Adapted from the bestselling novel by Madeleine St John, Ladies in Black is an alluring and tender-hearted comedy drama about the lives of a group of department store employees in 1959 Sydney.
07 Sep Ladies in Black(2018)
Dresses
Sometimes a small story is enough of an excuse to simply allow us the main value, which in this case is a swim in a Kodachrome past of 1959 Sydney.
The title refers to the uniform required of the women who sold dresses at a downtown department store. A thread of the story is a 16 year old girl breaking free of the low class constraints of her family to enter college — a relatively sophisticated uplift.
In parallel, she is exposed to Eastern European immigrants who both pretend to be worldly and actually are in comparison. They eat salami! Julia Ormand plays the matriarch in and out of the store. She is supposed to be the anchor
A second parallel story has a ‘ruined woman’ courted by a suave Hungarian who basically puts in an order for a pretty Australian girl. We are meant to assume this works out well. Ormand’s character makes the match, and worries that the girl will be exploited.
But the stories are essentially irrelevant. The excuse for this is to visit a world that is different enough to emphasise the sameness. It is reverse science fiction.
This seems to be the final film of Beresford, and I think it is worthy. The star is the environment, both the city and the interiors of the store. The colour scheme is strikingly Kodachrome, with pastel blues and popping oranges.
Australia supplies many times more than its share of fine, very fine actresses. When I saw ‘Z for Zachariah” I immediately saw Margot Robbie’s future. It is not as clear with this Angourie Rice, though she seems to be working solidly since.
Posted in 2025
Ted’s Evaluation — 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.
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