Australian Odeon

for black, but oftentimes crowd-pleasing, comedy. The standout of the film is undeniably Judy Davis, who is not only given the majority of the best lines, but absolutely inhabits the character of Molly, complete with blackened tooth and disheveled hair. She's a woman who struggles to remember both her and her daughter's past, in part because of her age but in part because of the pain she feels in remembering. That's not to say she doesn't know how to enjoy herself, particularly in one of the film's best scenes at a screening of Sunset Boulevard. Hugo Weaving is also fantastic as the police Sergeant with a particularly keen interest in Tilly's vocation.

 

Which brings us to Winslet. Attempts at Australian accents by non-Australian actors have had a largely poor track record. Meryl Streep went a little too 'ocker' in Evil Angels, and university linguists are still trying to work out what James Coburn was doing in The Great Escape. The measure of an accent is surely the ability to blend in with the surrounding native speakers and in this respect Winslet's work is flawless. Within the first five minutes of the film, her English roots are forgotten, allowing the character of Tilly to emerge, in all her flaws and contradictions. Winslet has spent the better part of twenty years proving herself to be one of her generation's greatest screen actors and her talents are not wasted, nor does she phone in what is a very challenging role. Liam Hemsworth does as best as he can in a fairly bland role, which really only requires abs and charm, most likely a product of the film already being filled with larger than life characters (it would've been impossible to try and outdo Davis).

 

Moorehouse largely manages to handle the films frequent shifts in tone with aplomb until the final act which almost threatens to undo all the good work the film spent the previous hour and half doing. Ultimately, The Dressmaker comes to a satisfying, if slightly off colour, conclusion. The film has been a tremendous success in Australia, part of a banner year for the local film industry in which Australian films accounted for the largest percentage of box office receipts since 2001. It goes to show that Australian audiences will gladly show up for well-made, but possibly just as importantly, well-marketed films.