Love and Other Catastrophes (1996)

A day in the life of two film-school students trying to find love and another house-mate.

Director:

Emma-Kate Croghan

Writers:

Stavros Kazantzidis (story), Yael Bergman (screenplay),

Stars:

Matt Day, Matthew Dyktynski, Alice Garner

1 win & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Matt Day	...	Michael Douglas
Matthew Dyktynski	...	Ari
Alice Garner	...	Alice
Frances O'Connor	...	Mia
Radha Mitchell	...	Danni
Suzi Dougherty	...	Savita
Kim Gyngell	...	Professor Richard Leach
Suzanne Dowling	...	Dr. Russell
Torquil Neilson	...	Toby
Christine Stephen-Daly	...	Susan
Dominic McDonald	...	Zac
Alvin Chong	...	Alvin
Myles Collins	...	Myles
Antony Neate	...	Tony
Brigid Kelly	...	Brigid

Storyline

Two female students struggling to complete their university degrees seek a flatmate. At the same time Michael, a medical student, is looking for a new place to stay.

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Plot Keywords:

student | film school | university | love | medical student | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexuality, language and some drug use

Details

Official Sites:

Fox Searchlight

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 March 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ahava V'Tzarot Aherot

Filming Locations:

Hotel Como, Toorak Road, South Yarra, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Box Office

Budget:

$250,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$22,807 (USA) (28 March 1997)

Gross:

$212,285 (USA) (25 April 1997)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Beyond Films, New Vision Films, Screwball Five

Technical Specs

Runtime:

76 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

After its initial screening at the Cannes Film Festival, Fox Searchlight gave Emma-Kate Croghan another $400,000 to give the film a bit of polish. (The film's original budget of $37,000 didn't allow for much in the way of post-production.)

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Goofs

When Alice parks her car, the window is halfway down, but throughout the previous parts of the journey, it has been fully up.

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Quotes

Ari: I used to think love is the delusion that one woman differs from the other, but maybe that was the delusion.

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Connections

References Cannibal Holocaust (1980)

User Reviews

Cute Romantic Comedy

"Love and Other Catastrophes" is co-written and co-produced by a Jewish Australian woman, makes some jokes on Woody Allen, and doesn't repeat any of his stereotypes.

There's an interesting Jewish character or two - including a guy named Ari who is a lothario and a guy considering a circumcision due to the demands of his Jewish girlfriend.

It fits nicely in the genre of twentysomething roommates seeking love, i.e. "Singles," "Kicking and Screaming," etc.

The lesbian couple is treated completely naturally and romantically and is really the most interesting couple. None of the guys even assume the lesbian's straight best friend is gay, as I think would happen in most American films.

The film student satires are a bit heavy handed, but on a whole it's a cute, funny first-time movie casually made.

I only recognized two songs out of the whole soundtrack as it was filled with Australian rock 'n' roll I've never heard before.

(originally written 4/2/1997)