Matt Shea
RubySoho
Morgan Bell
Cibbuano
David O'Connell
Mountain Fog
The Map Reader
November 12th 2009 03:30
A spirited, humourous and ultimately moving coming-of-age story from New Zealand, Harold Brodie’s The Map Reader evokes vivid memories of that difficult transition as we slowly evolve from carefree teenagers into adults - often before we're quite ready for the responsibility it entails.
16 year-old Michael (Jordan Selwyn) is considered a geek by his schoolmates, his nose constantly buried in an atlas since he could read, his bedroom wall plastered with maps of every description. It’s his passion as well as his escape, filling a void left by an absentee father he never knew. His mother Amelia (Rebecca Gibney) clings a little too closely to alcohol for comfort, keeping the world at bay perhaps, but driving a wedge between her and Michael.
The Map Reader focuses on the months preceding the biggest decision of Michael’s life and the two young women who will leave indelible marks on his psyche. Schoolmate Alison (Mikaila Hutchison) is derided by the local boys, included in nasty, suggestive rumours of promiscuity, but deep down her similarities to Michael draw them together. In a different way, belieing her exuberant attitude, she wrestles with demons, her father inclined to take out his frustration on her through physical retribution.
Then there’s the small town’s main attraction for the male teen set – attractive blind girl Mary (Bonnie Soper), an effervescent 20 year-old whose every venture outdoors draws a crowd of curious, lusting schoolboys to circle like lost puppies. Her mother is an old friend of Amelia and a dinner invitation opens Michael’s eyes to the gifts Mary possesses in her abilities to ‘see’ so much of the world, embracing it with a playful inquisitiveness despite her handicap.
Mary is also responsible for Michael’s sexual awakening and his conflicted feelings about her and Alison, both attractive to him for different reasons, accelerates his need to break out of his rut and grow up faster. At the same time his mum’s reliance on alcohol stirs a wanderlust, dormant within him despite the constant presence of the world at his fingertips in map form.
The strengths of The Map Reader, clearly a labour of love for the director, are its superb cast and sparkling screenplay. With a keen ear for the dialogue of teenagers, Brodie has made an endearing film about a familiar yearning to find one’s place in the overall scheme of things; it can be an awkward struggle for teenagers, perched on precipice figuratively speaking, their wavering sense of identity an invariable source of doubt and confusion.
Selwyn is necessarily pensive and withdrawn as Michael, yet he's empathetic as the identifiable outsider in us all. It’s in Brodie's female cast that the film is elevated to something special however. The character of Mary is a challenging one but the amazing Soper portrays her as a glowing, free-spirited young woman whose cheeky charm and joy of life are infectious. The lengthy scene where she and Michael are left alone by their parents is a real standout, carried along by Soper’s magnetic presence.
Hutchison is equally striking as the troubled, good-hearted Alison who’s able to fend off the verbal sparring of classmates with grace and humour and see Michael in a different light despite his close proximity to that crowd. Gibney, who was actually born and raised in New Zealand, is simply magnificent as the tragic, unfulfilled Amelia, wringing a telling conviction out of her every moment on screen.
There’s barely a false note in Brodie’s film, which reflects his own childhood fascination with maps growing up in America. It’s painfully real in the way it captures teenage interactions – those self-conscious and embarrassingly funny moments; the both crude and tentative curiosity about the opposite sex. It’s a neat encapsulation of those formative years, effectively pulling us into the sense of isolation that can develop in those marginally outside the norm and targeted for being ‘different’.
The Map Reader is an unconditional success, mostly because it’s told in broad yet intimate strokes; so too does it relay a tenderness for its characters by mirroring reality with a sharp eye for the smaller details of living. There’s a duel-edged, bittersweet ending that’s genuinely moving too; in becoming a conduit for the most radical decision her son’s ever made – one she’s recently implored him to consider – Amelia is effectively imprisoning herself. Left to the mercy of ghostly memories she can only blot out with alcohol remedies, Michael begins exploring his beloved maps in an exciting, very different way.
by David O'Connell
The Map Reader will be released on DVD on November 25.
16 year-old Michael (Jordan Selwyn) is considered a geek by his schoolmates, his nose constantly buried in an atlas since he could read, his bedroom wall plastered with maps of every description. It’s his passion as well as his escape, filling a void left by an absentee father he never knew. His mother Amelia (Rebecca Gibney) clings a little too closely to alcohol for comfort, keeping the world at bay perhaps, but driving a wedge between her and Michael.
The Map Reader focuses on the months preceding the biggest decision of Michael’s life and the two young women who will leave indelible marks on his psyche. Schoolmate Alison (Mikaila Hutchison) is derided by the local boys, included in nasty, suggestive rumours of promiscuity, but deep down her similarities to Michael draw them together. In a different way, belieing her exuberant attitude, she wrestles with demons, her father inclined to take out his frustration on her through physical retribution.
Then there’s the small town’s main attraction for the male teen set – attractive blind girl Mary (Bonnie Soper), an effervescent 20 year-old whose every venture outdoors draws a crowd of curious, lusting schoolboys to circle like lost puppies. Her mother is an old friend of Amelia and a dinner invitation opens Michael’s eyes to the gifts Mary possesses in her abilities to ‘see’ so much of the world, embracing it with a playful inquisitiveness despite her handicap.
Mary is also responsible for Michael’s sexual awakening and his conflicted feelings about her and Alison, both attractive to him for different reasons, accelerates his need to break out of his rut and grow up faster. At the same time his mum’s reliance on alcohol stirs a wanderlust, dormant within him despite the constant presence of the world at his fingertips in map form.
Michael (Jordan Selwyn) with Alison (Mikaila Hutchison)
The strengths of The Map Reader, clearly a labour of love for the director, are its superb cast and sparkling screenplay. With a keen ear for the dialogue of teenagers, Brodie has made an endearing film about a familiar yearning to find one’s place in the overall scheme of things; it can be an awkward struggle for teenagers, perched on precipice figuratively speaking, their wavering sense of identity an invariable source of doubt and confusion.
Selwyn is necessarily pensive and withdrawn as Michael, yet he's empathetic as the identifiable outsider in us all. It’s in Brodie's female cast that the film is elevated to something special however. The character of Mary is a challenging one but the amazing Soper portrays her as a glowing, free-spirited young woman whose cheeky charm and joy of life are infectious. The lengthy scene where she and Michael are left alone by their parents is a real standout, carried along by Soper’s magnetic presence.
Hutchison is equally striking as the troubled, good-hearted Alison who’s able to fend off the verbal sparring of classmates with grace and humour and see Michael in a different light despite his close proximity to that crowd. Gibney, who was actually born and raised in New Zealand, is simply magnificent as the tragic, unfulfilled Amelia, wringing a telling conviction out of her every moment on screen.
Michael with Mary (Bonnie Soper)
There’s barely a false note in Brodie’s film, which reflects his own childhood fascination with maps growing up in America. It’s painfully real in the way it captures teenage interactions – those self-conscious and embarrassingly funny moments; the both crude and tentative curiosity about the opposite sex. It’s a neat encapsulation of those formative years, effectively pulling us into the sense of isolation that can develop in those marginally outside the norm and targeted for being ‘different’.
The Map Reader is an unconditional success, mostly because it’s told in broad yet intimate strokes; so too does it relay a tenderness for its characters by mirroring reality with a sharp eye for the smaller details of living. There’s a duel-edged, bittersweet ending that’s genuinely moving too; in becoming a conduit for the most radical decision her son’s ever made – one she’s recently implored him to consider – Amelia is effectively imprisoning herself. Left to the mercy of ghostly memories she can only blot out with alcohol remedies, Michael begins exploring his beloved maps in an exciting, very different way.
by David O'Connell
The Map Reader will be released on DVD on November 25.
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Comment by Matt Shea
20/20 Filmsight
Comment by David O'Connell
Screen Fanatic
You're in for a treat with this one mate, I was very impressed with it. A small film but a real gem that has the feel of authenticity which isn't always easy to achieve on a modest budget.
Comment by Mountain Fog
I have a blind friend, she is a brilliant musician, a keyboard player and singer, who went blind at 12. She never portrays herself as a victim, and is full of laughter and fun. Oh, and she is a Kiwi!!
cheers
fog
Comment by David O'Connell
Screen Fanatic
Comment by Matt Shea
20/20 Filmsight