Directed by Claire McCarthy
Claire McCarthy first went to Calcutta in 2002 and did some volunteer work at an orphanage where she met many middle-class Western couples wanting to adopt children. She realised that the waiting period to receive a child was often quite emotionally draining for the couples involved and she also reflected on what it would mean to take a child away from their culture. This Australian writer/director filmed The Waiting City entirely in India, setting an intimate, complex love story of transformation against a breath-takingly beautiful backdrop of Calcutta.
Successful corporate lawyer Fiona (Radha Mitchell) and her failed musician partner Ben (Joel Edgerton) have all the paperwork to adopt a baby in India but things don’t go exactly according to plan when they arrive in India. Apart from the fact that Fiona’s luggage has gone missing, Calcutta is such an overwhelming city, especially with the sheer mass of people celebrating the Hindu Goddess Durga (an event often referred to as the Rio Carnival of the East). As they wait for the adoption to be finalised, Fiona and Ben seem to drift in different, unexpected directions and their relationship is challenged as unresolved issues surface.
The stars of this film would have to be the fantastic cinematography and the changing moods of India. Fiona and Ben both find that their surroundings push them to become more in touch with their spiritual sides in order to confront their darker personas that have emerged as they wait a long way away from their middle-class life in Australia. McCarty weaves many stories of love and successfully creates the tension between the desire to tick boxes in our lives and having a balanced life that allows us to thrive. The great script, cinematography and acting combine to make this film an emotionally uplifting experience.
Lezly Herbert
