Friday, August 17, 2007
18th July 2007
JELLY’S PLACENTA: A performance to remember
Part fairy tale, part melodrama, part horror film, Australian writer/director Christina Conrad’s Jelly’s Placenta tells the story of a tragic transvestite, Leith, with murky powers derived from black magic, whose obsession with her lover of fifteen years, Jelly, pushes her to the edge of insanity. An encounter with Jelly’s new fling on a sunny afternoon leads to the maddening ‘slaying’ of the backyard tree which holds the spirit of Jelly’s Mother. In slaying the tree, Leith’s mania is relinquished, at least for now, and she is free from torment.
The heightened theatricality of Jelly’s Placenta aspires to match Fassbinder’s Veronika Voss as a portrait of the corrosive powers of illusions and desire, but far from succeeds. Resolved though it may be, the story is confusing and self-absorbed. The one saving grace is Marc Carlis, a much-applauded Australian actor, who encapsulates Leith’s flamboyance and intensity with an exotic sincerity. Carlis delivers a powerful and exceptional performance that saves the film from a queasy totter into cinematic mockery.
JELLY’S PLACENTA: A performance to remember
Part fairy tale, part melodrama, part horror film, Australian writer/director Christina Conrad’s Jelly’s Placenta tells the story of a tragic transvestite, Leith, with murky powers derived from black magic, whose obsession with her lover of fifteen years, Jelly, pushes her to the edge of insanity. An encounter with Jelly’s new fling on a sunny afternoon leads to the maddening ‘slaying’ of the backyard tree which holds the spirit of Jelly’s Mother. In slaying the tree, Leith’s mania is relinquished, at least for now, and she is free from torment.
The heightened theatricality of Jelly’s Placenta aspires to match Fassbinder’s Veronika Voss as a portrait of the corrosive powers of illusions and desire, but far from succeeds. Resolved though it may be, the story is confusing and self-absorbed. The one saving grace is Marc Carlis, a much-applauded Australian actor, who encapsulates Leith’s flamboyance and intensity with an exotic sincerity. Carlis delivers a powerful and exceptional performance that saves the film from a queasy totter into cinematic mockery.
