Face to Face
Aug 31, 2011
from Claire Low's article in the Canberra Times:
The film deals with the restorative justice system that follows a young bloke deliberately rear-ending his boss's car.
It is is based on a play of the same name by Australian playwright and screenwriter David Williamson, who was in turn inspired by real-life restorative justice sessions.
Rymer said, ''When I read the play, I laughed, I cried. I couldn't believe that I could ever care so much about such an ordinary scenario.''
In a room, the movie's central setting, the man, a construction worker called Wayne (Luke Ford) must face his victims, workmates and mother, who are each harbouring their own issues and secrets. Incidents are shown via flashback in the film that won best movie at this year's Monaco Film Festival.
Rymer said, ''Flashbacks are used for some key events but the focus is on what's happening psychologically. I wanted to preserve the pressure-cooker intensity necessary for the characters to open up.''
He wanted to have the characters exposed to each other systematically so as to force them to see the consequences of their actions ''and understand [that] ... everyone's actions affect everyone else''.
