From the island nation of New Zealand in the pacific, Harold Brodie presented a glimpse of life filled with emotion and expression without many words in The Map Reader (2008). The coming-of-age drama features the internal conflict of a teen boy who loves geography and looking at maps.
Jordan Selwyn plays 16-year-old Michael, a quiet and lonesome boy who grew up with a passion for locating places on maps. His life with his mother Amelia (Rebecca Gibney) hasn’t been happy since his father left them soon after his birth. Tethered to his house and small town life, Michael has to find his way out of his emotional bubble so as to go see the places he so lovingly has been locating on maps all his life.
In The Map Reader, Brodie not only has picked good actors and exhibited skillful filming of inner conflict, but given silence a language of its own. Selwyn’s expressions and body language play the emotions fully and visibly for the viewer. The story of younger Michael growing up with his mother as shown in flashbacks fleshes out Michael’s character and puts the aching mother-son bond of the present day in perspective.
Alison (Mikaila Hutchinson) living in a single-parent home with her abusive father makes a good contrast in character and situation to that of Michael. Her upbeat personality and outspokenness present the other side of human spirit, one that is resilient and chooses fight over flight.
The Map Reader brings a note of value to independent filmmakers—making a good drama with believable characters and a soulful story doesn’t take a big budget and/or a star cast of A-listers. A slice of life from the street or an average home filmed well is all you need to win your audience.
