THE WC
Australia, 2011, 90 minutes, Colour.
Tim Constantine, Wayne Cooper, Daniel Wu, Ange Arabatzis, Jenna Rothwell, Dianne Frey.
Directed by Kostas Metaxas.
No, not that WC, nor any toilet humour to speak of. This WC is Wayne Cooper, the British-born fashion designer who came to Australia in the 1980s, educated himself and became a power to be reckoned with. Not that you would necessarily think this while watching The WC.
Fairly soon into it, you start thinking that this can’t be for real. And it isn’t. We are in mockumentary territory here – until I read afterwards that writer-director, Kostas Metaxas called it a ‘dramady’. Whether you think it’s funny will depend on your taste and sense of humour and the ridiculous. And what reviewer can predict that!
A confession. I had a vague idea that Wayne Cooper was real but was not sure until I googled him after the film. What he says about himself in a 2001 interview (filmed by Metaxas) seems accurate enough. And it is cut into the action throughout the whole film. The ten years between that interview and Cooper’s appearance in the film as himself (a somewhat fictionalised self) highlight that we can change a lot in ten years.
The plot is rather corny and meant to be. It also has a lot of puns – disguised as alleged sayings of Confucius, and I just remembered one which was a bit toilet-humourish. One I did like, so test yourselves. What is a person who goes back and forth over the ocean without washing? A dirty double-crosser! So, there you are.
The characters. The main one is Stanley Finkelsteinenburger from Tasmania who creates an over-qualified CV, gets an appointment and a job in Sydney with Cooper, The WC. Actually, dirty double-crosser fits in with the plot where Stanley, calling himself Sidney London professionally, is pressured to commit fraud on Wayne by some eccentric Chinese (who offers the Confucius sayings). Stanley is to get WC a spot at a London fashion show (all this happens off-screen, presumably for budget reasons) which strains the credibility. And there are a lot of other odd characters with funny names that come up on screen plus Stanley’s mother and his old girlfriend.
It’s all amiable enough, some smiles and laughs, not demanding at all. But, the director says these are not real people – though they are the equivalent of types you would meet in this fashion and pseudo-fashion world.
1. The mockumentary? The dramamentary?
2. How inventive, Wayne Cooper and what might have been? The invention of types around Cooper?
3. The Tasmanian setting, Sydney, Melbourne? The Australian tone?
4. Wayne Cooper and fashion, his actual story, as recounted in the 2001 interview, his 2009 show, the invention of the London story? Reality and parody?
5. The interspersing of the film with clips from the 2001 interview, Wayne Cooper’s own story from England, fashion, education, influence, ideas?
6. Interspersing the sequences of the 2009 fashion show, the reality of Cooper’s success?
7. Australian humour, spoof and parody, jokes and puns, the Confucius sayings? Impact for Australians? Non-Australians?
8. The name Stanley Finkelsteinenberger, his life, relationship with his mother, training the little children to dance, his reputation as being tyrannical, in the shop with his mother, the death of his father – and his mother revealing that he was still alive? His girlfriend, going to the mainland, reports of her death? His hopes to move away, the elaborate cv and his lies, the international training and experience? The phone call, the invitation to the appointment, his leaving home – and his mother happy about this?
9. The interview, the Chinese woman, the plot, the connections with the Chinese trade industry, especially Willy Wong? The plot for Wayne Cooper’s signature, the true cv, their hold over Stanley, his calling himself Sydney London? Wayne sending him to Melbourne, his meeting with Ping Ling Lee/Joshua Lieberman? The irony of the three companies Cooper dealt with and their all being handled by the same person, the overseas contacts, the voices, the impersonations?
10. The meeting with Willy Wong, his alleged qualifications, his martial arts performance? His assistant? The Confucius sayings and puns, the innuendo? The plot, the blackmail, his seeking advice, the decision to refuse the offer, his being exposed eventually to Wayne?
11. Bling, the jewels, ultimately not supplying them?
12. The jeweller’s shop, the girls gossiping – and giving the audience information about Stanley and his background?
13. The meeting with Ping Ling Lee, the revelation of the workings of the fashion industry?
14. Shirley, flirting at the other table, coming across, her life story, Stanley thinking she was dead, her request for him to help her?
15. Wayne Cooper himself, the plan for the show in London, the preparations, Stanley and his work, the phone calls, the arrangements – but everything happening off-screen and the audience having to supply all the details? Straining credibility?
16. The show, the celebrities, Mr and Mrs Sir Roger Moore? The various exhibitions, the models on the catwalk, the designers taking a bow?
17. The journalists, the interview with Wayne Cooper, his being very direct with her? Her chat with Stanley? Her work in London?
18. The phone call, Willy Wong exposing the truth, Wayne Cooper’s reaction?
19. Stanley back home, the television interview with Wayne Cooper – and the irony of Stanley’s father reappearing, described as Wayne Cooper’s uncle – and his mother seeing it? Shirley seeing it?
20. Shirley going to the beach, talking with Stanley, offering him a job – and the happy future?
