By Erin Free
Worth: $18.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Radha Mitchell, Adam Demos, Meg Fraser, Xavier Molyneux, Natalie Bassingthwaighte, Bart Edwards, Darren Gilshenan
Intro:
...utterly charming...
The old adage goes that if you are an aspiring writer, then you should always write what you know. The merits of this adage are certainly oft-debated, but at least in the utterly charming case of Australian writer/director John Raftopoulos’ debut feature Take My Hand, the adage seems to have paid off…and paid off handsomely. This honest, authentic romantic drama is based on the beautiful love story at the centre of Raftopoulos’ own life, and it makes for deeply affecting viewing indeed.
There’s an inherent danger, of course, in basing a romance on one’s own life, and that danger – namely creating something mawkish and self-indulgent – is a particularly crippling one, but Raftopoulos thankfully avoids it by tapping into the true grit of his story, and telling it in a naturalistic, winningly low-key way.
The film begins in the gorgeous Northern Rivers region of NSW with Laura (Meg Fraser) and Michael (Xavier Molyneux) as teenagers. While she plans on heading to university in England, he dreams of becoming a talent scout for the AFL, and basically, never the twain shall meet, and the young couple are only a couple for a very short time. Twenty years later, however, Laura (now played by Radha Mitchell) and Michael (Adam Demos) are reunited, only this time under very, very different, and far more trying, circumstances.
The promotional materials around Take My Hand have made no secret of it, so it’s no spoiler to reveal that Laura suffers from Multiple Sclerosis, as does director John Raftopoulos’ real life wife, Claire Jensz, who is also a producer on the film. The manner in which MS is presented here is so sensitive and so knowing that the film could only have been made by people who know this cruel and unforgiving condition inside out. It gives the film a raw, real quality that perfectly balances its innate sweetness and warmth.
First time director Raftopoulos crafts his film in a clear, no-nonsense way, really getting to the emotion of the matter, but never over-playing his hand and drifting into sentimentality. He’s helped immeasurably by Radha Mitchell and Adam Demos, who both deliver superb performances. Mitchell displays a striking vulnerability, while Demos hints superbly at the core of rich decency that lies beneath his knockaround exterior; both are incredibly likeable and magnetic on screen, with a real sense of chemistry.
Despite the vicious, insidious disease that lies at the film’s centre, Take My Hand is a truly warm and positive cinematic experience, showing not only that true love can come later in life, but that it can also, in its own way, heal. With Take My Hand, John Raftopoulos and Claire Jensz have blessed audiences by inviting them to share in their profoundly affirming and truly uplifting love story.
