A STUDYGUIDE BY MARGUERITE O’HARA

OFFICIAL SELECTION 2007 BERLIN FILM FESTIVAL www.metromagazine.com.au

www.theeducationshop.com.au ‘How far do you have to journey to find your home?’

The Home Song Stories is an epic tale of mothers and sons, mothers and daughters, unrequited love, betrayal and secrets. The story is based on Writer/Director ’ own life as a child with his glamorous mother – Rose.

om (Darren Yap), a Chinese Australian Rose moves into a new place with a new Curriculum Relevance man in his early forties, writes about lover, Joe (Qi Yuwu), a Chinese cook who is This childhood. We see the story unfold several years younger than her. But Joe soon The Home Song Stories is suitable for senior as he does. feels the strain of being in a relationship with a secondary students of English, Cultural Stud- middle-aged woman with two children. In fact, ies, History, Social Studies, Studies of Society It is 1964. Tom’s mother, Rose Hong (Joan he finds that he has more in common with and Environment (particularly immigration is- Chen), a beautiful and glamorous Shanghai Rose’s daughter, May, than with Rose. They sues) and Film and Media Studies. It provides nightclub singer, meets Bill (Steven Vidler), form a friendship. But Rose misunderstands a rich resource for a study of biography and of an Australian sailor, and migrates to Victoria the meaning of this growing friendship and the complex and sometimes difficult aspects with her two children, Tom (Joel Lok) and all hell breaks loose as she accuses May of of family life. The film also offers insights into May (Irene Chen). However, their marriage is undermining her. the difficulties faced by migrants living in short-lived and Rose and her children move Australia in the 1970s. to Sydney, where she spends the next seven In the ensuing drama, mother and daughter years working in Chinese restaurants. reach the depths of despair. But eventually they find some common ground when Rose Advice to Teachers In 1971, Rose, May and Tom return to the out- tells May about the terrible tribulations which er suburbs of to live with Bill. Rose In its exploration of family life, the film includes she (Rose) experienced as a young woman. and Bill are attempting to reconcile. Much some scenes of violence, mental instability For the first time, May understands where to her chagrin, Rose learns that Bill’s mother and suicide, which some students may find her mother’s wild and erratic behavior comes Norma (Kerry Walker) also lives in Bill’s house. distressing. There are also two low-level sex from. It is a moment of love and forgiveness. When Bill is called away by the Navy, a battle scenes. The film is rated M and runs for 103 ensues between the two women for control The adult Tom retells these stories of his minutes. Teachers are advised to watch the of the house, a battle that Norma eventually childhood and in doing so, comes to a better film before showing it to their students. wins, kicking Rose and her children out. understanding of his mother and himself.

2 The Home Song Stories Key cast and crew The Home Song Stories was written and directed by Tony Ayres. He describes it as a ‘true Australian story’. The film was an official selection for the 2007 Berlin Film Festival, one of the most prestigious international festivals with Cannes and Venice. It has also screened at many Australian and overseas film festivals, including the Toronto International Film Festi- val, the main North American film festival. The film won the prestigious FIPRESCI inter- national jury award for the Best Asia Pacific Film at the 2007 Brisbane International Film Festival. FIPRESCI is the international federa- tion of film critics, with members in sixty coun- tries, and awards the prestigious International Film Critics Prize at film festivals around the world. Its first jury prize was presented at the 1946 Cannes Film Festival. Qi Yuwu, who plays Joe, is a Singaporean Glossary Tony Ayres was awarded the Screenplay Prize actor born in Guangzhou in China and speaks at The NSW Premier’s Literary Awards for his Cantonese, Mandarin and English. Cheongsam – fitted dress with a high collar script of The Home Song Stories; it has also and slit skirt, traditionally worn by Chinese Irene Chen was born in Melbourne and at been short listed for an Australian Writer’s women. It is often made of shimmering silk or school in Year 11 when she was chosen to Guild award for Best Original Feature Film embroidered satin and is regarded as sleek, play the role of May. Writer/director Tony Script and the Victorian Premier’s Literary sexy and exotic. Rose wears a number of her Ayres describes Irene as a ‘stunning, natural Award for Screen Writing. cheongsams from Hong Kong with high heels. actress who displayed a maturity well beyond The style is very traditional and they can still her years’. Cast be bought in shops specializing in Asian-style clothes. Crew Rose Mahjong – a Chinese tile game for four play- Tom Joel Lok Writer/Director Tony Ayres ers. It involves skill, strategy, calculation and luck. Sometimes it is played for money as May Irene Chen Producers Michael McMahon & Liz Watts in the scenes in the film where we see Joe Bill Steven Vidler Director of Photography Nigel Bluck gambling in the restaurant with Bing and the Joe Qi Yuwu Editor Denise Haratzis other men. Bill’s mother, Norma Kerry Walker Production Designer Dede or ‘Didi’ – Rose’s pet name for Tom. Means ‘little brother’. Joan Chen, who plays Rose in The Home Costume Designer Cappi Ireland Song Stories, was born in Shanghai in 1961. Composer Student Activity 1 At the age of fourteen, she was cast in a film by Mao Zedong’s wife after being spotted at Sound Designer Craig Carter Pre-viewing questions a rifle range. She went on to star in The Last Tony Ayres’ films and documentaries have 1. Is it important for us to record the stories Emperor (Bernardo Bertolucci, 1987) and won a number of awards. His first feature film, of previous generations, particularly family television series Twin Peaks, and is now both Walking On Water (2002), won a major award stories? Why does it matter? acting in and directing films. at the 2002 Berlin Film Festival, as well as 2. How do you record family occasions today, Joel Lok, who plays Tom, applied for the part five AFI Awards including Best Screenplay. compared to how people in a pre-digital after seeing an article in The Age newspaper His documentary films include the acclaimed age kept records of family life? Do we write seeking an 11-year-old boy to act in a major Sadness (1999), China Dolls (1997) and Mrs. letters, keep photo albums and/or diaries, motion picture. He asked his mother to call Craddock’s Complaint (1997). Ayres has also or keep mementoes of family life? the production company on his behalf, but written for television and stage, including Mrs. Lok said that if he was interested in act- Ghost Story, The Long Ride and The Fat Boy. ing he had to make the call himself. He did, and got the part.

3 The Home Song Stories 3. Apart from our own memories, what re- person to life and/or reflect on their child- sources are available to people wanting to hood and the experiences that made them write stories and/or create films about their the person they have become. It involves a family? filtration process, discarding some memories and focusing on others in more detail, select- 4. Do you think children in one family remem- ing ‘significance’ and making meaning from ber incidents from the past in the same memories and stories. way? Test this by recounting your memories of a family occasion with a brother or sister Sometimes the impulse to write about a family also present at the same occasion. member is triggered by a particular memory of something that happened or by a photo- 5. What is the difference between autobiogra- graph that brings back a vivid memory, or phy and biography? when a parent dies and we are clearing out 6. Are cultural displacement, generational con- their possessions. Equally, we may believe flict and family secrets important elements there is an interesting family story that needs in telling stories of family life? to be documented or a truth that needs to be 7. Should parents pursue their own dreams, told. The impulse to understand by telling your even when this may conflict with their pa- family story is central to Ayres’ film, The Home rental responsibilities? Song Stories. 8. Does it matter in artistic terms if stories Everything that happens in The Home Song of this story is set in suburban Australia in the we tell about family life are absolutely true, Stories actually happened in real life. I had an early 1970s. Similarly to Rai Gaita’s mother partly true or mostly ‘made up’? extraordinary, wild, traumatic childhood, large- Christina, Tony’s mother Rose’s mental in- ly due to the erratic behaviour of my beautiful, stability was compounded by loneliness and 9. How might memoirs, whether filmed or charismatic but mentally unstable mother. My cultural dislocation in what often seemed like written, be distressing for people still living sister and I were buffeted by these events, but a hostile and alien environment. As in Romu- whose lives are part of the story? survived mainly because of our love for each lus, My Father, the young son is both witness other. But also because, in spite of everything, to, and an integral part of, his mother’s life. Telling stories we knew that our mother loved us. As a film- In both stories, being a mother was both not Recreating family life on film maker, I knew that I was compelled to tell this enough and incredibly difficult. Both Ayres’ story eventually. and Gaita’s stories are told from the perspec- If everyone has one story which defines them, – Tony Ayres tive of an adult son, many years after the which shapes who they are, then this is mine. events of their stories happened. Both could This story is about my childhood. My sister The children of immigrants are increasingly be described as reflective memoirs, written and me. Most of all this story is about my telling stories about their parents’ lives. Many both to honour their parents and tell the hard mother, the nightclub singer. first generation migrants were not in a position truths about their lives. to tell their stories, either because they did not – Tony Ayres, Writer and Director feel confident in writing a story in their second The heading introducing this section of the and adopted language, or because they had Student Activity 2 guide uses the word ‘recreating’. It could no time for reflection, or because they did not Understanding different types have said ‘recording’, ‘representing’, ‘recol- see anything intrinsically interesting about of narrative structures lecting’, ‘remembering’, ‘relating’, ‘retelling’ their lives. Often, it is a combination of all or ‘reliving’. Though these words have slightly three factors. How do we organize material and memories different meanings, they suggest something about family life? Some of the key elements Romulus, My Father (2007), Richard Rox- of the complexity involved in the business of in writing a story or a script about someone’s burgh’s film from Raimond Gaita’s memoir memory and storytelling about your life or the life are choosing where to start and finish and about his father’s life, is one such example. life of a family member. Even the word ‘sto- what to include and leave out. The memoir of the same name had its genesis rytelling’ implies saying things that may not in a eulogy Gaita gave for his father at his 1. Should the story be presented chronologi- be quite true, things that are perhaps partly funeral. The story begins in 1950s post-war cally in a linear narrative, or through a selec- made up. The reliability of memory is called rural Victoria when many Europeans resettled tion of significant events combined with into question. in Australia. flashbacks or stories within the story? Memoir is a creative form often used by The Home Song Stories is Tony Ayres’ story 2. How much ‘voiceover’ narration is needed writers and filmmakers who want to bring a about his Chinese-born mother, though most to fill in details and bridge gaps in the story?

4 The Home Song Stories change his family’s circumstances or can he only observe? s Why does a child as lively and personable as Tom have difficulties making friends? s In what family situations is Tom really happy? s What do the dream sequences where Tom is a successful warrior tell us about his frustrations and longings? s How does he try to please his mother? s How is his loneliness and fear shown in several scenes, such as those where he has nosebleeds? s At what point in the story does Tom emo- tionally detach himself from his mother? s What kind of burden of guilt and incompre- hension does his mother’s death place on him?

May May is ten when she first comes to Australia narrative so it is important to have a clear in 1964 and sixteen during the time in which sense of each individual to understand their most of the action takes place in 1971. behaviour and perhaps empathize with them. s Despite the age difference, May and Tom seem to be very close. How might the Rose circumstances of their lives explain this? s What do we learn about Rose in the s As May grows up, she continues to look out opening scenes of the film? for Tom, but is less inclined to play games with him. What other signs are there in the s How is the glamorous nature of her life in film that she is becoming a young woman? Hong Kong shown? s In which scenes is May shown to be taking s What are some of the things Rose clashes a lot of responsibility for her mother? with Bill’s mother about? s How does Rose respond to May’s growing s How does her desire to have a Chinese up? feel to her surroundings conflict with Bill’s mother’s ideas? s Why does May reject Joe’s offer to go away with him when he visits her in hospital? s Describe several scenes where Rose ap- pears vibrant and happy after she comes to s May became a school psychologist when Australia. she was older. Is this career choice surpris- ing? 3. How firmly does the story need to be s How does Rose’s need for male attention contextualized in a particular timeframe and sometimes overwhelm her maternal respon- s Why do you think May and Tom as adults place? sibilities? never talk about their mother? 4. How can the feelings of the main character s What are her expectations of beginning be shown visually? another life with Joe? Bill 5. What part will recurring images and themes s In what ways are her hopes dashed? Rose tells Bill he is ‘a good man’ several play in telling this story? times. s What precipitates Rose’s first suicide at- 6. To what extent will competing voices and tempt? s How is his basic decency and kindness views be employed to dramatize the story shown in the film? and give it more than a single perspective? s Explain the personal tensions that lead to her second suicide attempt. s How is his sense of responsibility demon- All these questions are addressed in Tony strated in the final section of the film where s What do we learn about Rose’s early life Ayres’ film about his mother and his child- we find out what happened to the two that may help us to understand some of the hood. children after Rose died? difficulties she now faces? s How difficult would it have been for Bill Student Activity 3 s What expectations does she have about her to find himself with a wife and two young children’s responsibilities to her? Key elements in the children from a different country living in a film’s construction s After returning to Bill, what does Rose still suburban house with his mother? yearn for as a way to be happy? The main activities for students in Student Activity 3 are organized under six headings: s What are some of the circumstances that Joe lead to Rose killing herself? 1. The Human Story Joe’s youth and good looks are both what attracts Rose and what finally plays a part in 2. Cultural Complexity and Dislocation Tom the tragedy. 3. Production and Costume Design Tom is four when he first comes to Australia s What age difference was there between Joe 4. Soundtrack and eleven during the time in which most of and Rose? the action takes place. It is the adult ‘Tom’ 5. Key Scenes s What was the driving force between their who is the narrator of the film and it is as mutual need for each other at first? 6. Emotional Resonance. much his story as Rose’s. He is the observing eyes and ears, the witness to what happened What kinds of difficulties are created by the 1. The Human Story when he was a child. age difference between Joe and Rose? How did you respond to Joe’s falling for This film employs a strongly character-driven s To what extent is Tom shown to be able to May?

5 The Home Song Stories s What do May and Joe have in common? 2. Cultural complexity and then transported into the suburbs of Aus- tralia must have been really hard. s When Rose comes back from the hospital, and dislocation what does Joe do to try and make things Australia in the 1960s and 1970s – Joan Chen, better for them all? the actor who plays Rose in the film In 2007, most of us are thoroughly accus- s Is Joe shown to be ‘a good man’, in a simi- tomed to living in a society that comprises s You may have lived in a non-English speak- lar way to Bill? people from many different countries with a ing culture at some time. What would be range of differences in physical features, style some of the difficulties you might expect to Bill’s mother, Norma of dress and way of life. However, when Rose find in ‘fitting in’ to a society where many came to Australia in the 1960s, there were aspects of life and values are unlike those s Is the mother’s hostility to Rose under- very few Asian people living here, especially you have been used to? standable in the context of the period, or is in the suburbs. Asians represented just 0.4 she simply intolerant and contemptuous? s How have immigration and the opportunity per cent of the country’s population whereas to incorporate many different cultural prac- s Is it significant that Norma is usually re- the most recent 2006 census figures show tices into our lives changed Australia over ferred to as ‘Bill’s mother’, ‘the old cow’ or that five per cent of the population was born the past forty years? ‘grandma’ in the film? in Asia. This figure does not include the many Australians of Asian background who were s What factors have driven these changes? s How does her presence in the house make born here. It was not until after the end of Consider the role of travel, intermarriage, it more difficult for Rose and her children to the Vietnam War in the late 1970s that Asian education, media and communications settle with Bill? immigration increased, partly in the after- technology as well as the arrival of people s Do you think she is presented in a clichéd math of the war. Communities developed to from all over the world to settle in Australia. way, as the hostile ‘mother-in-law’ figure? provide support and companionship to fellow s Was the inability of these women, from very immigrants. Languages different backgrounds and cultures, to live The Western culture and the Chinese culture In this film, three different languages are spo- together, inevitable? are so much the opposite of each other. And ken – Cantonese, Mandarin (the main Chinese I think to be uprooted from your own culture languages) and English. The spoken Chinese

In the chart below make notes about some of the cultural difficulties we see Rose, her children and Joe encountering in Australia in the 1970s.

Suburban life Food Dress Schooling & acceptance Work opportunities Entertainment Support networks & housing styles

6 The Home Song Stories the authenticity of the period look they need to create? s The suburbs where the family live, both at Bill’s house and later renting with Joe, have a desolate uninhabited look. How do you think this increases our sense of Tom and May living in an alienating environment? s How is Rose’s glamorous style of dress- ing and presenting herself contrasted with the way other people in the film look? Note particularly the scene where she is walking past shops to the Chinese restaurant.

4. The Soundtrack The soundtrack of a film is as important as the look of the film and this soundtrack is particu- larly rich with a distinctive, haunting, highly original score. You could gain a strong sense of the film simply by listening to the range of music and sounds used. Antony Partos was language is sub-titled in English. As this film is set in early 1970s Australia, the composer and Craig Carter the Sound everything in the film must accurately reflect s Do you find sub-titles distracting or difficult Designer. A number of popular songs from this period. There were no mobile phones, to follow when you are watching a film? both Chinese and Western popular music from computers, iPods or granite and stainless the period are part of the soundtrack. They s Would you expect the English speech to steel kitchens; the places where Rose and her include songs Rose performed as a nightclub be subtitled into Chinese when the film is family lived had few of the modern conve- singer in Hong Kong as well as Western pop shown in Asian countries? niences we now take for granted. songs such as ‘Come on Get Happy’, ‘Let’s s How does the use of three different spoken Here is a list of some of the artifacts and Pretend’, ‘Loving me, Loving You’, ‘I Think of languages give the story a more authentic clothes that give the film its authentically You’ and ‘It’s a long, long way to Pasadena’. feel and voice? 1970s look: telephones, record player, lug- s How is singing popular music in both Can- s What effect on overseas sales of the film gage, clothes (including Rose’s cheongsams), tonese and English shown to be important might this multiple language approach make-up and hairstyles, houses, cars, railway to several of the characters in the film? have? stations, kitchen equipment, food, cigarette packets and lighters, newspapers, knick- s In which scenes in the film does singing knacks and ornaments, restaurants and music suggest intimacy between the family and 3. Production Design and songs. others? e.g. when May and Joe listen to the and Costume Design radio in his car. s How do you think designers would find out The Production Designer and Costume about, and source, all these things from the Craig Carter, the sound designer wanted: Designer roles are critical to the look of a film, past, especially in an age when objects and … to put the audience in an aural world which particularly when the story is set some years clothes are increasingly replaced with newer was stripped back to where we only hear what ago. Melinda Doring was the production de- models? is necessary to hear, rather than a totally realist signer for The Home Song Stories and Cappi s How would the designers be able to verify world. In this way the sound design would Ireland was in charge of costume design. reflect the fact that the story being told is a re-

7 The Home Song Stories j. Tom at school after his mother has re- s Did you strongly identify with any of the turned from the hospital characters in the film? Explain why or why not. k. At Bill’s house when Rose talks about returning to Hong Kong s Is Rose’s erratic behaviour driven by mental instability rather than irresponsibility? l. Rose’s final act … (of all the things I remember about my mother, this is what I s Is Bill’s ‘goodness’ in continuing to take remember the most) responsibility for Rose, and later, for her children, a quality we are encouraged to m. The final scenes with voiceover bringing admire? the story into the present s Does Rose’s undeniable beauty and style s Different members of the class could pre-dispose others to forgive or overlook choose one of these scenes and explain her destructive behaviours? how it is important to the story. s Once May, and the audience, hear Rose’s 6. Emotional Resonance story about her early life, is it easier to understand her behaviour? While emotional resonance is an important s Why did Tom ‘not shed a tear at his aspect of our response to a film, what does mother’s death’? What does this response this expression mean and how is it relevant to suggest about his emotional state at this The Home Song Stories? It refers to how the time? film makes us feel and respond emotionally as we recognize aspects of our own lives and s Which scenes in the film made you angry experiences in these people. and which made you sad? We all want to try and make sense of our membered story and that our aural memories lives, to understand why we are as we are and Activity 4 are as selective as our visual memories. how family and experience has shaped us. Creating your own People read stories about other people’s lives Home Song Story Tony Ayres, the film’s director, has said about in novels, newspapers, magazines and online the film’s sound: blogs. Many of us watch films and television You have the opportunity to pitch a story I find sound design most exciting when it about other people’s lives. Partly this interest about a member of your family to a film creates meaning. For instance, when we reflects a natural curiosity but it is also a way funding organization. Here are some of the were designing the sound landscape for Bill’s of (sometimes unconsciously) connecting with elements they want outlined in your proposal. house, we wanted to reflect its suburban, a larger world which may reflect something Create your outline, including the following oppressive nature, so we filled it with sub- of our own experiences, be quite different or elements: urban birds, neighbourhood dogs, and lawn have some common elements. Usually, when s The central figure in your story with a brief mowers. In contrast, we wanted the house the story is truthful and vivid in its exploration outline of what makes their life story signifi- that Rose moves into with Joe to feel more of human behaviour and needs, we empathize cant ‘housing commission’ in location, so it had a with one or more of the people in the film by soundscape of passing trains, arguing Italian entering into their emotional world and under- s Names and relationships of no more than neighbours and cats crying at night. standing them. five other people who are central to the story s How are the sounds of people quarrelling, Towards the end of The Home Song Stories, particularly Rose and the ‘uncles’, an effec- the adult Tom (Tony Ayres) reflects: s The kind of music and song tracks that are important to the story tive part of the soundtrack of Tom’s life? The night my mother died I remember think- s As both Tom and May are often silent wit- ing, ‘I should cry now’. But I didn’t. In all these s Place and time nesses, other background sounds take on years, I’ve never shed a tear for her. Instead I s Essential dramatic elements significance, e.g. the bath overflowing with write about her. Bringing her back to life, over water. List other sounds we hear in the film and over. Trying to understand her. Or perhaps s Mood and style you want to create that bring the background centre screen. to punish her. Or just to remember … to feel s A brief outline of the opening and closing … to accept … to forgive … to love. scenes 5. Key Scenes While the connecting of scenes and sounds make up our complete sense of a film’s power and perspective, there are some scenes where what happens is both vivid and crucial to the development of the story. Here are some of these scenes: a. Rose’s life as a singer in Hong Kong b. Coming to Bill’s house and meeting his mother c. The family eating at the Cantonese restau- rant d. The beach excursion with Joe e. Making dumplings for Joe’s birthday f. Visiting Rose at the hospital after her first suicide attempt g. The row between Rose and May that has terrible consequences h. Rose recounting the story of her early life to May at the hospital when mother and daughter are there as patients i. Joe’s visit to May at the hospital

8 The Home Song Stories Write a half-page submission to a film awards organization such as the Australian Film Insti- tute (AFI) nominating a member of the film’s cast for an acting award. It may be for Best Actor/Actress or Best Supporting Role. Outline your reasons for your nomination and select one scene to be shown at the ceremony which best shows the reasons for your nomination.

References, including other mate- rial exploring similar stories

Books Alice Pung, Unpolished Gem, Black Inc, 2006. A story set in the western suburbs of Melbourne in the 1980s about growing up Chinese-Cambodian in a family pursuing the Australian dream. While the daughter telling her family story is at the centre of this novel, 2. Living with an unstable parent her mother’s story is both poignant and vivid. or one with a mental illness Beth Yahp (ed.), Family Pictures, Angus and http://nnaami.org/ Robertson, 1994. A collection of stories about This is the website for the National Network family life in Australia. Several are about grow- of Adult and Adolescent Children who have a ing up ‘Asian’ in Australia, particularly those mentally ill parent. by Beth Yahp and William Yang. While there are now support services to help Films children living with a parent suffering some form of mental illness, there is reluctance The Namesake (Mira Nair, 2006). This film, on the part of young people to use these adapted from a novel by Jhumpa Lahiri, tells services. the story of an Indian family who moved to s Why do you think this might be the case? America in the late 1960s and deals with cross-cultural and generational conflict. s Is it possible to be clear about the differ- ence between a mental illness and behav- Jewboy (Tony Krawitz, 2005). This film is iour that may be exacerbated by stressful about the conflicts a young man encounters situations? growing up in an orthodox Jewish family. Taking the study further (ATOM study guide available) 1. Understanding Ayres’ s Would these services, had they been avail- able in the 1970s, have been able to help Romulus, My Father (Richard Roxburgh, perspective and motives Tom and May? 2007). This is an Australian film adapted from in making The Home Song Stories. Raimond Gaita’s novel of the same name. s What often quite legitimate fears might Beginning in the 1950s, it tells the story of an In describing what he sees as the important people have about acknowledging these immigrant family’s struggle in a different envi- themes in the film, Writer/Director Tony Ayres family situations? ronment and the love of a son for his father. explains: (ATOM study guide available) One of the main themes explored is unre- 3. Opinions about the Love’s Brother (Jan Sardi, 2004). This film is quited love – and all of the key players have film for discussion. about two Italian immigrants in 1950s Austra- a dream that they’re pursuing which unfortu- lia looking for love. nately doesn’t include the other major char- Choose one of these statements and discuss them in small groups. acters. So the film is about Rose, this woman Websites who has a driving passion to find a home for a. While there are distressing events and herself and her children, but who inevitably scenes in The Home Song Stories and the http://homesongstories.com makes all the wrong decisions in trying to do ending is tragic, the film is not depressing, The official website of The Home Song Stories that. Simultaneously it’s about Joe, a young but rather an honest exploration of the dif- with a preview, reviews, images from the man also seeking a sense of home and place, ficulties families can encounter when they film, background material and other links to but unfortunately it’s not with the woman who cannot find a home where they can all feel explore. it should be with. And then there’s Bill, an loved and secure. essentially decent man who brings this wild, (Accessed 23 July 2007) b. It is Rose’s inability to control her own self- untameable woman to a foreign country only http://www.smh.com.au/news/film/ to find that she isn’t the meek, placid, wife that ish desires that causes so much pain for both herself and her children. chen-finds-resonances-in-tale/2007/06/08/ he wanted, but regardless, still loves her. 1181089322470.html But at its core, the film is about a young boy’s c. Ayres manages to control the emotional balancing trick required to allow the audi- An interview with Joan Chen who plays Rose relationship to his mother and how that ulti- in The Home Song Stories. There is also a link mately deteriorates through her actions. ence to empathize with all the characters in the film. to a video interview with Chen about making While Ayres acknowledges his mother’s limita- this film. tions as a parent and the consequences of 4. Performances (Accessed 23 July 2007) her behaviour on her children and others, he is never judgmental or overtly critical of his The success of The Home Song Stories largely The ABC has a extensive interview with Tony mother. It is sometimes said that the mother depended on finding the right actor to portray Ayres where he discusses the film, his family and child bond is stronger than any other. Rose, an emotionally charged character who and memory at: Discuss how far Ayres’ film shows accep- was required to be in nearly every scene and http://www.abc.net.au/queensland/ tance, forgiveness, understanding, love or oth- whose presence dominates those from which conversations/stories/s2001814.htm?sydney she is absent. er qualities in relation to the way his mother is Marguerite O’Hara is a freelance writer based in presented. – Tony Ayres, writer and director -ELBOURNE s

9 The Home Song Stories This study guide was produced by ATOM ©ATOM 2007 [email protected] For more information on SCREEN EDUCATION magazine, or to download other free study guides, visit www.metromagazine.com.au For hundreds of articles on Film as Text, Screen Literacy, Multiliteracy and Media Studies, visit www.theeducationshop.com.au

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10 The Home Song Stories