Smash Palace (1981)

Wonderfully offbeat film!

Too much of everything

It is not only a funny movie, but it allows a great amount of joy for anyone who watches it.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

I'd heard of this film back when it was first released, hailed as one of the new breed of films being released from the Australian/New Zealand part of the world. Along with several others that were making a splash at the time critics loved the movie and couldn't say enough good about it. So when the chance to view it arose I was looking forward to it. The movie features Bruno Lawrence as Al Shaw, a down on his luck race car drivers whose life didn't take the turns he planned. Having not raced in some time Al drives a tow truck and lives at Smash Palace, a junk yard he owns for battered old cars, along with his wife Jacqui (Anna Maria Monticelli) and young daughter Georgie (Greer Robson-Kirk). Having met his wife while recovering from a crash this was not the life she saw for herself. Still young she longs for parties and socializing, skills that Al lacks. While Al dreams of returning to the track in a new car he's been working on, Jacqui wants to sell the junkyard and move away.On the night of a scheduled party Al stays home with his daughter while Jacqui goes to a party that was planned. Too drunk to drive she gets a ride home with Ray (Keith Aberdein), a local constable and best friend of Al. A few flirtatious moments pass between the two but nothing happens, not that Jacqui might not like it to. Tensions between the couple grow as the film progresses. It's not that either of them is a bad person but the plans they both had for their lives run different courses. The non-communicative Al is obsessed with the cars and junk yard his father once owned and Jacqui longs for the life she once led while living in Paris. Between the two of them and suffering some potential future emotional damage of her own is young Georgie who sits in bed at night listening to the two of them fighting.Things eventually reach fever pitch and Jacqui moves out with Georgie leaving Al behind but with visitation rights. Once gone she does indeed take up with Ray, a second betrayal in the eyes of Al and rightfully so. As Jacqui continues to push Al away, eventually filing a restraining order on him from seeing Georgie, he breaks down. He kidnaps Georgie, fakes their death and hides in the woods. Only Georgie getting ill brings him back to town and a potential showdown with Jacqui, Ray and the police.Viewers should not be misled into thinking this is an action film or a Road Warrior clone. I've known people who see the fact of where it was made and shots of the open road who have done so. In fact the movie is a much deeper drama about the breakup of a loving couple that perhaps were never destined to be together in the first place. What makes it truly tragic is that they have a child that both love and when one withholds that child from the other it delivers a punching blow that drives a man to near madness.The movie is the second feature film from director Roger Donaldson who went on to direct THE BOUNTY, COCKTAIL and NO WAY OUT. While very well done it shows his early development. Some of the scenes feel repetitive but help flesh out the story of what's going on here. He has a nice eye for camera placement and what he wants to pull out of his actors, something that you can tell he grew into with each film.The performances here are wonderful, especially that from Lawrence. It's one thing to portray a man driven to desperate acts by a woman he once loved but to play him in such a way that induces sympathy rather than hating him takes skill. Monticelli does a nice job as well but doesn't come off near as sympathetic, instead coming across as petty and focusing more on herself than her family. Once can understand her disappointment in the way things have turned out but not the methods she employs nor her decision to go after her soon to be ex's best friend. Robson-Kirk gives one of the best child acting performances on screen never seeming like a child or like she's acting. On the whole the movie held my interested and not being incredibly savvy on Australian/New Zealand cinema prior to the wave of films that came out of this period I would say it was a good step in drawing attention to the location and films made there. The film provides plenty of drama and story which many films, even today, seem to be lacking. It's well thought out, well constructed, well acted and holds your interests from start to finish. The film is being released on blu-ray as part of the Arrow Academy series from Arrow Video. As with all of their offerings the film is presented in the best looking format possible. Extras include a commentary track featuring Donaldson and stunt drive Steve Millen, THE MAKING OF SMASH PALACE a 52 minute documentary featuring interviews with cast and crew, the theatrical trailer, a reversible sleeve with new artwork by Sean Phillips and for the first pressing only an illustrated collectors booklet featuring new writing on the film by Ian Barr, a contemporary review by Pauline Kael and the original press book.

Bruno Lawrence owns and operates the titular auto wrecking yard, and races cars when he gets the chance. He took over the business when his father died, planning on selling it right away, but has grown to love it and won't sell. His wife hates it, and hates the fact that Lawrence spends all his time with his cars and his young daughter and none with her. Her displeasure drives her into the arms of Bruno's best friend, and when she leaves, taking his daughter with her, Bruno cracks and kidnaps her. Roger Donaldson's third feature is more of a character drama than his earlier films, though it has a somewhat action based climax. It's a generally intriguing film where nobody is completely right or wrong, and it goes in eccentric directions.

This is one of those intuitive, risky movies that a viewer will either take to his heart, or reject completely. It is almost impossible to explain to friends how compelling it is--describing the plot, which involves psychological domestic violence and the kidnapping of a child, certainly doesn't make it seem appealing. Yet this film has a sensual, primal power that is always on the verge of exploding; if you connect to the movie in any way, you won't be able to take your eyes off it. It is set in a remote corner of New Zealand, which is endemic to the storyline--the seething sense of unease and frustration seems to bubble up from under the rocks. It has contaminated the marriage of Al and Jacqui--he's a native, a man's man who releases his energy in racing cars; she's a delicate, exquisite French woman who feels abandoned and frustrated in this harsh setting--she didn't know when she married Al what she was getting into. As their eight-year-old child Georgie, Greer Robson gives one of the best child performances I have ever seen on screen--her reactions to every situation are slightly off and goofy (like a real child), yet you never catch her trying to be adorable. In one of the most effective scenes, Al and Jacqui are arguing violently, and Georgie escapes through a window and huddles in Al's truck with the family dog; her haunted face tells us more than we would learn if the camera stayed on Al and Jacqui. (It returns a moment later, to find the two of them ending the argument with a round of angry sex--certainly the worst decision they could make, and one I don't think I've ever seen depicted on the screen before.) Jacqui leaves Al, and keeps him from seeing Georgie, which drives him a little mad; he kidnaps the child at gunpoint (again, her expression is searing) and shatters everyone's lives. Lawrence is amazing in the role; a lesser (or more Methody) actor would probably make the audience (especially women) hate him, yet you can't--you see how he just can't be apart from Georgie. The end, which I will not reveal, is somehow perfect for this story, although it doesn't resolve a thing; the final shot is one more closeup of Georgie's face, and we know she has already been jerked (cruelly) into adulthood before the age of nine. As Pauline Kael noted, "The rage of fathers deprived of their children--a situation few men experienced in the past--is no doubt a key madness of our age."

I saw this movie while on vacation in New Zealand and loved it. Lawrence gives a terrific portrayal of a man whose life is thrown into chaos when his obsession with building a race car and paying more attention to his new car junkyard leads his wife to an affair with his best friend. He then kidnaps their daughter and heads for the woods. If you can find this movie anywhere, rent it. You won't regret it. The final scene to this film is especially memorable. I will not reveal it-you will have to see it to find out. You will never forget it, that's for sure. ***1/2 out of ****