_Mr. Wrong_ reviewed by Lynne Star This review is copyright. Permission must be sought from the author before it is used in any way. First published in Feminist Studies in Aotearoa Electronic Journal Vol. 26, August 21, 1994. FMST@stonebow.otago.ac.nz Review Mr Wrong (1984) Director, Gaylene Preston; Script, Preston; Co-producers, Robin Laing, Preston; Screenplay, Preston, Geoff Murphy, Graeme Tetley; Music, Jonathon Crayford. A New Zealand Film Commission/Barclays Production. When she is asked directly, Gaylene Preston is relaxed about identifying as a feminist - something of an increasing rarity in Aotearoa these days. Yet, such is her skill as a film maker, her warm, intelligent presence and storytelling ability, that most audiences I have heard her address don't think to ask the question. When I view Gaylene's films I am conscious of her work as an intervention into popular culture by a feminist director attempting to bypass audiences' potentially negative perceptions of designated 'Feminist Films' in various ways, e.g. by mixing genres, with strong narratives, and excellent acting. Mr Wrong is an understated feminist thriller and a ghost story, set in a New Zealand context along the lines of 'small town girl comes to the big city', a theme familiar in NZ cinema, e.g. Going up North, and Roimata. At its release it was Gaylene's most ambitious film: very small budget, introducing what would become a fruitful partnership with producer, Robin Laing. Preston spotted Laing's potential as a producer and Robin reluctantly went along, with impressive results. I think Gaylene's work is underrated as innovative cinema. Mr Wrong has aged well and rates a second look as a feminist intervention as well as being a thoroughly enjoyable and gripping film suitable for analysis in undergraduate film, sociology, media, and women's studies classes. Gaylene has gone on to produce two other fine films as an independent filmmaker: Ruby and Rata, about a woman aging and communication between generations and across ethnic boundaries in urban Auckland - in its own quiet way a way a precursor to Warriors - and the award-winning Bread and Roses, a docudrama life of New Zealand feminist-socialist parliamentarian, Sonia Davies. I will review these films later. I wrote the above before reviewing Mr Wrong. Although I haven't seen the film for about six years, I have retained certain parts as cinematically and thematically memorable. Any film that shows a woman fighting back in realistic situations of terror is still unusual and Meg, the protagonist, outsmarts, outruns and outfights her assailants while dealing confidently with a loaded and familiar situation: which men are to be trusted, and to what extent her feelings of being watched and menaced are a figment of her imagination. In classic ghost/thriller style Gaylene places insecurities and questions in her viewers' minds: is the ghostly hitchhiker real, or is another (known or unknown) real man in fact, 'stalker' style, on her trail. One is a ghost story plot, the other a contemporary urban narrative. The casting I found apt. Gaylene has a taste for strong women and seems to choose just the right actors to fill her roles. Heather Bolton, for instance, is a stunning and capable Meg, slightly insecure in her new urban flatting scene ('Why do I have to take fright at everything?') and rather too placatory to men at times, but rapidly fighting clear into a sense of whom she is as a self-reliant survivor. She is reminiscent for me, as a younger version, of Margarethe Von Trotta's older, sexy, ebullient and charismatic Krista Klages. The rather amazing storyline quickly becomes believable and strong with a constant to-ing and fro-ing between imaginary and imagined. Like another independent New Zealand film maker, Peter Wells, Gaylene has an affection for the quirky yet elegant style of many of New Zealand's urban environments. Like Peter, she uses Victorian bungalows, 1930's art deco houses, old cars and twisting streets to advantage, before trekking on location up her beloved steep, stark Wellington hills: the windswept Paekaka riki Hill road has got to be the perfect location for a ghost story. She also has a great ear for New Zealand vernacular, for relationships and conversations that convince, and for social issues worth exploring, plus an evident grounding in classic cinema. For example, Meg's employer, an antiques dealer who we later realise is gay, is caring and just there - himself, a non-stereotypical gay man, and Meg's parents, played by John Bullock and Kate Harcourt, are perfect as the caring but rather unaware farming family who think that sending Meg off to the city on a dark and winding road with a freshly slaughtered side of lamb wrapped in bloody butcher's paper in the boot of her new (haunted?) silver Jaguar is a supportive thing to do .... The silver Jag at the centre of the story is a cathartic piece de resistance for many women. How many of us have fantasised (and not just in our youth) the erotic and aesthetic drama of the swooping lines, the walnut facia, the leaping Jaguar on the prow, the leather seats, the banks of dials and toggle switches, the leather hangers, the throaty pick up and naked power of the 2.4 litre engine grumbling on idle at the lights ... that slippery, expansive back seat to take us, who knows where ... which Meg has, oh so impractically, decided to buy as her first car. Silver style, our style, perfect for cruising long distance, picking up women hitchhikers ... or men. The problem for Meg is that her car seems to have developed a mind of its own way beyond the usual problems of a semi-vintage car. The doors lock inexplicably, there are choking and moaning noises in the back seat, and it has a compulsion to pick up strange hitchhikers. When Meg has had enough, it also refuses to be sold, seemingly joining the lists of her 'stalkers'. This later becomes literally true as the car chases Meg, a scenario that we first see in a dream. In the face of this excellence, it was upsetting to learn that Gaylene had to mortgage her house to finish the film and then take it on the road to sell it. This was after being betrayed by the major New Zealand Cinema networks who promised her a release if the film did well at Film Society Festival premiere in Wellington and Auckland. I saw it at the Wellington premiere where it received a standing ovation, and there was a similar success reported in Auckland, but Hoyts and Kerridge Odeon wouldn't keep their promise - in one case keeping an Auckland cinema empty rather than screening Mr Wrong. So obviously some people felt strongly about this intervention. Later I learned that this was not a new story for women film makers. A recent example is Julie Dash's struggle to finish and market Daughters of the Dust in the US. [See J. Dash, Toni Cade Bambara and bell hooks (1992) Daughters of the Dust: The Making of an African American Woman's Film. New York: New Press]. Like all good feminists, Gaylene did not simply buy, borrow or steal the rights to the story; she went to see the writer in England and explained the project. Elizabeth Jane Howard gave her blessing, which is just as well since I wouldn't like to consider a curse from a writer of this power. Gaylene's rendition of Elizabeth Jane Howard's other, murdered, Mary Charmichael is somehow very Scottish and very New Zealand feminist all at once. Having recently reviewed the film, what strikes me additionally are four things: the fear, the colours, the plot twists and the music. After many viewings I still find this a frightening film - it was too much for almost everyone in the family and altered my mood for hours. Apart from the above features this success is due to Gaylene's adoption of a number of classic thriller techniques: she plays with Hitchcock, for instance in the overhead shots, a shower scene, and the pan to the hidden watcher out of frame. And, there are plot twists. Throughout, the viewer is kept guessing as to whom is the real Mr Wrong - Wayne Wright, the boy next door with a crush on Meg, the menacing ghostly figures she picks up unintentionally at traffic lights in a rainstorm, or, later, a range of others, for instance the boyfriends of various flatmates or a neighbour. Maybe there is more than one culprit, and who is sending Meg all these roses? David Letch's ghost is particularly successful in his sinister patter and demeanour: 'The good samaritan is invariably a woman these days' - 'Missed the appointment, lost the deal'. The scene where he gets his comeuppance is effective and grisly but not overplayed or gratuitous. Gaylene's view of the hazards and insecurities routinely experienced by women in urban settings (especially in relation to men) is bleak and fairly '70's in its critique. There are almost no unmenacing men unless you count Meg's farmer father who is more interested in her car than Meg, or her gay employer. In the end the plot is left open as to whether there is more than one stalker. The view of heterosexual relationships is also pessimistic, e.g. the giggly flatmate infatuated with an unprepossessing male who later attacks Meg, and the old school friend, married early, and already so bowed down with babies and nappies and relating to hubby that she is unable to take a trip away from home or do much more than snipe enviously at Meg's 'freedom': 'Well you didn't go South just to blow your bloody nose, did you?' Some of the feminist punch lines and dialogue had me grinning and chuckling ruefully - so what's changed? The film is shot almost entirely in dark colours: gloomy blue, green, white, brown and red, and a great deal of the time it seems to be raining or night time, which lends an added threatening aspect. In the ghost scenes the skin tones of everyone involved come over a dead and wretched blue. When I think of it, Gaylene's colour pallet is very similar to Lee Tamahori's in Once Were Warriors. Finally, the original music is a dominant, spooky mood setter, reminiscent in parts for me of other soundtracks, e.g. Malcolm. The other wonderful thing is Gaylene's portrayal of Meg's unremarkable proficiency and indomitable spirit. She rolls her sleeves up in classical NZ working class style on a number of occasions and 'sorts things out': installing a new security lock on her door, wielding a meat cleaver to bone the chops off the side of lamb, and commanding the ghost to leave her car. The movie is an obvious small budget special. There are a couple of scenes that I know Gaylene would have liked to shoot again if she had had the resources. For example, when the 'ghost' is watching Meg across a city street we catch a glimpse of him running out of shot when she turns away, which spoils the tension, and the banging door at this point is an awkwardly timed jolt in an otherwise believable sequence held together by immense storytelling ability. Overall, I think you will return to this film as an example of New Zealand and feminist independent film making with wide appeal. More please Gaylene! Lynne Star teaches Media Studies at Massey University, Manawatu, Aotearoa/NZ. FMST invites submissions of short articles, reviews and research reports (up to 30K) : FMST@STONEBOW.OTAGO.AC.NZ Try out your ideas, comment on FMST, debate your research, review feminist books, films or issues relevant to women and Feminist Studies in Aotearoa and the Pacific.