Tony Ayres' follow-up to Walking on Water sees Rose (Joan Chen) marry an Australian and relocate to Melbourne with him and her children in the early 1970s. She leaves him almost immediately and begins to reinvent herself with little regard for her children and the people she meets along the way. Rose is a selfish and pretty unlikeable character and as a result, Ayres' film doesn't resonate. This biggest problem is with his screenplay which is far too episodic; the incredibly unsophisticated and clunky dialogue does nothing to improve matters. The story is told from Tom's (Joel Lok) perspective, but this causes confusion - as a young boy, how would he know what is mother is really doing when she is away from him? He often admits to not understanding what is going on around him. By the time Ayres redeems some of his characters, we are no longer interested in their journey; they seem erratic and often lack credibility. The film feels repetitive at times, too. Having said that, the art direction, costuming, music score and cinematography are all excellent and even though some of the exterior characters border on over-the-top caricatures, the performances are mostly good. Joan Chen is regularly captivating and Yuwu Qi (as her lover, Joe) has a commanding, if slightly creepy, screen presence. As a whole film though, despite some surprising moments, it doesn't amount to much. Home Song Stories is a pretty disappointing Australian film.
6.5 on the DaveScale.
(dir. Tony Ayres, Australia, 103 mins)
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