Ok, let's talk about Two Hands

If you have ever met me, I have probably mentioned Two Hands. That is the long and short of it. I live and breathe that movie. It is everything I feel that is good about Australian cinema and genuinely sparked something in me, a passion for storytelling, when I first saw it in 2018. Mum and Dad said 'just watch this' and I watched it, and something changed. A new understanding of my existence (I'm not even exaggerating), a new lens in which to observe the past and to appreciate the present.

Don't you miss what Sydney used to be like? Don't you miss 90s fashion? Don't you miss Heath Ledger? I had the opportunity to watch a special screening of Two Hands at the Sydney Opera House, introed by Alexei Toliopoulos who asked us exactly this. He pointed out the importance of nostalgia in our understanding of the film. Ok, so I wasn't even alive when this movie came out and I watched it 20 years after it came out so why do I feel like crying in the corner of my room to Powderfinger after it's finished? I think the nostalgia for a physical place, one Alexei mentioned we were literally sitting watching the movie in, can be overwhelmed by the specific nostalgia for a time in that place. Two Hands represents what was and what could have been. I love this movie for so many reasons (see below) but I really appreciated this almost revisionist perspective. It kind of epitomises the importance of 'cult classic' movies.

Before I get any further, I want to point out that Alexei mentioned that when he talks about Australian cinema, most people mention Two Hands as their favourite, to which my sister turned to me with a smile and whispered 'you're not special'. Because I'd never really known anyone who knew about Two Hands (except my parents who own the DVD and accompanying CD), and now here we were in a theatre of people who have probably said at least once in their lives 'yeah, Two Hands is my favourite film'. HOWEVER, everyone in my personal circles I'd told about Two Hands was like 'huh?' And then my personal vendetta was to make them watch it...which is what I did to both a group of my friends and a collection of film enthusiasts I joined on Letterboxd, simply named Film Club.

My pick was this movie and so ensued a pretty sizeable group of mostly American Letterboxd users watching this obscure little Australian film with 'omg heath Ledger and Rose Byrne, I know them' (read that in an American accent). Most members notified me that they needed subtitles (understandable) and that they thought the movie was 'actually pretty cool' (again, read in American accent). I had a feeling there was a level of comprehension of the film that couldn't really be learned and that was simply that you had to be Australian to 'get it'. In Alexei Toliopoulos' Sunburnt Screens podcast about the film, director Gregor Jordan mentioned how the movie kind of went over the heads of some American audiences. They didn't know when to laugh. One of the important aspects of this film is its dry humour, its ridiculousness in the face of dire circumstances. Australians tend to be self-deprecating, telling it like it is. This balance of grit with the comedy of every day life would certainly be jarring for fans of classic gangster films, where the bad guys are obviously bad, and not answering a call to kill someone in the middle of making origami with his son.

All the elements of this film make it great. All of them. The above mentioned 'realness'. 'This movie's so gritty man like it's just so real like that.' The above mentioned nostalgia. Cezary Skubiszewski's smooth little jazz score PLUS the abundance of Powderfinger and other Australian artists on the soundtrack. The shots of Sydney that start from rubbish in the garden that pan to a shot of the harbour. The street kid storyline that proves karma is real af. Brian Brown ('teradac-tile' is apparently just the way Brian thought it was pronounced). The way that Rose Byrne interacts with Kiwi Paramore's sleezy Les (his last name is Paramore? that is so cool) and then the way she interacts with Heath ledger's Jimmy. Heath Ledger. I don't really need to tell you about him. He is so good here, so obviously a talent that everyone wanted to get their hands on. And they did because his career blew up after this. I always wondered how he would look back on this now, or even Rose Byrne who has had a successful career in Hollywood herself: would they cringe? Would they be proud? What are their memories of making it? Gregor Jordan also directed Heath in 2003's Ned Kelly, a movie that also deeply moved me but in a different way. It seemed to reflect something that would happen, the immortalisation of an Australian icon, and the public's reaction to it. You can read what I think about that movie if you want to but it's besides the point. We have burgeoning talent here and we have veterans of Australian cinema here too.

I haven't even really told you what this movie is about. Genre: uhhh crime thriller? Black comedy? Romance? Storyline: boy loses money and has to get it back? Boy goes on adventure to be with a girl who likes photography? Two kids find some money until something goes wrong? Honestly, it is whatever you want it to be. And it will be like that forever.

I brought my friend to this very special screening of this movie. The beauty of Two Hands is that people who see it for the first time are shocked by it. Some walk away from it going 'cool but weird' and some walk away going 'this movie will now become my personality' (me and presumably Alexei Toliopoulos?) Nothing beats hearing your friend audibly giggle when a bank robbery goes wrong because one of the guys knocks himself out by trying to epically slide across the front of the counter. That kind of moment has staying power. This kind of energy is timeless. Sure, you feel nostalgic, you feel like sobbing, you wonder if you can live in this movie forever, you don't want to go back to reality. The best feeling is forcing others to live with this too. Then you know you're not alone. Now you can all collectively discuss, until the end of time, the love you have for movies, movies like Two Hands, the things you miss about your old life, and then back to the things you love about movies like Two Hands.