
Mid Shot / Eye-level angle
Soft lighting / Warm lighting
Sound - Non-Diegetic (Voiceover)
Josie - she was introducing her family to the audience. Even though being Sicilian is part of her heritage, she does not feel like she belongs. She feels like the odd one out in her family.
"...it’s all about money, prestige and what your father does for a living.”
Voiceover of Josephine introducing St Martha's.
Why? = Class Discussion
"These are my friends, Sera and Anna. We kind of happened by default when everyone was choosing their friends in Year 7. We were the only ones left."
How? --> Class Discussion
"You might think this is all quirky and cute, but I actually find this really embarrassing. I mean, you'd think they'd never left Sicily, except that it was like 50 years ago. This might be where I come from, but do I really belong here?"
Community, Tradition / Immigration / Feeling Like an Outsider
How? = Class Discussion
"I'm an old woman, I am tired of fighting."
"I'm a young woman, and I am tired of being old."
Katia + Christina
Why? = Class Discussion
"At least I'm not a bastard."
In the chapel - Carley says this to Josephine to provoke her after she and her friends venerate the statue of the Virgin Mary.
"I'm loved by two of the strongest women I'll ever know, and they've been kept apart by a man who couldn't love either of them."
Family Ties / Community, Tradition, Gender
How? = Class Discussion
"Christina. Are you going to let your daughter run around like a gypsy?"
Family Ties, Pressures (Community, Cultural), Generational Differences
How? = Class Discussion

- Long Shot - introducing the location (St Martha's Catholic Girls College)
- Slight Low Angle - power, intimidation - emphasising Josie's discomfort at this school.
- Cool / Grey lighting - foreboding mood, serious/formal mood
- Mise-en-scene: Staging & Setting - intimidating, traditional, prestige, discipline, wealthy status
"Does he know about you?"
"Know what? Am I sick, Mama? Is my daughter a sickness that I have to warn people about?"
Nonna Katia chastising Christina for dating.
What themes does this connect to? How? What does it say about human nature/society?
"I need a life too."
Alibrandi house - Christina, Nonna and Josie arguing about Christina's dating.
"You’re so lucky. You live without culture or religion. You just have to abide by the law."
Cultural Differences, Status
“I was uh, very very lonely in Australia. I was in a place, Josie, where I did not belong. And everyday there were people who said to me with their look, ‘Katia Alibrandi, you do not belong.”
Immigration, Racism, Cultural Differences

"Look at him sliming all over Nonna. Who does he think he is? Part of the family or something?"
Josie said this about her father, Michael Andretti, when she sees him at Nonna's barbeque. She says this because she cannot stand the injustice of how well he fits into her family and how easily Nonna accepts him, given that he's been missing from her entire life. She finds the hypocrisy of her Nonna and the community unjust as she feels their judgement towards her and Christina for her being born out of wedlock (not knowing Michael is her father - hence the hypocrisy).
"I always wanted to be part of his world, but I didn't belong there. God, he didn't even belong there. I don't belong anywhere and I hate it."
Josie said this when she was in the confessional. But, she did not say it to the priest, it was her voiceover, showing the audience her true thoughts and feelings of being excluded.
"I'm going to be a saint this year...For once in my life, I'm going to stick to it."
Pressures
"You're just jealous, because you didn't make something of your life when Papa died."
Family Ties, Community/Tradition/Gender, Cultural Differences

- Bright Lighting / Natural Lighting (Sunshine)
- Warm lighting - nostalgia, comfort
- Close-up shot (revealing Josie's smile and contentment with who she is) / Eye-level angle, allowing viewers to connect with her self-growth and personal journey
- Mise-en-scene (staging): Josie in foreground, the centre of the story; Anna, Sera & Nonna in the background - kissing/greeting each other. Josie's worlds coming together & Josie's at peace with who she is / who's in her life.
- Sound - Non-diegetic --> Josie's Voiceover --> revealing her inner thoughts and where she stands with herself & others
"Make sure your priorities are right, Josie."
Sister Louise - after keeping Josie in for detention. Encouraging Josie to do the right thing for herself, and to discredit those who have prejudices against her.
“What if we don’t survive? What happened to paving your own path to glory?”
John to Josie at the university campus.
They were discussing the pressures of exams and whether or not they'd make it through their exams and achieve their goals.
"I'm not going to be trapped like them. I'm going places."
Growth & Self-Discovery
“Oh, God. Let my daughter understand that my sin was the curse.”
Growth & Self-Discovery.
Nonna finally admits how her actions may have contributed to the generational 'curse'.