Almost a Warm Cup of Coco
Star in the Making: Young Elise played by Tiahn Green
Words: Emma Gibbs
Writer/Director James Bogle brings you Closed for Winter, Natalie Imbruglia’s debut feature leading role in a story about one woman’s journey to come to terms with her past demons and live in the now. The story follows Elise (Imbruglia) as she goes through the paces of her mundane life as she is haunted by her sister’s disappearance some twenty years prior. Elise’s thoughts are consistently littered with flashbacks to her childhood self, as her bland boyfriend Martin (Daniel Fredricksen) tries to understand his lover. Her mother Dorothy (Deborah Kennedy) spends her days searching for solace in newspaper reported tragedies, as Elise and family doctor John (Tony Martin) watch on.
Elise’s allegory of an awkward life is juxtaposed against the reckless beauty of the South Australian coastline. Based on the book by the same name, Bogle’s Closed for Winter flows like the lapping of waves against the shoreline; understated and at times a little dreary. The cinematography is inventive, consistently focusing on inanimate objects as the self conscious hustle and bustle of Elise’s world fills the reclining milieu. This serves as a motif, as if to suggest that should we take the time to stop and rest, many of our problems would simply fade into the background.
Despite Closed for Winter feeling like it should be a comforting wool coat against cold winds, it is instead one that feels one size to small. Unfortunately the reason for this mainly lies in Imbruglia’s performance. Though her character is introverted, introspective and quietly troubled, Imbruglia’s interpretation has made Elise quite dull and boring. Granted, portraying a character that relies on fragility and subtly to win over the audience is a hard task for even the most seasoned performer. However, it seems Imbruglia was conscious of this detail throughout her performance, internalising far too much of the characters uncertainty for fear that it would expose her own. But in spite of this, Elise is not a lost cause.
Young Elise is played by young actress Tiahn Green; an incredible Australian actor in the making. Her haunting performance in Closed for Winter matches the finesse and truthfulness of seasoned professionals Kennedy and Martin. Of Green’s 53 scenes as Young Elise, she did not utter a single line in 48 of them, however, commanded the audience’s attention with raw and honest fragility. Tiahn Green’s Young Elise reminds us all of the beauty of sheer abandon and also the amazing resilience of children.
Closed for Winter is beautiful, but at times slow through investigation into the realities of loss and the pain of no finite resolution. Though Imbruglia’s performance could certainly have been better, Bogel’s Closed for Winter is worth hiring once it hits DVD stores if only to be awe inspired by Tiahn Green.
Close for Winter is on limited release across Australia. DVD release date to be confirmed.