The Heartbreak Kid (1993)
Christina (Claudia Karvan) is a school teacher from a wealthy Greek-Australian background, engaged to a lawyer and content with the traditional course of her life. She begins teaching at an inner-city working-class school and she finds her ideas challenged by the students. Involving herself in a campaign by a group of non-anglo students to form a soccer club in a school where the racist PE teacher only supports Australian Rules Football, Christina starts falling in love with aspiring soccer player, 17 year old Nick (Alex Dimitriades). The ensuing affair forces Christina to challenge herself, her family and the culture she lives in. Managing to effectively combine comedy with a refreshing examination of contemporary ethnic relationships in Australia, beautifully acted by a young cast, and insightfully scripted.
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Alex Dimitriades has been a fixture in Australian television and it is easy to see why. "Tall, dark and handsome" hardly does him justice! His only film of note in the States was the gay "Head On" which caught his Aussie audience off guard. In that film he plays a gay, Greek ("wog") teen in a vibrant Greek community parallel to but not quite part of Australian society, and as a gay kid into every sort of pleasure he was an outcast from his own. "The Heartbreak Kid" is similar in the Greek part but he is lustfully heterosexual and full of testosterone. That his teacher responds to his advances is the turning point of the film and where belief becomes difficult, but in the end you DO expect them to meet again in two years. Claudia Karvan who plays the teacher was a regular in the OZ TV series "The Secret Life of Us" and is really only a year older than Dimitriades, but she does manage the teacher role well.
I saw this film a few days ago by accident on late night TV. As it was starting it looked kind of dated and I thought it was a 50's film of some sort. But then i saw the Greek family and as i'm from a Greek background i thought it was gonna be an interesting watch. Then after I saw about 15 minutes i knew it was based on the TV series "Heartbreak High" or should i say the series was based on the film. I never knew this film existed or that the series was based on such a film so it was a bit of shock. It's an interesting fictional film that takes place in the Greek community in Australia. However, it felt a bit corny in places only because it was made 10 years ago and it's really dated.
While it is not a masterpiece it succeed in arousing the viewers passion and sympathy. The story maybe used before, but the script and acting give it a fresher look. Of course the two lovers act beautifully ( In bed and Out of it). And they look beautifull.
I have recently seen this film and I thought I just had to write about it. What I liked about it was the truth in it, the innocent love and to have strength to do something like "papa" and "Nick" did. Another great thing about it is the end, through the whole film I thought to myself; ohh this is going to end like that, but when the movie was over it had surprised me, because it was nothing like I thought it would end, only much better. Without telling to much, go see the movie, it will surprise you.