All About E

In Louise Wadley's first feature film, "All About E,"written and directed by her, she tells the story of a beautiful young disk jockey in Sydney, Australia, who is quite lost to herself. She makes a good living as a DJ in a hot gay/lez nightclub; a lesbian not out to her immigrant Lebanese family; best friends with a same-age gay man/boy; and, worst of all, has left behind a potential musical career as a classical clarinetist. This young woman is decidedly lost to herself at the moment.

Then E (Mahatma Rose) and gay Irishman Matt (Brett Rogers) stumble on a cache of lost drug money, belonging to the gay Scotsman, Johnny Rock (Simon Bolton), who runs this club, one who discovered and trained her into being the most successful DJ in Sydney. Rock, as it turns out, is in hock to someone else, someone higher, in the druggie-scene - a mobster who is a bigger fish in this particularly rancid sea. Rather than putting their lives in great danger with this found money, they take it on the lam to the interior of drought-stricken Australia to stay with an "ex" of hers, Trish (Julia Billington), who runs a ranch she is in danger of losing to the banks. But Trish took their break-up hard and doesn't want to harbor these fleeing souls.

From a variety of investigations, Johnny tracks them down and threatens all of them with dismemberments if E doesn't return the heavy bag of loot. Well, having found true love again with Trish, the only thing a girl can do is become like Rock and get into a brawl with him, in the parched, if gorgeous, landscape.

Wadley has given herself as director a workable scenario (with help from producer Jay Rudovitz) and a professional cinematographer (Justine Kerrigan) who makes the most of a limited budget, making everything shine as it ought. Her story only falters at the end with some improbable actions (how does Johnny know exactly, in this deserted interior, where Trish's ranch is?) but looking good anyway.

It would seem to be an accurate view of how lesbians and gaymen can find friendship in a relatively hostile environment for all gay folk. But the love scenes between E and Trish are excitingly frank, and Wadley keeps the tone throughout light and amusing, in spite of the insinuated dangers which confront our duo from an increasingly unhinged Johnny Rock.

Unusual to this genre, there is a vibrant Bonus Section, in which they explore how the actors make their characters come so alive; how the technical aspects of the filming went; exactly what a producer does, etc. Really fascinating to know how filming works.

"All About E" Wolfe Video
DVD
$19.95
www.wolfevideo.com