Venice Days review - THE DAUGHTER by Simon Stone

Two families, both unlike in dignity, in quiet rural Australia where SIMON STONE lays his scene. His feature directorial debut THE DAUGHTER was this year's closing film of the VENICE DAYS section of the 72nd VENICE FILM FESTIVAL.
 
THE DAUGHTER by SIMON STONE is the intricate story of how a secret slowly comes to the surface to deeply affect the lives of two families residing in a present-day logging town. 
 
The film is deeply emotionally engaging, and its many characters feel fully developed, a fact that not only highlights a praise worthy maturity in the screenplay, also written by STONE in his astonishing feature debut, but also defies many of the elements one would expect from it - not least of all, it defies many of the conventions that come with its rural setting, particularly the machismo driven one of Australia. Here, the male figures are just as vulnerable if not more so than the female ones. 
 
Therefore, the head of one of the families, owner of the logging business (GEOFFREY RUSH) forces to close at the start of the film, is still deeply full of remorse and guilt for the death of his wife years ago. The death also irrepairibly strained the relationships between him and his son (PAUL SCHNEIDER), who took to heavy drinking and ultimately trashed his own bond with his girlfriend back in the states and this heightens the tension of his return to the village for the occasion of his father's wedding with his much younger former housekeeper (ANNA TORV). 
 
Things seem far more peaceful in the other family the story follows. The patriarch is a kind-hearted man who rescues animals (SAM NEILL) and his son (EWEN LESLIE) is happily married to a lovely woman (MIRANDA OTTO) and father of Hedvig, a free-spirited and loving daughter (ODESSA YOUNG). However, gradually, as the film progresses their idyllic lifestyle threatens to be affected by the bitter feelings that rise unwanted out of the ashes of the past.

The power of the screenplay, excellently balanced despite its labyrinthine soap operatic structure, is excellently supported by the top class cast. ODESSA YOUNG as the titular daughter is not only the glue that keeps many of the emotions of the film together, but also a genuine representation of a sexually precocious and fun-loving but also tender and benevolent soul. 

Ultimately, however, the film's slight focus on the friendship between the sons of the two families, one from the working class the other from the wealthy one, also allows SCHNEIDER and LESLIE to particularly shine in their relatively opposing personalities in a way that recalls the pivotal complicated friendship of HOW MANY MILES TO BABYLON? by JENNIFER JOHNSTON. 

As mentioned earlier, THE DAUGHTER widely ignores the stereotypical representation of its rural setting, both in style and language. The film's soap operatic tangles and serious themes of trauma remind one of DOUGLAS SIRK, but more than that the film narratively speaking seems a faithful descendant of the golden age of DOGMA 95, and more particularly the latter dramas of THOMAS VINTERBERG. On top of the theme of broken families and secrets, the comparison seems welcomed by ANDREW COMMIS' cinematography, whose widescreen photography allows the Australian woods a tasteful Scandinavian zest, flattering its quietness that mirrors the unsaid, the very handling of which is able to keep a viewer genuinely emotionally invested from start to finish with its many well timed twists and realistic human and sometimes even purposefully uncomfortably truthful outlook on relationships between spouses, partners, friends, fathers, sons and, of course, daughters.