PERSPECTIVE Shifts Guilt and Grief in the ABC’s Seven Types of Ambiguity

There is a coldness to the vision of Melbourne presented in Seven Types of Ambiguity, the six-part ABC adaptation of Elliot Perlman’s novel of the same name. Director of photography Bonnie Elliott lets us reach into different parts of the city – from the high office buildings looking out over greenery, to the brightly coloured lights of brothels. Characters walk through the crisp air along Port Phillip Bay and sit under artificial lights in a remand centre. We see the city through intimate eyes and bedrooms, but also often – as the camera slowly tracks streets from above – as a city numbed and removed.

Joe Marin (Alex Dimitriades), a high-powered investment broker, has been given the responsibility of picking up his son from school after an excursion while his wife, Anna (Leeanna Walsman), travels to Sydney for a conference. Yet, when he gets to the school, it is empty except for the after-hours care staff and the school principal. When Sam (Harrison Molloy) can’t be located, the police are called – as is Anna – and the two parents frantically expect the worst. But, while Seven Types sets up this disappearance as the