Mood: a short story

The tension built up in his chest, overwhelming him with endless stress and worry. It looked like all was lost. Each day was the same: dull, dreary uniformity, walking from place to place with the same look of discontent on his face, those around him becoming snappier and more irritable with each passing hour. Every single thing around him became annoying.

He decided to just let go. Everything would work out in the end, he was just thinking too much about the consequences of failure. Nothing is more important than happiness.

On many occasions, he remembered lines of a poem he had once heard. This poem always slipped back into his life at some point or another. “There is light somewhere; it may not be much light, but it beats the darkness”… “Your life is your life; know it while you have it”.

Wide-eyed, he looked up at the clouds drifting overhead. Several different emotions ran through him: content, cheerfulness; overall, a positive outlook on life. While yes, he was stuck in a class he hated, idly typing away on the computer to kill what time was left before he would be set free into that big, open, welcoming world out there, happiness was the main thing that kept him going. Nothing could bring him down now. With the new Arcade Fire record in his ears, it seemed that life could not get much better than this.

“What a contrast” he thought, “After all of the stress of school work, I’m finally happy”.

Cut to the next day: the final day of term. The stress and panic is back, full-force. It seemed that this was a perpetual routine: worry, despair; realisation, content. Currently, however, he was in the former part of this emotive circle. So many things to do. The prospect of incomplete school work had gotten the best of him, and though his cheery mood from the day before had not worn off completely, it had still faded considerably.

Glancing, as usual, out the window, he could see the colours grey and white staring right back at him from the sky. Below, many trees waved their branches enthusiastically at anyone who cared to look. What a contrast from yesterday. Quickly, this view was obstructed with the drawing of the curtains directly in front of him, pulling him reluctantly back into the chatter-filled classroom that he was trapped in.

His chest felt heavy. Soon, he would have to face his final attempt of completing his assignment. Why the fuck was this taking so long?

This time, the words of a song rang in his ears:
"This place is a prison; These people aren't your friends"
How do these people manage to make music for every situation?

He lay back in his chair, attempting to relax. Here, he spotted the worn ceiling. Many holes had been ripped in it over the years, and it had been warped by previous moisture problems, drooping down overhead, leering at him from every angle.

Finally, the sound of a bell freed him.

The work was finally over. The curse was lifted. Everything was right with the world once more. Just one word from a song spoke to him this time, from the innermost part of his brain:

“Free”.

Straight to the pool room!

Deep from the dungeon of cult classics comes The Castle, directed by Rob Sitch. From the title alone, one would not know what to expect, but the least of these expectations would be one of the most underrated and unknown comedies of all time.

The plot of the film follows Dale Kerrigan and his family. They live in a humble home in suburban Australia, happy and under the belief that “a man’s home is his castle”, the fact that it’s five minutes from the airport does not factor into it. Besides, “it will be very convenient if we ever have to fly one day”. However, all is not well in the Kerrigan household, as they are soon informed that their house is being demolished to extend the runway for the airport, and they will have to leave. Dale’s father, Darryl, who won’t have any of this, asks his budding lawyer and friend (whom has no knowledge on property rights nor constitutional law) to help him with this matter.

As one could plainly see, the story of The Castle is not Shakespeare, but the story is the most minute part of the whole affair. No, where The Castle really stands on its toes is the development and use of the characters in the film. Each character has his or her own well thought out personality and their own little running jokes. From Dale, whose interests include digging holes, his brother, Steve, the ideas man, who is always looking for a bargain in the local trading post, or their father, Darryl, who raises and races greyhounds.

The other strongest point of the film is, of course, the humour itself. Drawn from the characters’ personalities, the humour ranges from flat out obvious to exceptionally subtle. The kind of film that benefits from repeat viewings, The Castle is overflowing with jokes of many different types, a number of which you will probably miss the first time around. Full of one-liners and jokes that play on the stupidity of the characters, this is the kind of movie that you will be quoting for years. The humour may not be for everyone, however, as many of the jokes will fly over the heads of those not at least slightly familiar with Australian humour.

The film is well acted all around. It is never too exaggerated or underplayed, merely providing a believable experience and immersing the viewer into the film, leading them to believe that the characters are 3-dimensional and real, to a certain degree.

This level of acting also compliments the character-driven nature of the film. The acting helps make the characters’ unusual and sometimes farfetched personalities seem more believable, and more entertaining because of this. The Castle also boasts Eric Bana’s first acting job in a film, and while he plays a very minor role, an accountant-come-kickboxer, his character, Con, is memorable and funny nonetheless.

All in all, The Castle is an engaging, hilarious and memorable experience, and while it may not appeal to those who are looking for a serious, story driven film, nor those who don’t ‘get’ the humour, for those who endeavour to watch the film, this castle will not hold any scary surprises within. If you consider yourself a fan of comedies and have not already seen The Castle, your life is incomplete.