Malcolm

(Nadia Tass, Australia, 1986)

Watching this film, at the age of 26, on its initial cinema release in Sydney – the city to which I had recently moved – prompted a profound and surprising bout of homesickness. For its special triumph is its somewhat chilly, homely mood, and its palpable fondness for the daggy spaces of suburban Melbourne – the exact place which I had fled.

In its script and characters, too, Malcolm conveys a sense of the fragile communications and fleeting contacts between people. Adrift and uncomfortable in a new share-household, I was surely susceptible to its downbeat charms!

Colin Friels (in one of his best roles) plays Malcolm – in a typical movie-world tactic, every bit of print around the film identifies the character as autistic, while the script itself (by the director’s partner-collaborator, David Parker) does not. Just an eccentric, withdrawn, everyday-obsessive Aussie guy, maybe? You choose; it’s not a clinical case study.

Malcolm is into making model trains – among many other ingenious gadgets. After losing his job, he makes ends meet by taking in a boarder, Frank (John Hargreaves), soon followed by Frank’s no-nonsense girlfriend, Judith (Lindy Davies). They lure the willing, childlike Malcolm into a jolly life of petty crime, and various complications ensue.

With its whimsical, unique mix of crime, home-made gadgets, tone-switches and personal disability, director Nadia Tass and writer David Parker hit a first-time-out score that they have subsequently been unable to beat or even match.

MORE Tass/Parker: Mr Reliable, Amy

© Adrian Martin 22 June 1990