by Dov Kornits
Worth: $13.50
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Connor Van Helsing, Thomas Midena, Jesse Milne, Stevie Jean
Intro:
... has many memorable moments ...
In case you were as clueless as us, initially, we finally clocked the reference in the title of this Aussie indie during the end credits as a nod is given to Kubrick’s Fear and Desire (1953), Kevin Smith’s Clerks (1994), Tarantino’s unfinished My Best Friend’s Birthday (1987) and specifically, Jean-Luc Godard’s revolutionary 1960 classic À Bout de souffle (Breathless) – all films made on the smell of an oily rag, just like this one.
About the Souffle is Jacob Hazeldine’s feature debut, made for a reported $1500 in Darwin, in grimy black and white, with a few colour and stylistic flourishes throughout, as we follow enigmatic, listless young adult Connor (co-writer Van Helsing – awesome surname!) as he’s thrown out of his share house. He must find a solution quick sticks, otherwise he’ll end up on the street. After bumping into Jack (Thomas Midena), an old classmate, he’s offered a short-term solution in an artist compound managed by Jesse (Jesse Milne). Lots of bong smoking and angst ensues.
There’s something to be said about being able to produce a coherent feature length narrative that keeps the audience engaged, and that alone gives About the Souffle a reason for being. Connor Van Helsing is an engaging protagonist, saying a lot without saying much. The naturalistic performances of the rest of the cast, both young and old, is mostly seamless and the film’s expressive sound design and music are juxtapositional highlights in their own right, guiding the audience with the protagonist’s journey and his state of mind. The portrait of Darwin’s arts scene is authentic, along with its fringe crime scene and seeming lawlessness.
That’s about it, though, as the ideas explored in the film are surface level and nothing that you haven’t seen before. That lack of depth ultimately hurts the film’s success in transcending its non-existent budget.
About the Souffle is ultimately too undergrad to truly shine. It’s like a really good student film, which has many memorable moments, but the whole doesn’t add up to the sum of its parts. It’ll be interesting to see what Hazeldine and co. can produce with more than $1500. If they can focus on specificity, and give us something to truly chew on, then they could truly emulate the films that inspired them.
