FILMS ... with Tim Milfull
Mad Bastards (MA15+)
Director: Brendan Fletcher
Stars: Dean Daley-Jones, Greg Tait, Douglas Macale
Rating: 4/5 96-minutes, now screening
In another example of excellent Australian filmmaking, Brendan Fletcher’s Mad Bastards, a struggling ex-con named TJ (Dean Daley-Jones) heads to the remote West Australian town of Wyndham on his a spiritual journey after being released from jail.
He has been urged by his still-imprisoned brother to reunite with his estranged family. Over the next 2000 kilometres and several days, the conflicted TJ comes to find a connection with not only his wary family, but a sense of peace in a heart that has been battling itself and “the man” all of its life.
In Wyndham, TJ encounters the local police sergeant, Texas (Greg Tait), who recognises potential bad blood when he sees it, and quickly warns the young man to move on – there’s no room in his town for lost causes, for broken men like TJ, despite the fact that Texas runs his own little men’s group to help the local indigenous men cope with life’s stresses.
When TJ ignores the copper’s demand and heads off to see the family he left more than a decade before, a dangerous fuse is set, and whether or not it will be lit depends not just upon TJ.
Filmed almost entirely in Wyndham, and featuring the burgeoning talent of a mostly non-professional cast, Mad Bastards might have a decidedly raw edge, but this film has a good heart and an important message about redemption and forgiveness, both of our fellow men and ourselves.
Fletcher coaxes some extraordinarily realistic and painful performances from Daly-Jones and Tait – who was an indigenous policeman for two decades – and crafted a charming role for the gnarled bush cocky, Douglas Macale as Uncle Black. Mad Bastards also features several spirited performances from Alex Lloyd, and the famed Kimberley musicians, the Pigram Brothers.
This film shines a refreshingly positive light on lives that have attracted way too much negative publicity.
No barrel of laughs, this one
Snowtown (PG)
Director: Justin Kurzel Stars: Daniel Henshall, Lucas Pittaway, Louise Harris
Rating: 4/5
95-minutes, screening from 19 May
There have been a couple of books written about Australia’s worst serial killer, John Bunting, and an hour-long documentary made about the murders committed by him and a three accomplices in Adelaide in the 1990s, but Snowtown is the first feature film about their exploits.
When police discovered nine barrels stored in a disused bank vault, and realised that they contained human remains, the little town outside Adelaide became a symbol of depravity, and Adelaide itself became the focus of one of Australia’s longest and most expensive murder trials.
Justin Kurzel’s film examines Bunting’s disturbing influence on teenager Jamie Vlassakis (Lucas Pittaway), after Bunting (Daniel Henshall) becomes involved with Jamie’s mother, Liz (Louise Harris).
The charismatic and avuncular Bunting grows to be a strong and indispensable part of his new family’s life but cracks gradually begin to appear in his sanity as Jamie and Liz realise that Bunting has some frightening hobbies that involve torture and murder. Kurzel resists the urge to sensationalise this dreadful tale; instead, the talented first-time director exhibits a strong respect for the material and the ravaged lives of those whose relatives had the misfortune to encounter Bunting and his mates.
It's filmed in desperate and dark tones by cinematographer Adam Arkapaw, and Shaun Grant’s stark screenplay mostly concentrates on the very limited viewpoint of the weak and impressionable Jamie, offering the audience a slowly growing sense of horror as the boy realises what is happening.
Snowtown is certainly not the kind of film one heads along to in the hope of entertainment; this is more of harrowing exploration of the depths to which our fellow man can stoop in the name of cash and charisma.
THE BINGE
Rubbered out tirelessly
Rubber (MA15+) now available through Madman
Cell 211 (M) available through Hopscotch from 19 May
The Last Exorcist (M) available through Hopscotch from 19 May
Hola Spanish Film Festival screening at Palace Cinemas from 18 to 29 May.
Written and directed by Quentin Dupieux, Rubber (above) is a very odd, weirdly cerebral horror film about a used tyre that comes to life in the Arizona desert and proceeds to murder random victims by telekinetic means. While this is happening, an anonymous group led by a very dodgy tour-guide watches on as the tyre wreaks its havoc, and offer a running commentary.
Yep – this is strange stuff, but satisfying in a perverse, metaphysical kind of way. On the other side of the world in Cell 211, new warder, Juan (Alberto Ammann) is being shown the ropes in a high security Spanish prison, when a riot sees him abandoned by his mates to an angry mob. Some quick thinking sees Juan embraced as a new prisoner by the inmates and their ringleader, Malamadre (Luis Tosar), and the pair begin to negotiate terms for the riot’s end. This suspenseful thriller had me on edge until the very end.
Finally, Palace Cinemas will be presenting the Hola Spanish Film Festival in the latter half of May, and there are some excellent films in the programme; I’m especially looking forward to the Opening and closing night films — Balada Triste De Trompeta (The Last Circus) won Best Director and Screenplay at Venice Film Festival in 2010, and as far as I’m concerned, any film that features clowns with AK-47s can’t go wrong.
Meanwhile, Los Ojos De Julia (Julia’s Eyes) looks to be paying homage to some of the best Hong Kong horror outings like The Eye, as a degenerative disease threatens the sight of Julia (Belén Rueda).
For more details about the festival’s programme, check www.spanishfilmfestival.com
