Alexandra's Project

Intense and Provocative

This film will definitely not appeal to everyone. It is emotionally and sexually brutal, and the weak of heart or stomach should stick to Hillary Duff flicks, or perhaps a good clean slasher film. When I saw a 'sneak preview' a few days ago, not one walked out during the film but there was a stunned and silent exodus after. The closest I can come to its raw impact are Peter Greenaway films such as "The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover", though "Alexandra's Project" is simpler and more personal. It compels you to watch even as it makes it uncomfortable to do so.

The film starts out easily, though with some forebodings of camera angle and incident. Steve (Gary Sweet) wakes up in an Australian suburb on his birthday; his charming children give him some presents, and his wife Alexandra (Helen Buday) tells him that a surprise will be waiting him when he comes home. It seems an idyllic scene, but .... When Alexandra wants to pay a bill, Steve forcefully reminds her the accounts are his ... their row house has been fitted with deadbolt locks and automated security shutters (doubly jarring in free and open Australia) ... Steve curses a sinister neighbor out watering the communal lawn. At work, Steve is called into the boardroom ... sweatingly unsure if he is to be fired or promoted (perhaps, we think, his controlling nature at home stems from lack of control at work?). But it is good news, and he goes home ready to celebrate ...

... only to find an empty, dark and shuttered house, the light bulbs removed and a video tape on the TV saying "watch me". Pretty creepy, but when he puts it in it's a birthday present -- Alexandra informing him the children are staying with a relative and then doing an amateurish striptease for the camera as Steve has a beer (at the tape's suggestion) and enthusiastically watches. Then she stops, not quite naked, and sits down to vent her anger and frustration at her life and him. When he tries to escape, he finds he is cleverly locked in by all those security devices, and he is forced to continue, gradually becoming drunker, distress playing on his face.

It would be too much of a spoiler to describe what happens next, but there are several surprises as the tension builds and a sad and enigmatic ending. It becomes over the top at times, but in a way that is the point. We don't know if Alexandra is being logical and rational, reacting to a desperate situation, or overreacting out of dementia or paranoia.

Buday's is a bravura performance, as she chews up the scenery and convincingly plays a woman who is (justifiably or not) not about to take it any more. Sweet's performance is less overtly dramatic, but excellent in the play of emotion on his face as he gradually dissolves in pity and horror. Both actors take great risks. It is remarkable that each is alone, Buday/Alexandra speaking to camera while Sweet/Steve must act passively and receptively.

Women in the audience will undoubtedly sympathize with Alexandra's grievances and frustrations, while men will likely see her taped monologue as a metaphor for women's desire to have the men in their lives as mute objects, receiving an angry harangue without rebuttal. Many will be disgusted or horrified, but few will be left unaffected. August 2, 2005

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