was set, but the actors had to improvise dialogue. This results in a film that feels genuine, even if a little awkward at times.

Worth a look!

This film is probably a common tragic story for wandering youth or young adults where the protagonist Eleanor seems to aimlessly drift from one pointless human encounter striving to find some meaning or happiness.

We know fairly little about her apart from her broken family history back in Adelaide and interestingly she spurns the advances of the one character who may likely give her the comfort and security that she really needs in her wandering life.

Despite the occasionally obvious improv dialogue the film actually has a more realistic script than many indie films that try to create natural speech interactions and results in a jumble of words that people often use if conversation.

How Deep is the Ocean is a thoughtful film that does a good job of exploring the loneliness that runaway youth or drifters experience each day. The long unbroken scene takes will likely challenge those with a 3 second attention span but the beauty is in the ability to stop and watch the characters closely and in this Director Andrew Walsh gives us full serving.

Good depiction of Melbourne and what to expect if you're moving here with little in your pocket. Impro style works well and the space it creates draws you in to the story and the characters. Andrew Walsh makes a lot of films typically set in Melbourne, depicting raw characters and this is his first feature, which he has pulled off in great style. I'm sure this will open doors to more! The locations work well, the characters are strong and the actors portraying the characters are good choices. Some faces are familiar, having seen them in other productions and films. Music is very effective too!

This quiet, contemplative film takes a bit to hit its stride, but once it does, it casts a spell. It benefits from having a beautiful actress in the lead who is likely destined for big things, Olivia Fildes as the mysterious, mercurial Eleanor. She is well matched by her new flat mate, the alcoholic, unstable but affable comedian, Roy, played by Cris Cochrane. Their seemingly improvisational scenes pull the viewer in with the rhythm of everyday life.

Much of the movie plays out in long, uninterrupted takes. It is a testament to the writing and performances that they, mostly, hold the audience's attention. One early exception is when Eleanor commits an act of rebellion at a dead-end job. It unspools in desultory fashion, a missed opportunity for a bigger payoff.

But at its best, this reminded me of Greta Gerwig/Noah Baumbach collabs like Frances Ha. Poignant observations about life from a young person's point of view in an uncaring world with fleeting moments of grace. The closing piano theme is a fitting and beautiful note to fade out on.