Escape from Country Towns in ‘The Dressmaker’ and ‘Muriel’s Wedding’ Adine May Reedman 10th Grade

'The Dressmaker’, directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse in 2015 and ‘Muriel’s Wedding’, directed by P.J. Hogan in 1994, are both Australian comedy-drama films that explore the theme of escaping a country town. In ‘The Dressmaker’, Myrtle Dunnage returns to her hometown of Dungatar, to take care of her mentally unstable mother, Molly. During her time here, she gains revenge on those who exiled her for allegedly killing Stewart Pettyman as a child. Whereas in ‘Muriel’s Wedding’, Muriel Heslop moves from Porpoise Spit to Sydney, after being treated like an outcast by her father and judgement friends, with Rhonda Epinstalk, a fellow outcast from her high school. The directors of both films position the viewer to feel negatively about these country towns through their impertinent and obnoxious portrayal of residents from these towns, the constant feeling of isolation and being misunderstood, and lastly, both towns having a lack of opportunity.

The films, ‘The Dressmaker’ and ‘Muriel’s Wedding’ both explore the theme of escaping a country town. The directors of both films portray the residents as rude and obnoxious, which is a factor that contributes to Myrtle Dunnage (‘The Dressmaker’) and Muriel Heslop (‘Muriel’s Wedding’) to escape these...