Monkey Grip - DaaVeeDee

Monkey Grip (DVD) (*)

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Screened, competed or awarded at:
Australian Film Institute

Language Selections:
English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )

Product Origin/Format:
Australia ( PAL/Region 0 )

Running Time:
101 min

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen (1.78:1)

Special Features:
Cast/Crew Interview(s)
Interactive Menu
Music Video
Photo Gallery
Scene Access
Trailer(s)

Movie filmed in 1982 and produced in:
Australia ( Australia, New Zealand )

Directed By:
Ken Cameron

Written By:
Ken Cameron
Helen Garner

Actors:
Noni Hazlehurst ..... Nora
Colin Friels ..... Javo
Alice Garner ..... Gracie
Harold Hopkins ..... Willie
Candy Raymond ..... Lillian
Michael Caton ..... Clive
Tim Burns ..... Martin
Christina Amphlett ..... Angela
Don Miller-Robinson ..... Gerald
Lisa Peers ..... Rita
Cathy Downes ..... Eve
Justin Ridley ..... Roaster
Pearl Christie ..... Juliet
Vera Plevnik ..... Jessie
Jamie Fonti ..... Ramondo

Synopsis:

Monkey Grip is a film about the complication of love, desire and freedom. Nora (Noni Hazlehurst), single with a young child (Alice Garner), still wants to live the life of a young artist, as do her friends, a group of writers, singers and actors (including Christina Amphlett from The Divinyls). In spite of all her resolutions she is drawn into an obsessive, passionate affair with Javo (Colin Friels), a heroin addict, and struggles to overcome the complications of love, desire and freedom in order to regain control of her life.

Gloom settles quickly as Nora (Hazlehurst) launches into a portentous account of her emotional ups-and-downs. Thirtyish, separated from the father of her child, she is suffering almost stoically as a single parent in Sydney but still hoping to get fulfilled. Prospects look slim when, after discarding junkie number one, she falls for Javo (Friels), the sort of guy who needs a day's notice to tie his shoelaces. After much airing of thick-eared romantic problems in swimming-pools, squats and studies, Nora emerges, so she informs us, an older but infinitely wiser woman. What seems extraordinary is that this should have been held up (and apparently applauded) as the story of a woman fighting to control her life, when she's clearly making a dreadful mess of it. It's also unrelieved by the faintest glimmer of humour, except for one (unintentionally?) quite hilarious scene in which Javo's acting ambitions take a tumble when he heaves all over the footlights on his debut. Noni Hazlehurst is excellent, but it's an unrewarding plod.

Monkey Grip is a frank portrayal of a year in the life of a divorced mother (Noni Hazlehurst) living in Melbourne, trying to cope with her daughter and her own relationship with a drug addict while trying to get into the music business.

This product was added to our catalog on Tuesday 15 November, 2005.

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