One of those golden-looking Australian films, this one is about tragedy and heartbreak with a story of repression straight out of Victorian melodrama. Danny (Noah Taylor) is a 15-year-old nerd who yearns after Freya (Loene Carmen), his childhood friend now grown into a nubile, auburn-haired 16-year-old. Freya falls in with tearaway Trev (a charismatic performance by Ben Mendelsohn) and you can guess the rest, save for the history of Freya's parentage (she's adopted) which does make the film more interesting towards the end. Carmen seems a trifle mature for Freya, and Taylor even too young for Danny: their scenes together are as awkward as their adolescent relationship. But the photography is atmospheric throughout and Bruce Spence is worth watching in support as a signalman who lives in his own past.


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