My Brother Jack

Ken Cameron’s screen transposition of the classic George Johnston coming-of age novel is more thorough than inspired but thanks to its careful production design serves nicely as a picturesque image of Australian life between the First and Second World Wars. Matt Day plays the Johnston alter ego, the serious and sensitive David Meredith, who hero-worships his older brother Jack (Simon Lyndon), a cockily independent rouseabout, who has all the self-confidence that David lacks. Written from the perspective of David as a grown man living the idyllic writer’s life on a Greek island, it tells the story of his family from the time his father (William McInnes) returns from WWI, a mentally and physically broken man when David is seven years old to the end of WWII and his progression to a fully-fledged.

Cameron, assisted by cinematographer Russell Bacon, makes effective use of locations and with excellent costume design and art direction the film always looks good. The acting quality is variable, and as is so often the case with period films, the well-established typology of characters tends to produce rather mannered performances, particularly from the less-experienced cast members. In addition the one-point authorial perspective, relayed by Matt Day’s impassive voice-over, tends to reinforce the observational nature of the film, particularly in the first part which concentrates largely on unfolding events but, with the exception of William McInnes’s tyrannical father, provides very little opportunity for dramatic interaction between the characters. Perhaps on television, particularly if segmented by advertisements, it would not be so apparent, but taken as a whole it is a flat affair, not helped at all by Day's overly diffident performance.

The second part of the film which is largely dedicated to Meredith;s activities during WWII.  Jack Thompson, Claudia Karvan and making her screen debut, an actress who has been little seen since, Ellouise Rothwell all help to make this the more dramatically engaging part with Day assuming a more vocal, if not exactly commanding, presence as his character finds his true calling.

DVD Extras: Australian Story: Jack Hazlitt (26mins); Novel Profile.

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Available from: Umbrella Entertainment

 

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