Separation City

Paul Middleditch directed the film A Cold Summer seven years ago, and now he returns with a film which should strike to the heart of many marriages and give couples much food for thought. Several critics dislike the fact that this film walks a line between drama and comedy, but in fact this is what I liked about it – that it achieves this tricky task so successfully.

There is plenty of poignancy and low key drama, especially in the character of Simon, a political speech-writer for Boyle, and an all-round nice bloke. He suffers from premature ejaculation, a topic not often dealt with so authentically in a film. The film is very male-focussed and it is refreshing to see a script which has some decent meaningful dialogue between blokes, even if at times it is played for a laugh. A men’s group also features, where the characters bare their souls, but the character of Errol the fireman should definitely have been omitted; too contrived and politically incorrect!

Many couples will relate to the vexed issue of sexual attraction outside of marriage. Just what is real happiness and what is real love, as opposed to lust? Simon is obsessed with the idea that Katrien could represent his last chance for real happiness. Wife Pam however cannot see how her total turning away from sex (she lets him do it as long as she can keep reading her book!!) is a major threat to their marriage. These scenes were authentically handled with some smart scripting.

Edgerton makes Simon a character with whom we can truly empathise, without condemnation. Mitra is a sexy screen presence, and again we understand and feel for Katrien. She is attracted to Simon because he is a decent guy, but her desired affair could damage that very quality. Hill, who has appeared in many Australian TV shows, is excellent as the mordant Harry, ever the male chauvinist, ever the true friend. Cormack as Pam grapples with the fact that her character needed a little more fleshing out, while most of the other women are somewhat under-utilised; I think this stems from there being too many characters in the script.

The use of classic bedroom farce techniques is put to good effect when the characters go to Berlin for one of Boyle’s conferences. There are some great comedy routines in the hotel and they stay just straight enough to avoid taking away from the concurrent drama of the situation.

Small New Zealand films intrigue me. They don’t get long theatrical seasons but are often little gems, with minimum pretensions but plenty of realism. Separation City falls just short of being a gem but has many strengths which make it worth seeing.

Want more about this film?

Want something different?