Reviews

This short is one of Jane Campion's student films, made in 1983 during her time at Sydney's Australian Film and Television School. She directs a script written by Gerard Lee consist of ten short vignettes on embarrassing or awkward little moments that happen to everyone at some time or another, but which we seldom think about: a man stretching his arm out accidentally makes his neighbour think that he's waving to him, and thus instigates an awkward interaction between two men who have never even spoken before; a boy who has just bought green beans from the shop imagines that they will explode if he doesn't get them home in 20 seconds; a depressed man lying on the floor and looking at the ceiling notes the myriad motes of dust visible in the light. All of the vignettes are narrated by the same man in a rather dry and analytical voice, which together with the quirky themes endows <i>Passionless Moments</i> with humour. I wouldn't rank this among my top shorts, but I nonetheless am happy it's in my collection, and this is, along with "Peel", one of Campion's early successes.