Melissa George & Anthony Hayes
Luckily for all of us, what we got was a drama of such rare quality and intensity, it delivered to the same high standard of the book on which it was based.
The writing team of Emily Ballou, Alice Bell, Brendan Cowell, Kris Mrksa & Cate Shortland offered 8 scripts that allowed the cast to step into their skin and deliver their passion, their beliefs, their pain – all integral to the strength of the book. It is testament to these five brilliant writers that The Slap built week on week and drew audiences in to the story.
The cast were amazing. Jonathan Lapaglia (Hector) gave us the lost middle-aged father who didn’t know what he wanted until he screwed it up. Melissa George (Rosie) and Alex Dimitriades (Harry) were amazing, particlarly in the kitchen table confrontation when Harry came to apologise, at the urging of Hector. You could feel the mixture of rage and shame Anthony Hayes (Gary) felt as the party unfolded that led to the slap of his son (Julian Mineo – Hugo), and how that only added to his torture. Both Sophie Lowe (Connie) and Blake Davis (Richie) were incredible as the teens pulped into this very adult situation. The two stand out performances were from Sophie Okonedo (Aisha) and Lex Marinos (Manolis) – both working hard to keep their family together, to try to straddle the fence and be at peace with everyone’s pain, even their own.
A stunning series the ABC should be applauded for screening. The Slap was never going to be an easy story, it was written to deliver conflict, to force the reader to take sides. The TV series offered us that in spades. Catch it on ABC’s online catch-up platform iview while you can, or seek out the DVD box set when released otherwise.
Matchbox Pictures, responsible for The Slap, will be producing The Straits for ABC1 to screen next year. Given what they delivered in this instance, we can expect the same high quality and a big year of drama in 2012.
The Slap reminds us that Australian audiences will watch authentic Australian drama. It doesn’t have to contain boobs, guns oroutrageous violence, nor ships or cops by the drayload. The Slap was an incredible 8 hours of television that was never going to leave you feeling warm and fuzzy as you chewed through which side you were on, who you believed… and that is in itself a victory.
The Slap is fantastic TV and does a great job in revealing the truth behind characters and exploring conflict without being over the top or cringe worthy. As an expat living in London I can’t wait for each episode to come around. The biggest compliment I can pay it is that it feels like modern Australia but I forget that it is … it’s just as good if not better than anything I watch from the UK or US.
After reading the book and recommending it to all friends (ironically I have freinds who fit all the categories in the book and could say that happening at a BBQ at my house, as a result I don’t bring out the cricket gear), I didn’t think that a TV adaptation could come close to the book…but I was wrong! Awesome story line, awesome acting, Congratulations ABC. Well done.
Each Thursday at 8.30pm I was transfixed – Brilliant television, brilliant acting, brilliant writing. Thank you
I am trying to think of a superlative to use in describing the feelings the Slap invoked in me. I literally was holding my breath sometimes and feeling sick. I really don’t remember watching anything that made me go through so many emotions and made me think so, so much. I would find myself coming to some realisation the next day or the one after after digesting the episode I’d just watched. It really made me think and yes, I know people with little ‘Hugo’s’. We have friends we don’t socialise with anymore after one of their little darlings chased my little boy around the table with a kitchen knife! He was expressing himself! My sympathies changed completely through watching the series. So bloody clever! I so appreciate the amazing author, production house and gorgeous, brilliant actors for so thoroughly entertaining and educating me for those very short eight hours. Brava.