My Year Without Sex

I attended the North American Premiere of "My Year Without Sex" at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. The obviously titillating and suggestive title may be a bit misleading, but writer/director Sarah Watt has hit the jackpot with this sweet little Australian dramedy. After a brain aneurysm, Natalie (Sacha Horler) is advised by her doctor to avoid certain risky behaviors. Mayhem ensues. The script is sexy without being too bawdy, but I'd recommend it for ages 14+ and there are some Aussie references that may get past viewers. I loved the cute soundtrack and clever structure, with title cards presenting each month of the year as a separate segment with its own sexually suggestive title (Foreplay, Going Down...). But strong performances make this film worth seeing.

I enjoyed watching this film. I laughed and I shed a tear. I would like to watch it again as there are parts of the movie that are worth re-examining.

Set in the inner western suburbs of Melbourne, this film touches on many of the day-to-day issues that Australian families are concerned with. Whether it be paying bills, how to bring up children, career management and of course, inter-personal relations.

At an even deeper level, this movie examines a post-Christian society and some of the ways that people address the existential questions.

Covering such a broad range of issues in a film means that only one of them is examined in depth. What keeps a marriage together "in sickness and in health?".

One thing did get under my skin. The annoying cliché that portrays the struggling family as virtuous and their richer, flamboyant relatives as morally deficient.

Not many laughs from the audience at tonight's screening in Sydney. I started losing interest in this film around the time it got to 'May'.

This is a mildly amusing comic drama about an average Aussie family and their year from hell. I found the film neither funny nor particularly moving. You'd think it would be considering it is about a woman battling back from an aneurysm and having huge doubts about her faith, relationship etc.

The script just isn't polished enough and secondary characters (the blokey brother in law and his trophy wife etc) were like cardboard cutouts.

The photography is unimaginative and the film seems dated, like it was made for television ten years ago.

Disappointing. Like many Aussie films, this one needed a few more drafts done before it was given the green light.

The film explores how people go about making sense of their lives. Despite the reality of life portrayed in the film, Sarah Watt has managed to put together a story that is incredibly funny as well as having a strong emotional resonance.

The "truth" of the film comes from the way by which audiences will be able to relate their own lives with the everyday Australian characters, partly because of the brilliant performances of the cast, perhaps more so because of the writing, direction and editing. There was nothing throughout the entire film that broke me out of the narrative. A special mention must go to Sacha Horler, who I have not seen in anything since Praise - she is just amazing - although the whole cast work exceptionally well.

I loved Sarah Watt's previous film Look Both Ways, which like My Year Without Sex also made me laugh and cry, so I had some expectations going into this film. Expectations can be dangerous, as if the experience of watching the film does not live up to them then they can be crushed. But the blend of ideas, acting, direction to create consummate storytelling meant that I was thoroughly entertained.

On the face of it this is pretty mundane stuff, a year in the life of an ordinary Western Suburbs Melbourne family, but Sarah Watts, responsible for another charming domestic drama, "Look Both Ways", is able to invest the story with a great deal of charm. She demonstrates without resorting to soap opera clichés that life in the suburbs can indeed be life on the edge.

Natalie (Sasha Horler) a hard-working mother of two suffers a brain aneurism, fortuitously while at the doctor's. She recovers but is advised to avoid strenuous activities, including sneezing and having sex with her loving husband Ross (Matt Day). In the next twelve months, each neatly packaged into an episode, life does not go easily. Natalie has to give up her job, Matt is threatened with redundancy, the car is written off in a holiday accident, the clothes dryer self-destructs, the family dog is attacked, and the house gets more untidy than ever. But the family survives and the film ends on a positive note.

This is a film most Australians would identify with. The family's situation is real and Watt generates a fair degree of humour out of it. There's Louis, a 12 year old Aussie Rule fanatic, Ruby, a cute 8 year old, and a much-loved dog, Bubblehead. There are some dodgy rich friends they envy and Ross (a sound engineer at a radio station) has a collection of odd workmates. Christmas and Easter are times of trial as well as celebration. Religious feeling hovers in the wings, especially in the person of former one-hit wonder pop-star turned priest Margaret (Maud Davey). Like most Australians the family are practising hedonists, but Natalie's brush with death does stimulate some deeper questions for them. Apart from the teasing chapter titles there's not much about sex in the picture, but there is a warm understanding of what makes families work. These are ordinary people kept together by their regard for one another. Money matters but it does not rule them. There's not a lot of support from their friends but they get by, somehow.

Sasha Horler puts in an extraordinary performance, and Matt Day's rather self-effacing character complements her beautifully. Jonathan Segat as Louis the football fanatic is also extremely convincing. Unfortunately the $4 million budget does not leave a lot for promotion and this film will probably not be widely seen. It is more of a comedy and less of a drama than "Look Both Ways", but it is directed with assurance and flair.