What Do The Critics Say?

"Though it falls ever so short of being tagged as great, this accomplished and genuinely gripping crime drama is worthy of your time, money and attention. The Square is a very good new Australian movie. For a director working on his first feature, Nash Edgerton has both an incredibly precise eye for detail, and a skilled grasp of how to manipulate tension levels to maximum advantage. When the film is powering along on all cylinders, you immediately forget the familiarity of the scenario and totally fall for the freshness with which it is being depicted." Leigh Paatsch HERALD SUN "It’s filled with tasty elements, intriguing characters and a strong sense of place. An Australian film which is not only very well made but entertaining as well. It looks great, too." David Stratton ABC AT THE MOVIES "There are some lovely performances. It's nicely paced and directed." Margaret Pomeranz ABC AT THE MOVIES "For all intents and purposes a film noir of classic proportions, The Square has such a good story it deserves to be seen without knowing too many details about the plot. Nash Edgerton's direction is focused on the storytelling, and his command of the material is total. He seems to understand every minute nuance that feeds into the audience as the story unravels, and builds tension and intrigue almost flawlessly. The story is not as simple as we first believe, nor is it too complex to draw us in. Superb work from all concerned." Andrew L Urban URBANCINEFILE "Many reviewers (me included) bang on about wanting film-makers to do something different because the same old same old often seems to stem from plain laziness and box-office greed. Nash Edgerton (who directs) and brother Joel have done just that with their first combined feature film in which both are executive producers. They've also shown that they are among the most exciting movie talent in our nation." Ben McEachen THE SUNDAY MAIL

"It starts with a simple case of adultery. But of course, there is no such thing as a simple case of adultery. Like Pandora's Box which lifted a lid on all the evils of mankind, The Square takes a single premise of one wrong-doing as the starting point for a series of catastrophic events. The Edgerton Brothers have come up with a terrific and wonderfully accessible film in which human nature is put under the magnifying glass with detrimental outcomes. It's a tense and engrossing journey as Murphy's Law proves again and again that whenever you think things can get no worse, think again." Louise Keller URBANCINEFILE "To call a movie The Square suggests an interest in cinematic geometry, and the first feature from the Australian Nash Edgerton fulfils this promise. Written by the director's brother Joel Edgerton and Matthew Dabner, it's a black comedy of errors like the Coen brothers' Blood Simple (1984) or John Landis' little-seen Susan's Plan (1998)." Jake Wilson THE AGE "Director Nash Edgerton keeps the pace active and drops characters and evidence on to the scene without notice, creating a guessing game. Tthe brothers Edgerton, writer-actor Joel and debut director Nash, must be given credit for giving noir a go. They've certainly thrown dark characters, deceit, adultery, greed, blackmail, murder, arson, you name it, into the movie melting pot." Stan James THE ADVERTISER REVIEW "The Square is by the Edgerton brothers, with former stunt man Nash directing his first feature, and co-writer Joel also appearing in the role of Billy. The Square is a reasonable night’s entertainment especially for those who enjoy a film noir view of grotty goings-on in the back blocks of Sydney. For their first off the rank feature it’s certainly competent, and one can expect this team to be back again with more exciting work." John Bale THE BLURB "With a plot that ticks along like a fine Swiss watch, The Square is full-colour proof that a good movie starts and ends with its script. And The Square isn't just a good movie: it's a good Australian movie. First-time feature director Nash Edgerton and his actor brother Joel (who co-wrote the script, and also plays an arsonist-for-hire) have put together a tight noir thriller packed with twists and without a moments dead air. This is world-class storytelling, and the kind of film Australia should be making more; a lot more, of." Anthony Morris WEB WOMBAT ENTERTAINMENT

The Inside Story When Nash Edgerton met Tony Lynch (Stunt Co-ordinator on "The Square"), at the age of eightteen, Tony had been doing stunts for five years, so Nash was keen to learn from him. They started to train together, and both Tony and Nash realised that they needed to hone their stunt skills to make it in films. So they hatched a plan. "When we trained together we would take Tony's video camera and we would shoot ourselves sliding cars, etc. Then we would go back to his house, watch it and learn what shots worked for camera and what didn't. We did this every couple of days for a long time. Then when we were trying to get stunt jobs we had this idea of wearing the same clothes when we did all our stunts, then cutting it all together and making a sequence. That way when we cut it into our show reels it looked like we had already worked on films," Nash recalls. At the same time, Joel had just finished studying theatre at Nepean University. Keen to get acting jobs, Joel asked Nash if he could join in. So Nash told Joel to go and get a friend to write a couple of scenes so they could shoot it all with stunts and a narrative. Joel enlisted the help of his friend and fellow actor Kieran Darcy-Smith. When the boys headed out to shoot the scenes, they had so much fun that their first short film "Loaded" was born. Nash concentrated on developing his craft through music clips and more short films, but in between projects he continued his life as a stuntman. In the sixteen years since he started as a stuntman Nash has been in over one hundred films and TV shows, with some of the most talented directors and crew. As a stuntman, Nash might only have one stunt to do, but he would often have to hang around most of the day. Nash used this time to learn from the best in the industry. "I just sat on set and watched other people make films and direct. I would sit behind the monitor whenever I got the chance. It's great experience. You get to be there when it's shooting and see what works, what doesn't, then in the cinema you can decide what worked and what didn't in the end product. So I got to learn from other people's mistakes and great ideas that worked out. Getting that experience, being around people doing what they do best is so valuable. But it's not just watching other people direct; it's also about watching other crew. You learn so much from doing it. There are definitely people that I just like the way they do things for example, Dr George Miller ("Mad Max" trilogy & "Lorenzo's Oil") and the Wachowski brothers ("The Matrix" & "Speed Racer"). I was so fortunate that I got to be on their sets, there are so many directors I got to watch, really watch them do their thing." A lot must have rubbed off on the thirty-five year old Nash, because his directorial feature film debut "The Square" has Australian film critics singing his praises. Not that Nash hasn't had past successes. His work with short films is well-noted. Take the Flickerfest International Short Film Festival for example. Nash shared the Most Resourceful Production award twice. In 1997 with "Loaded" and 2005 with "Fuel". In 1999 "Bloodlock" received the Most Popular Film Award and in 2008, "Spider" won Best Editing an Australian Short Film. The St Kilda Film Festival recognized his work with three awards (two shared). "Bloodlock" and "Lucky" took the Short Film Competition Prize in 1999 and 2005, while "Spider" received the Audience Award in 2008. At the AFI Fest (1/11 to 11/11/07) in Los Angeles, California, "Spider" won the Short Film Award. Joel Edgerton first came up with the story in early 2000. One night he sat down and wrote the story in point form but, unconvinced that he was a writer, put it in a drawer. A couple of years later he revisited his notes feeling that the story would make a good film and set about writing the script. He wrote a couple of drafts, but his acting work was taking up a great deal of time, so the team bought on "Garage Days" script editor Matthew Dabner to continue the process. "I came on board just as Joel was about to head off to England to work on "King Arthur" and he was looking for someone to continue the work while he was away," Dabner recalls. "I think at the time I was at a point where I didn't know what the process was and so Louise, Nash and I talked about having someone else write a draft by themselves in the hope that it would speed things up a bit. I think I was just too close to it to see what was wrong with it and how to progress," Joel explained. "I went to Louise, Nash and Joel and told them that it was in really great shape and I loved the characters but I thought we could pull it all together a bit more," Dabner says. When Matthew finished the draft and gave it back, Joel was delighted with the result. "Basically Matthew took the script, pulled it apart, put it back together and it was all still there but it was reordered and or it just had a rhythm about it that was a lot more developed than before." So why did Dabner change it structurally? "These terrific events were not quite in the right order in terms of what you needed to tell the story of this character that makes a lot of terrible mistakes for love. Basically the order of events had to make it increasing difficult for him as time goes on so it was a structural challenge," Dabner offered. Over the next few years, Matthew and Joel continued to shape the script. Joel explained how it worked: "Matt and I did the bulk of our writing together via email because I would be away for a large part of time so we'd talk on the phone and email each other and divvy up tasks; he'd write this section I'd write that one then we would swap and write on top of each other's stuff." Dabner says he found the collaboration via email beneficial. "It was amazing how easy it was. When one of us was lagging in energy there was the other to pick him up. There were often times when Joel was in America and we were working twenty four hours a day, me in Sydney and him in LA." That old saying "opposites attract" worked well for Dabner and Joel Edgerton. "Structurally, I learned a lot from Matthew; his ability to be very clear thinking, stand back and be very organised about an approach for instance, because I am very disorganised in general," Joel revealed. "I think I really learnt to write through the whole process and I really enjoy writing now and have a much clearer approach to it." Joel's brother Nash broke with tradition when it came to "The Square". Rather than storyboarding and rehearsing the traditional way, Nash chose to do 'previs'. Like me, I'm sure you're wondering what the hell are 'previs'? "Nash has a bit of a process that involves prevising a lot of footage. He shoots scenes either in locations or in slightly similar locations so he can get an idea of how he is going to shoot it and edit it," producer Louise Smith ("The Pitch" & "The Rage In Placid Lake") explained. "So he'll work with Luke Doolan in cutting together previs material, then show it to the DOP Brad Shield who will then add a new layer to it." "They come with the actors and use a little HD camera. They block out all the scenes so our job then is just to put that onto celluloid and light it but all that work has been done, so you just improve on it," Shield ("Yolngu Boy" & "A Knight Lost") said. Using previs were very important when it came to the action scenes. "Knowing that we didn't have a huge budget but not wanting to cut out action sequences that would make the film feel bigger, I just went about doing as much preparation for those sequences that I could in terms of shooting previs," Nash notes. In the seven years since Joel Edgerton first started the script, the story and the characters have evolved and undergone a great deal of surgery. The main character of Ray was one that both writers Joel and Matthew spent a great deal of time on to make sure he was the everyman that he needed to be for the storyline to feel realistic. "Tuning the levels in Ray was difficult because if Ray was too much of a square then why would he be admired and loved by this woman and seen as a saviour to her and if he were too strong and heroic then the drama would suffer," Joel said. The casting process for the right person to play Ray was an arduous one. It was Producer Louise Smith who brought David Roberts to everyone's attention. When David read that his character Ray had a love affair with the beautiful twenty four year old Carla, he was pleasantly surprised: "There's a certain time in your life where women in their early twenties look straight through you. They're not trying to be rude but they just don't look at you the same way as they do when you're a thirty-something man." Shooting a Nash Edgerton film with the stunts and action sequences brought a whole other world of pain for David Roberts. In order to prepare for the gruelling seven week shoot he hit the gym, worked out and lifted weights. However the reality set in pretty quick: "In the first week we were stuck out in the rain for 3 nights, deliberate rain, very heavy and very cold, fighting in the mud for hours on end. I haven't been that stiff and sore since I used to play 'footy' twenty five years ago." In the same way that David was not a known leading man, Nash chose Claire van der Boom for the role of Carla. It marks her feature film debut. "For me the film is about love and the lengths that people will go to," van der Boom said. "It's the all time conundrum of hurt and guilt and everything that is tangled up with love, it's a fairytale gone wrong." Two time AFI Award winner Anthony Hayes ("Look Both Ways" & "Suburban Mayhem") was someone with whom, Nash and Joel had worked before and been friends for a long time. They knew his work extensively and when Nash brought Claire and Anthony together during casting he knew he had found his Smithy. "Tony's an extremely talented actor and when I sat in a room with him and Claire together they just looked like the right balance of people." When Joel started writing the script for "The Square" it made sense that as an actor he would write something for himself. It wasn't an easy task and turned out to be one he ultimately gave up on. "I tried to think of writing the script as a thing unto itself. I just thought I would write the best story and best script that I could write and if I happened to fit into it as an actor then fine." The role that Joel plays is that of Billy, a small time arsonist employed by Ray through an intermediary, to burn down Carla and Smithy's house. For Production Designer Elizabeth Moore ("Russian Doll", "Mullet" & "Opal Dream"), the film marked a real challenge "I had never worked on a film with this much action and drama, I thought it would be really exciting and it would be something that would really push me." DOP Brad Shield who met Nash thirteen years ago on the set of "The Island Of Dr Moreau" explained what made him say yes to the project: "For a low budget Aussie film it's nice to have a script where there's action involved. It's kind of a Boy's Own Adventure in a way, but what attracted me was Nash. I have known him for a long time." Synopsis

Escaping the monotony of a loveless marriage, Site Manager Raymond Yale becomes entangled in an affair with the beautiful and troubled Carla. Ray's moral limits are tested when Carla offers to steal the proceeds of her controlling husband's latest crime. This is their chance. Take the money and run. If only it were that simple, for Ray has already made a deal with a local supplier involving kickbacks. The seed is planted. Ray, fearing he will lose her, hires professional arsonist Billy to cover Carla's theft. His actions have fatal results. Alarm bells sound and suspicions are raised but miraculously, the dust looks like it's settled. Who would know. Then the first blackmail note arrives. The couple's nerves are tested as both Carla's husband and the mystery author threaten to reveal their secrets. With the blackmailer's deadline approaching the big question is: just how far they are willing to go for love.

The Verdict "For all those Australians who keep complaining that the local film industry is no longer capable of making quality, entertaining films, here's one film which certainly challenges that notion: "The Square". The truth is, that while the Australian film industry is, these days, still capable of making the occassional, very, entertaining film (eg: "Opal Dream", "Dark Water", "Unfinished Sky"), they generally slip under the radar. The biggest problem our industry faces is that cinemagoers have lost confidence in, and no longer have faith in, a local products ability to provide good value at the box-office. Then there's the lack of promotion. These days, unless you see the trailer at your local Multiplex, by the time word of mouth' spreads the news that 'hey, there is a great little aussie film out there', it's most probably been dropped from cinema session times. So here's some good news: "The Square", directed by Nash Edgerton, co-written by Joel Edgerton and Matthew Dabner, produced by Louise Smith, shot by the very talented DOP Brad Shield (who cut his teeth on films such as: "The Chronicles of Narnia I & II", "The Quiet American", "Rabbit-Proof Fence", "Mission: Impossible II" & "Pitch Black") and which features a striking soundtrack (featuring original songs written and produced by Ben Lee and sung by Australian actress/musician, Jessica Chapnik), is worthy of your fullest support. Like a run-away train, "The Square" slowly gathers momentum. It starts with an adulterous affair, corruption and deception raise their heads as characters are introduced, twists and turns unfold, sub-plots hatch, blood flows and then the inevitable: a finale` where the unimaginable happens. A tension racked finale` that will not only stun you, but truly have you gasping for breath. Go see it. You will get your monies worth. "The Square" is one, seriously cool, Australian film! 4 STARS." Who's Who?

David Roberts Claire van der Boom Joel Edgerton Anthony Hayes Bill Hunter Lisa Bailey Peter Phelps Lucy Bell Paul Caesar Amanda Crompton Maree D'Arcy Kieran Darcy-Smith Brendan Donoghue Luke Doolan Greg Hatton Paul He Damon Herriman Jacinta Hocking Mia Irvin Eliza Logan Tony Lynch Hanna Mangan Lawrence Julian Morrow Stephen Weston

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Raymond Yale Carla Smith Billy Greg 'Smithy' Smith Gil Hubbard Wendy Jake Martha Yale Sergeant Gary Miles Jenny Smithy's Mum Barney Leonard Long Smithy's Mate Smithy's Mate Restaurant Manager Eddie News Reporter Jake & Jenny's Baby Rita Smith Santa The Fireman Lily Dale Charlie

Run Time MA15+ minutes Rated 105 [AUST] Copyright © 2008 - Roadshow Films - All Rights Reserved ©2008 All Rights Reserved The Movie Pages - Protected by Australian, International, Copyright & Trademark Laws.