The Year My Voice Broke (1987)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

John Duigan

Writer:

John Duigan (written by)

Release Date:

17 October 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

It was incredible. It was the year that changed everything. Forever.

Plot:

During the year 1962, a young prepubescent boy in rural Austrailia watches painfully as his best friend and first love...

Plot Keywords:

First Love | Affection | Puberty | Adolescent | Coming Of Age

Awards:

5 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Noah Taylor	...	Danny Embling
Loene Carmen	...	Freya Olson
Ben Mendelsohn	...	Trevor Leishman
Graeme Blundell	...	Nils Olson
Lynette Curran	...	Anne Olson
Malcolm Robertson	...	Bruce Embling
Judi Farr	...	Sheila Embling
Tim Robertson	...	Bob Leishman
Bruce Spence	...	Jonah
Harold Hopkins	...	Tom Alcock
Nick Tate	...	Sergeant Pierce
Vincent Ball	...	Headmaster
Anja Coleby	...	Gail Olson
Kylie Ostara	...	Alison
Kelly Dingwall	...	Barry

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | Australia:M | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Braidwood, New South Wales, Australia

Company:

Kennedy Miller Productions

Trivia:

There are two movies that are featured in this film that have no entry on IMDB -"Teenage Runaway" (a poster for this adorns the wall at the Astor Cinema) and "Summer Fire" (the group goes to see this at the Astor). There is the possibility that these are fictional items created for this film. There is no copyright acknowledgment in the Credits for "Summer Fire", which would be expected if it was a real film. A search for "Teenage Runaway" on IMDB does not find any movies with this exact title, nor any with this theme from an appropriate time period (pre-1962).

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When Danny and Freya stand on the line watching the train pass, the crew's image is reflected in the shiny side of the train carriages.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Breach (2007)

Soundtrack:

Apache

Well worth it

Australia seems to have an incredible knack for turning out beautiful films about real life situations fraught with meaning and mystery. This one is no exception. Like the Peter Weir classic _Picnic at Hanging Rock_, the landscape seems to come alive on the screen, and the sense of Australia's isolation does as well.

What I especially liked is that many of us (myself included) can empathize with Danny, but he's not perfect. The film really gets across the pain of falling for someone that you can never have. Trevor also embodies the kinds of guys that inexplicably attract strong-willed women like Freya. Despite the fact that one might not like his character, he's shown to have genuine feelings for Freya, and to be somewhat understanding of Danny. The major strength of the film is that the characters are fully fleshed out, with their own virtues and vices.

Instead of watching the cruddy teen movies that Hollywood churns out nowadays, give this one a try.