‘Out of nowhere comes either happiness, despair or somewhere in-between.’Is this true of ‘Look Both Ways’?
Sarah Watt’s ‘Look Both Ways’ can be seen as somewhat of a precautionary tale to modern day Australian society, warning us of the stranglehold fear can have on us and how it can keep us from living life happily. The film includes an ensemble cast of ordinary, everyday Australians who face difficult circumstances. While it sees that these circumstances come out of nowhere, Watt ultimately tries to demonstrate that we make our own happiness, luck and create our own circumstances, showing us that it is free will over fate that determines our lives.
When nothing seems to be going right, this is when people believe that the whole world is against them and there’s nothing they can do about it. Watt clearly demonstrates this in ‘Look Both Ways’ through the character of Andy. He is constantly negative and pessimistic. It is mainly shown through his facial expressions and dialogue that nothing seems to go his way, and he believes everybody is out to get him. ‘Did you do this on purpose?’ Birth is meant to be seen as a wonderful thing, a gift. But Andy thinks differently. When Anna tells him she is pregnant, he straight away thinks of it as a burden, and that she did it purposely to make his life miserable. ‘You think everyone has an agenda……’ ‘What, and they don’t?’ We are clearly shown through the mis-en-scene in Andy’s apartment, with junk everywhere, that his life is a mess and that he couldn’t deal with any more children. Although Andy makes the audience feel that children are a burden, and that they ruin your life, this is not the message Watt is trying to show us. She is trying to tell us that even if we are thrown into a difficult situation, we can either decide to accept it and be happy, or stay cynical and pessimistic. Watt makes it clear that we decide whether we are happy or not; it doesn’t just pop up out of nowhere. This is demonstrated through...