Hugo Weaving, Web Weaving, The City's Edge Review
 
Hugo Weaving, The City's Edge, M&S Jumper
 

n.  Hugo Weaving ~ The City's Edge

AU Movie 1983:     Hugo Weaving Content: 96%  85mins
Character: Andy ~ innocent golden boy becoming tarnished with real life
Cast: Hugo Weaving   Andy White,  Mark Lee   Jim, Tommy Lewis   Jack, Katrina Foster  Laura,  Ralph Cotterill   Horrie, Fredric Abbott   Lloyd 
Dir: Ken Quinnell 
Availablity: Deleted. Available 2nd hand in AU/US.

Hugo Weaving: The City's Edge Plot/Comments:

Along with Peter Weir, Ken Quinnell  was hailed as one of Australia's new breed of world class directors. The City's Edge certainly isn't in the same league (or budget) but it is notable for two things: it was one of the first films to address the ghettoisation of Aborigines; and it was Hugo Weaving's first film.

Guilty at the death of the father he has always hated, would-be writer Andy moves from a middle class life in the sticks to make it big in Sydney.
     He moves into a seedy Bondi boarding house, crammed with the rejected dregs of society: a world-loathing cripple; a prostitute; and a Nice Boy heroin addict, whose life is run by top-dog Jack, an aggressive aborigine who rejects the sympathy of any white with expectations of more prejudice, more jail, and an early death to end a hopeless life. Perfect fodder for an aspiring writer.
Hugo Weaving, The City's Edge, argue

    Andy becomes fascinated by Jim's 'perfect' but edgy and emotionally damaged sister, Laura. They soon embark on an increasingly (emotional and physical) sado-masochistic relationship: his wide-eyed romantic optimism being the perfect target for the rejection and pain she has felt herself.
       As Andy matures and loses his innocence and his dreams, he becomes closer to Jack, who stabs a thug in self defense on their return from a nightclub. Due to a misunderstanding with the cops and his assumption that they will find him guilty of murder, Jack chooses to go out in a hail of bullets, figuring that as an Aborigine, he's as good as dead anyway; it's just a matter of when and where.

Shot mostly in three rooms and a hallway, this extremely low-budget film often feels like a stage adaptation. However, this is not always a bad thing, especially when Weaving and Tommy Lewis  share screen time. 
     That said, the script is often incredibly clunky and some of the acting is simply awful. There are far too many woodenly dramatic expositions: it sometimes feels like heroin-fuelled Dawson's Creek filtered through a daytime soap opera.

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Typical Hugo Weaving Quotes:

  • Speaking about the semi-autobiographical character in his book: "He's just trying to get somewhere, be someone. There's something inside him pushing against him." 
  • "I know why you come here ~ it's because Jack's over there and you get a bloody kickwatching him come up the stairs...with his eyesburning you out"

Weaving's first movie performance is especially impressive.
     However, this is not surprising when you bear in mind his previous two year stint with the Sydney Theatre Company ~ it is strikingly obvious that he is the best trained and most relaxed natural actor. Even at this stage in his career he'd realised how important a glance, a hand-pick, a nail-bite or a slouch was. 
    His apparent ease with (and clever use of) acting in film is in stark contrast to the other actors in the film ~ even compared to once-golden-boy Mark Lee ~ who all look like they're waiting to deliver their lines and have a total of three facial expressions.
Hugo Weaving, The City's Edge, Nail biting

Hugo Weaving content: 


Although he is in nearly every scene, Andy is pretty much a plot device, allowing the viewer to watch the other characters. However, Weaving makes him an involving character, adding extra interest to the one person who keeps his cards to his chest and doesn't have any grandstanding speeches.
Hugo Weaving, The City's Edge, fluffy
Hugo Weaving, The City's Edge, sulking

Hugo's character is the first in a long line of self-hating characters with low self-esteem Although his parts are massively different, many of them have a thread of self or societal loathing in them: it's become one of his niche performance hooks

Andy, though a golden country boy from a 'good' background, is no pushover; challenging the other characters' viewpoints, standing up for himself and others; and glaring people down in aggressive standoffs. 
    Physically, Weaving is at ease with the fight scenes, looking like he's involved in a natural grapple and not  a stiffly choreographed punch-up as some of the other actors do.

    For some reason, he spends most of the film without his shirt on.