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Alexandra's Project
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Alexandra's Project
Directed by
Rolf de Heer
Produced by
Rolf de Heer, Antonio Zeccola (executive producer), Julie Ryan & Domenico Procacci
Written by
Rolf de Heer
Starring
Gary Sweet
Helen Buday
Distributed by
Palace Films
Release date(s)
2003
Running time
103 minutes
Country
Australia
Language
English
Alexandra's Project is a 2003 drama/thriller Australian movie.
Contents
1 Plot
1.1 Act I
1.2 Act II
1.3 Act III
1.4 ACT IV
2 Cast
3 Release
4 Reception
5 Box Office
6 See also
7 References
8 External links
[edit] Plot
It depicts a family where the protagonist, Steve, comes to find the life that he has been living is a lie. After years of what he believed to be marital bliss, his wife Alexandra confronts him with her dissatisfaction in a most unexpected and emotionally wrenching way. On his birthday, Alexandra (called 'Alex' by Steve, much to her chagrin) reveals, among other things, that she has felt objectified and emotionally ignored by him for the entirety of their marriage, and that she is leaving with their children with money she has secretly been earning from sex in their home.
[edit] Act I
This introduces Steve, Alex and their two kids. It shows Alex is very troubled about something. It shows Steve being very active and loving towards the children. The only other take-away was references to a security system that the neighbor installed for them. It lets them lower steel gates over the doors/windows.
[edit] Act II
Steve has a birthday party at work, a coworker kisses him on the cheek and he is later seen having lunch with this same co-worker. It's a very very small hint at infidelity. Steve gets promoted at work. Some things go on at home with Alex and the kids. She is acting very strange, and sends the kids away in a taxi.
[edit] Act III
Steve comes home from work. His key does not work for the security system but the door is left open. He jumps around the corner for his birthday surprise and instead finds A TV set with a chair in front of it for viewing.
He goes upstairs to find everyone but nobody is home. When he gets back downstairs his bag has been moved to the living room... the door has been locked. The viewer presumes he is now locked in but Steve is still clueless.
In the living room he finds a tape that says "Play me". He does so. It is his wife and children; they do a toast to their father and tell then tell him they love him. She then sends them away.
She turns on some music and does a strip tease, the music ending when she is about to take of her bra. She tells him it will have to wait, she wants to talk about something first.
She begins to tell him that he is a great dad. The kids love him. It's apparent that he tries hard with them. She isn't happy though. Steve is shown as disinterested and hits fast forward.
He gets startled and hits pause to reveal his wife pointing a gun through the tv at him. He replays it. She says she's sure he's got a woman on the side, probably a bunch of women on the side. She is erratic, pulls the gun, points it at him, and then at herself. She says she's worthless to him and she should just finish herself off. She pulls the trigger and it clicks. She says, oops, it's not loaded.
She starts talking about her breasts, her bra is too tight. She starts to take it off. She is showing them off to the camera for Steve. She begins talking about how he always gropes her and how that wont be for much longer. She has a small Bandaid on one breast. She tells him it's a biopsy and she has cancer. Steve begins to cry. She says she has a 50/50 chance of surviving but her breasts have a 0% chance. She is having a radical double masectomy in a week. She asks if he will visit her. He is really breaking down now, but visibly trying to be strong. She reaches for the Bandaid and starts picking at it, then peels it off fast. She exclaims I'm cured! No biopsy, no cancer! It's just a joke to torment Steve.
She then talks about her body. That all he uses her for sex. She complains that he brought a cucumber to bed once. She asks him if he thought about putting the cucumber in the cashier when he bought it. She complains that he bought her a vibrator, a machine, and that putting it in her makes her his machine. She complains that he gets in the shower with her and fingers her. She says that its her tunnel of love, not his. She says this is why she can't wear skirts anymore because he fingers her.
She also complains about how he controls the money and she has to beg for it. So she's been making her own money by whoring, out of their house, while Steve is at work.
She then begins to finger herself and tell him she doesn't need him anymore. She then says its time, and a man comes into the frame and begins to have sex with her. It's their neighbor who installed the security system.
When she is done she tells him she has taken the kids, taken every picture of them, and they will never see him again. That they will soon forget him and he will soon forget them. She is leaving him for good and he will never see her again either.
He becomes enraged but can't get out of the house, he breaks the ceiling out and crawls through the attic to the neighbors house and jumps through the ceiling.
[edit] ACT IV
The neighbor pulls a gun on him and has a long talk with him while the cops show up. He tells him his wife is clever and that he will get over them. He tells him that while he is in jail overnight that his wife instructed him (the neighbor) to erase his kids from the video but he will leave a few seconds of footage on the tape of his kids to be nice. It flashes several days forward to Steve sitting in the same chair watching the video of his wife having sex. He is masturbating to the section of his wife and neighbor having sex. There is a knock on the door. Steve answers it to a young man who asks if Alexandra is home. Steve is then shown in front of the television, watching the section of the tape the neighbor didn't destroy over and over again. (The children and Alexandra raising their cups and saying, "Cheers, Dad") The credits roll.
[edit] Cast
Gary Sweet as Steve
Helen Buday as Alexandra
Bogdan Koca as Bill
Jack Christie as Sam
Samantha Knigge as Emma
Eileen Darley as Christine
Geoff Revell as Rodney
Philip Spruce as Taxi Driver
Nathan O'Keefe as Man at Door
Peter Greena as Chairman
Martha Lott as Female Worker
Cindy Elliott as Female Worker
Gemma Falk as Female Worker
Nicole Daniel as Female Worker
Duncan Graham as Male Worker
Michael Ienna as Male Worker
[edit] Release
The film had his World premiere on 14 February 2003 as part of the Berlin International Film Festival[1] and was released regularly as Cinema release on 8 May 2003 in Australia.
[edit] Reception
Film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes assessed the film at 50% on its tomatometer with an average 5.4/10 rating.[2]
[edit] Box Office
Alexandra's Project took $844,494 at the box office in Australia,[3] which is equivalent to $996,503 in 2009 dollars.
[edit] See also
Cinema of Australia
South Australian Film Corporation
[edit] References
^ Alexandra's Project - Berlinale 2003
^ "Alexandra's Project (2003)". Rotten Tomatoes. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/alexandras-project//.
^ Film Victoria - Australian Films at the Australian Box Office
[edit] External links
Official Website
Alexandra's Project at the National Film and Sound Archive
Alexandra's Project at the Internet Movie Database
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alexandra%27s_Project&oldid=446451793"
Categories:
Australian films
English-language films
2003 films
Australian thriller films
2000s thriller films
Films directed by Rolf de Heer
Films shot in Adelaide
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