Look Both Ways (2005)

During one unusually hot and tragic weekend, four people struggle after hearing some life-changing news, this in turn brings them together.

Director:

Sarah Watt

Writer:

Sarah Watt

Stars:

Mary Kostakidis, Justine Clarke, Daniela Farinacci

22 wins & 19 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mary Kostakidis	...	SBS Newsreader
Justine Clarke	...	Meryl Lee
Daniela Farinacci	...	Julia
Robbie Hoad	...	Rob (as Rob Hoad)
William McInnes	...	Nick
Leon Teague	...	Doctor
Andrew S. Gilbert	...	Phil
Anthony Hayes	...	Andy Walker
Elena Carapetis	...	Maria
Tamara Lee	...	Policewoman (as Tamara Lees)
Andreas Sobik	...	Train Driver
Lisa Flanagan	...	Anna
Irena Dangov	...	Train Driver's Wife
Jacquelynne Willcox	...	Current Affairs Reporter
Laura Peisley	...	Emily

Storyline

On a Friday after a horrific train crash, three newsmen in Adelaide must take stock: Nick, a photojournalist, learns he has cancer; Andy, a writer with two children who has a bad relationship with his ex, learns his girlfriend Anna is pregnant; Phil, an editor, realizes he's missing his children's growing up. That afternoon, Meryl, an artist who illustrates sympathy cards and constantly imagines disasters, witnesses a train accident kill a man. At the crash site, she meets Nick, and a relationship flowers over the next three days which makes them both question their lives, wants and needs. Nick's mother, Andy's kids and ex, the dead man's girlfriend, the driver of the train, and his son round out an ensemble of grief and sorrow as each character becomes linked to another through the train accident. Can decisions to act bring hope?

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Plot Keywords:

human immunodeficiency virus acquired immune deficiency syndrome | cake | cellular phone | cricket the sport | trainwreck | 

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Taglines:

Love, death and the whole damn thing.

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some violent images, sexual content and thematic material

Details

Official Sites:

Adelaide Film Festival Investment Fund [Australia] Dendy Films [Australia]

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 August 2005 (Australia)

Also Known As:

Jobbra is, balra is

Filming Locations:

Modbury Hospital, Modbury, South Australia, Australia

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$164,727 (Australia), 19 August 2005, Limited Release

Opening Weekend USA:

$947, 21 April 2006, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$104,756, 3 September 2006

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hibiscus Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Publicity for this picture stated that "a characteristic of this story is how it draws people to it - almost everyone who has worked on 'Look Both Ways' has their personal stake in the story, which has made its making a felicitous process." Writer-director-animator Sarah Watt added: "The ideas were affirmed by the many people who brought their creativity and generosity to the collaboration which has become 'Look Both Ways'."

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Quotes

Nick: There's always this stuff in the paper about a brave-battle-with-cancer but then you're also supposed to accept it and have a nice everybody-gather-round-and-hug-each-other death. And when's that turnaround supposed to happen?

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Connections

Featured in South Australian Film Corporation 40th Anniversary Showreel (2012)

User Reviews

Look At Death But Don't Dwell On It

Death is a touchy subject to broach regardless of the medium in which you choose to expose it. It's uncomfortable to even think about yet touches us all on many levels, and that is why LOOK BOTH WAYS succeeds.

Building on death in thought-provoking, sad, and often hilarious terms, Look Both Ways binds a small Australian community together after the death of a man upon the local railroad tracks. Meryl (Justine Clarke, DANNY DECKCHAIR) witnesses the horrible event and summons the authorities. The local media shows up, including photojournalist Nick (William McInnes, IRRESISTIBLE) who's just been diagnosed with a rapidly spreading cancer. Also on the scene is Nick's newspaper partner Andy (Anthony Hayes, NED KELLY) and eventually the deceased's wife Julia (Daniella Farinacci, BROTHERS).

Meryl sees the event as just another death, something that fill her thoughts and her paintings on a daily basis. Her vivid imagination surrounding death is illustrated (literally) via laughingly silly animated sequences that are sure to tickle your dark funny bone. Photojournalist Nick sees himself on the railroad tracks, having just received a medical death sentence of metastatic testicular cancer. Newspaper writer Andy battles to understand life and death while struggling to be a good father to his divorced children, and the discovery that his new girlfriend is pregnant with an unwanted child. Widow Julia tries to understand the seemingly meaninglessness of her husband's death as flowers flow into her home and she's forced to come to grips with such a sudden loss.

Where Look Both Ways succeeds is in its delivery. Each person views death under their own unique umbrella, but are bound together by this one tragic event. Meryl and Nick become oddball lovers during a one night stand, while newsman Andy tries to sort through his chaotic and merciless lifestyle. Widow Julia and the engineer who was driving the train are two of the more interesting cases within the story, as they have no speaking parts until the very end, but are given ample screen time which speaks volumes on its own.

The message of the flick is simple but not forced: look at death both ways. See it as a necessity but don't dwell on it. There is hope and fear within it, operating not at opposite ends of the spectrum, but as a gauge on how to live life without death looming ever present on one's mind.

Meryl, the one who the film is mostly about, learns this lesson the hard way, coming to terms with her own fate, and that of Nick who's cancerous life is destined to plow into hers with the force of a padded sledgehammer.