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Film Review: The Year My Voice Broke (1987) - Page 2

© Joshua Smith

Danny's incestuous longing for Freya skews the triad yet, somehow, accelerates the self-cultivation of his adult urge. Sexual awakening and the personal striving to seek direction are powerfully conveyed through the usage of sexual motifs throughout the film. Sexual acts, Freya's dark history, the reticent relationship between Danny's father and Freya's mother, Jonah's erotic novel, and Danny's sexual frustration as materialised through the voice-over narration and the contents of his bedroom are all examples of such motifs. Loene Carmen's performance, too, radiates a sexual vitality that places her at odds with the community and sends her in search of direction in her own life. Most notably,The Year My Voice Broke highlights themes of isolation. Just as Australia is culturally isolated from the remainder of the globe, the three juveniles in Duigan's tale are equally segregated from their community and, ultimately, each other. Their struggle represents a crossroad from which unmarked paths diverge, helping to emphasise the internal struggles that dominate the thoughts of most adolescents during such a crucial and sensitive period in their development.

The fact that the three main characters have, as their central aim, the desire for self-discovery is linked to a nostalgic and romantic view of the past that Duigan and Geoff Burton capture so skillfully in the visual tone of the work. In order to move forwards, Duigan suggests, the youths must first look backwards. This view of using the past as a method of advancement is realised by Danny and Freya through Jonah (Bruce Spence), a spiritual advisor-of-sorts, who takes it upon himself to reveal the youths' innermost desires, enlightening them philosophically during their period of sexual awakening. This adds to the romantic motivations of both Danny and Freya, and helps to explain Freya's preoccupation with the haunted house and the mysterious woman who once resided within.

Certainly a character driven piece, The Year My Voice Broke is shot with long takes that place an emphasis on character performance and interaction. To their credit, all three youths display tour-de-force naturalistic performances that highlight Duigan's emphasis on the development of each isolated individual that results from their interaction with each other.

The Year My Voice Broke takes the traditional adolescent 'rites of passage' tale to a new level. Just as Danny, Trevor and Freya are perched precariously between childhood and maturity, the community that surrounds them is situated somewhere between the past and the present. In this, the community itself is seen to be unsure of its direction as it matures.

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