PACK THE CAR KIDS, WE’RE MOVING TO SNOWTOWN
Review by: Yumi
One of my favourite music videos from last year was for the song 'Bell' by The Mess Hall. It's such an avalanche of juxtaposition for an Aussie band and yet it works.
Watch it here:
It was directed by Justin Kurzel, brother of the band's lead singer, Jed Kurzel. Clearly Justin, who trained at VCA in Melbourne, is a man interested in doing things his own way. They kind of look like each other - both handsome, Jed in a scraggy way, Justin in a woolly way.
I was excited to hear he was directing a feature (his first) on the Snowtown murders, better known as the 'Bodies in Barrels' case. Snowtown became shorthand in this country for the notorious discovery of eleven human bodies, most of them stored in large plastic barrels in a disused bank vault and at various stages of decomposition. A couple of the bodies were also buried in a suburban Adelaide backyard and eventually four men were arrested and charged with the murders. The story made national headlines in 1999.
Some warnings need to be issued about this film:
1. It has a slow start. I don't have much of a memory of the Bodies in Barrels case and there were a lot of fragments and snippets that really were mystifying. Kurzel expects the audience to be both patient and smart.
2. There's no Hollywood payoff and at no point does an Air Supply song start playing while the cast walk to camera in slow motion.
3. Kangaroos. KANGAROOS!
4. It's really rough in patches.
5. And by rough, I mean, ROUGH GOING. I left the cinema to pee and my buddy thought I was spewing my guts up
This movie comes out May 19th and I really want everyone I know to go see it so we can form a therapy group and sit around and talk about the film at length at our weekly post-traumatic stress meetings. One of these sessions is going to centre around the key "Holy shit" moments in the film. I think there are three. Maybe four. One of those "Holy shit" moments involves kangaroos. If I told you what the others were about, it might wreck the moment when you watch the film or the anticipation might actually cause you to have a heart attack.
Five Other Great "Holy Shit" Moments in Aussie Cinema:
1. Animal Kingdom (2010, David Michod) - when Joel Edgerton gets shot in the stomach while sitting in a parked car, unarmed, by a cop! You can't shoot HIM! It's only a third of the way through the movie! And he's handsome! Holy shit!
2. Bad Boy Bubby (1993, Rolf de Heer) - Bubby is a 35-year-old boy-man whose never been let out of his home by his controlling mother. His mother is gross. She abuses him, belittles him, infantilises him... then has sex with him. Holy shit!
3. Mad Max (1979, George Miller) - when that guy's hand gets ripped off his arm! And is still hanging on to the chain! Holy shit!
4. The Square (2008, Nash Edgerton) - the last scene before the movie finishes. If I describe it, it'll wreck the movie if you haven't seen it. Needless to say, things don't end well for the main guy who walks away from camera, as stupefied as we are, silently saying "Holy shit".
5. Chopper (2000, Andrew Dominik) - when Chopper gets stabbed, and he keeps sayin’, "Aw mate, why'd you go and do that for?" Man that is some funny shit!
Anyway, the entirety of Snowtown, including the “Holy Shit” moments, comes highly recommended by me, but it's gross, and ugly, and frightening and truly one of the unforgettable films of your lifetime. The soundtrack is by Jed Kurzel and interestingly all the actors are regular folk who came from the low-income areas in South Australia where the action is set.
The director came in to my day job work for an interview and talked about casting the film. He hung out in parks and shopping malls, looking for people who had the right look. And at no point in this amazing film do any of the inexperienced actors hit a bum note. There's nothing showy, nothing embarrassing. Just blinding human brutality.
STARS: 4.5 stars!
SUMMARY: The Snowtown Murders as a chilling art film
WHO SHOULD SEE IT: The strong of stomach, fans of true crime, horror fans, and arthouse movie fans with strong constitutions. Bogans might like seeing themselves too. A bit.
RELEASE DATE: 19 May 2011
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