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There’s nothing more satisfying than to see an actor spend most of their career in relative obscurity throughout most of the world before finally breaking out and becoming a mainstay among some of the film industry’s most lucrative productions. Take the Australian actor Ben Mendelsohn for example: beginning his career in 1986, Mendelsohn has long been a successful actor in his native country, but to the rest of the world, his presence has mostly gone mostly unnoticed. This changed in the mid-2010’s, however; as Director Krennic, the antagonist of 2016’s “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”, Mendelsohn finally received exposure on a global scale, and his casting in such following films as “Ready Player One” and “Captain Marvel” prove that the actor has more than what it takes to be an international film icon. Still, even with this sudden skyrocket of success, one mustn’t forget their roots, and today’s film, the Australian drama “Amy”, originally distributed throughout the U.S. by World Wide Motion Pictures Corporation provides one of Mendelsohn’s earlier performances and demonstrates how he developed such skill as an actor.
The film stars Alana de Roma as the titular character, an eight-year-old girl who had been traumatized by the death of her rock musician father Will Enker (played by Nick Barker), who had been accidentally electrocuted while performing on stage one day. Amy has since become deaf and mute as a result of the trauma, and she moves to the city of Melbourne with her mother Tanya (Academy Award Nominee Rachel Griffiths), who hopes to find out the reasons for her continued silence. Social workers try to help her speak again and eventually go to school, but it’s the friendship she forms with her neighbor Robert (Mendelsohn) that proves to be the key to Amy learning how to communicate again, as it’s his rock songs that she begins to sing along to and help her regain the voice she once had.
In the many years since its release, “Amy” has proven to be a prominent feature of various international film festivals and awards ceremonies. In its native Australia, it was shown at the Brisbane International Film Festival, received an award from the Australian Cinematographer’s Society, and was even nominated in two categories at the Australian Film Institute Awards. Elsewhere in the world, it received the Youth Prize and the Education Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, won the Grand Jury Award at the Asia-Pacific Film Festival, and earned the Public Prize at the Paris Film Festival. Alana de Roma even received a nomination for Best Performance in a Feature Film – Young Actress Age Ten or Under at the Young Artist Awards.
Mendelsohn and Griffith’s performances alone should be more than enough to attract one’s interest in “Amy”. After all, who doesn’t like to see where a popular actor like Mendelsohn was before becoming a common figure in some of Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters? That being said, even without Mendelsohn, the film is a heartwarming story about a young girl finding the strength to overcome her trauma, as well as the people who do everything they can to help her. It’s an emotional roller coaster throughout, but one that is guaranteed to put a smile on one’s face when it comes to an end. Those interested can find the film on Amazon and see for themselves just how touching the story truly is.
