Perfect Strangers (2003)

Synopsis: Melanie (Rachel Blake) is ready for someone or something to provide a distraction from the daily grind. She spends her days working in a takeaway food store and her evenings drinking with her friends at the local pub. With the failure of a one-night stand with Bill (Joel Tobeck) she has all but given up on finding a decent man. That is until "The Man" (Sam Neill) walks through the front door. For a short time, it seems that her wish has been granted. When he escorts her to his boat, Melanie is ready for an adventurous night. On awakening, the fantasy is soon shattered by the reality that her dream lover has much more in mind than she was bargaining for.

The world premiere of Perfect Strangers was at the Melbourne International Film festival earlier this year, where Preston launched it as "a macabre tale which sets out to debunk romantic myths by bending well-accepted story conventions to become something new and confrontational." Having seen two of her earlier films at MIFF a number of years ago, I was ready for a film that tells a story with a strong feminist bent, particularly as this is the first film where she is the sole writer.

The film is very much in the "what if" vein of story telling. The characters start out in the normal world, however, once they leave the safety of civilization, everything is up for grabs. What if this handsome desirable man turns out to be a monster? What if the woman finds herself trapped on a remote island in fear of losing her life? What if this story suddenly twists in a whole new direction to what you were expecting?

The film comes with a dream cast and crew. Rachael Blake shows again her ability to capture the restlessness of a woman caught up in a nondescript life. It is also particularly satisfying to see Sam Neill playing the brooding loner again, back on one of those spectacular deserted beaches, reminiscent of his role in The Piano. The sound track is provided by Neil Finn, while the cinematographer, Alun Bollinger and the editor, John Gilbert, have both worked on The Lord Of The Rings trilogy as well as many other high profile projects.

What undermines the collaboration of such a talented group is the lack of clarity as to what Preston was hoping her audience would be left with. Perfect Strangers seems to set itself up as one kind of film, and then without warning turns into a completely different film. Ambiguity is good medicine for a culture intent on understanding the whys and wherefores of all we experience, as it removes the reassurance of easy answers. However, if the message is too weak, ambiguity drifts towards vagueness and the audience may be left confused or annoyed.

The recently–screened Rob Sutherland film, The Inside Story, is a good example of a film that informs the audience right from the opening title sequence that they will not be dwelling in "the real world". Things may not be normal but you know where you are. If Preston’s film is to be understood as a "confrontational" feminist allegory then some kind of moral position relatable to the real world of relationships needs to be articulated. This does not happen here. Whatever the director's intentions were, Perfect Strangers, at best, leaves us to ponder the solipsistic question of whether reality is really more satisfying than the fruits of one’s imagination.

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