“Rhapsody of Love” – publicly billed as the first Asian Australian romcom – is frankly a misnomer. Joy Hopwood's sophomore film is neither romantic nor funny. It instead plays like a cheaply-made, feature-length porn video without the joys of sex. Defined by flat acting, mindless editing, and an even more awkward script, “Rhapsody of Love” is a textureless digital piece that panders to tropes than to quality.
“Rhapsody of Love” review is part of the Submit Your Film Initiative
The film opens with Ben's (Benjamin Hanly) wedding to Natasha (Jessica Niven). While he celebrates his wedding day, his forever-single best friend Jessica Flowers (Kathy Luu) wallows in the corner. A series of couples unfold from here. Ben's wedding videographer, Justin (Damien Sato), cannot take his eyes off of Jessica despite his relationship with baking influencer Victoria (Lily Stewart). Victoria's eyes drift as well, locking on the drinks waiter. In the midst of this, Jessica's sister Jade (Hopwood herself) latches onto her personal trainer. Turmoil erupts between each couple as everyone fights for their own careers, and – like Jessica – ultimately looks for love.
The premise has promise, but the characters are poorly written. The fights feel obligatory; Stewart explodes almost at random, and Sato cannot seem to channel the appropriate amount of anger in response. For a movie about romance, there is no sense of desire, either. Sexual innuendos are slipped into conversation, but they come off as more unsavory than they do humorous. The actors too possess zero chemistry on-screen. Hanly freezes in the bedroom each time, as if his character – Ben – is afraid to touch his wife. Sato is no better either with his new lover. Perhaps he is nervous or even camera shy, but he cannot even maintain eye contact with the apple of his eye. This is not to mention the sudden exaggerated inserts of Jade and the personal trainer, or even the vaguely Chris Hemsworth-looking waiter as well. Each character as such comes off as incredibly static. Why search for love when they cannot even grow?
The editing and camerawork only amplify the poor writing. This is especially evident in the extended dialogue scenes. The camera switches without purpose between shot-reverse-shots to long-shots, confusing the intensity of the atmosphere. Fade transitions from one location to the next makes each story feel disjointed. “Rhapsody of Love” trudges on from event to event without any suspense.
Not everything about the film is horrible. Cameraman Goldie Soetianto does well in capturing the varying shades of skin tone, bringing out each character's full melanin. Kathy Luu also performs beautifully for her stunted character. Compared to the exaggerated personas around her, Luu organically commands a quiet charisma that draws the story to her at the end.
These small praises are not enough to recommend this film, however. Watching “Rhapsody of Love” is akin to eating cotton candy. It looks like it has potential, but each bite results in cheap, tasteless regret. Thank goodness that it does not fulfill either definition of a “romantic comedy.” For if it did, it would be a disappointing way for the Australian Asian romcom world to lose its first.
