Wendy Hughes film festival

---

Kostas

1979, VHS

Johnny's comments:

Simple story about a Greek immigrant Kostas (Takis Emmanuel) who has come to live in Australia after falling afoul of local political types. He's a taxi driver. One day, after dropping off a friend at the airport, he spies Carol (Wendy Hughes) and instantly falls for her - so much so that he jumps the line at the taxi rank to pick her up. After some stalking, he invites her out to a Greek restaurant and she accepts and they fall for one another. But his home country is calling Kostas, and he doesn't fit into her world or get along with her friends.

Not much to the movie and is fairly accessible, considering what's to come from Paul Cox. It's a modest debut, but it's good to know that even an arthouse guy like Cox is not above ending with a mad dash to the airport for a "happy ending."

Wendy Hughes has a brief nude scene where you barely see her breasts in a very dark scene.

Wendy Hughes film clip (collage below)

Lonely Hearts

1982

Johnny's comments:

I first capped Lonely Hearts in 2012, so the collages and video are from then. It was capped from the Umbrella DVD (a rare example of a pre-2000 Cox movie being available widely on DVD) and is probably his most well-known movie and maybe his best. It  helped a lot that it was co-written by well-regarded New Zealand comedian John Clarke, whose touch is evident, as this movie is fairly funny, much more so that the usual Paul Cox movie.

Basically, a middle-aged piano tuner (Norman Kaye) puts a "lonely hearts" ad in the newspaper which is replied to by mousy office worker Patricia (Wendy Hughes). They develop a relationship around each other's inadequacies.

I liked it more than I expected but I didn't buy Wendy Hughes as the 40 year-old virgin considering she's done numerous movies where she plays character with wanton sexuality including in two movies in this update. Still good though.

There's some brief nudity from Wendy but it's a very dark scene.

Wendy Hughes film clip (collage below)

My First Wife

1984, VHS

Johnny's comments:

This 1984 drama brings back Wendy Hughes, this time playing the wife (Helen) of a prominent classical musician/radio announcer John (John Hargreaves). She reveals the devastating news to her husband that she wants a divorce and that she cheated on him and thinks he smells (ouch!). John does not take this well and goes into a deep depressive spiral which ends up with him in hospital. After leaving the hospital, he starts trying to get back into his ex's lift but only makes things worse including kidnapping their daughter.

This one has aged really badly. I get the feeling we are supposed to be sympathetic towards John but he's an arsehole and acts incredibly poorly. The movie ends on a nothing scene and a stalemate between John and Helen. Hargreaves, with full beard which is a rare sight, is good and it's nice to see a bunch of actors who don't usually turn up in Cox's movies fill out the roles for once like Anna-Maria Monticelli who has a fling with John.

Not one of Cox's best.

A bit of nudity from Wendy yet again with an early very dark sex scene where we just see her breasts then a couple of consecutive scenes where John and Helen have sex after he leaves the hospital. In the first scene we see Wendy's breasts after her bra is taken off. A little later in bed we see her breast then briefly full frontal nudity as she wrestles with John after realizing that she made a mistake sleeping with him.

Wendy Hughes film clip (collage below)