TOP PICK \ film
SNOWTOWN \ Opens May 19, Rated MA 15+
Propped up by a top cast of non-actors improvising across a threadbare script, Snowtown shouldn’t work. Too easily, it might have dissolved into a messy indulgence, but director Justin Kurzel’s first film is instead a tense, troubling and profoundly immersive experience. The artifice of cinema is stripped back and we find ourselves worried for these people onscreen, both as characters and actors, as they are driven along the darkest of paths.
Indeed, this unremitting sense of reality is the film’s greatest success. Australian films are often derided for lacking Hollywood gloss and glamour, but here the grittiness is the point. A lesser director might have tried to polish this tale of serial killer John Bunting, running the risk of celebrating the criminal instead of exposing the man. As Bunting, Daniel Henshall lays on the charisma, winning us over before scaring us stiff.
The film’s greatest success, however, is also its greatest problem. In short, Snowtown is a torturous two hours. Viewers might also find themselves in the dark if they are not already familiar with Bunting and his barrel-bound bodies. Kurzel’s impressionistic take on events requires the viewer to close often yawning gaps, as we catch scant glimpses of Bunting’s escapades. At times, the narrative thread can slip away while the audience is busy tying knots.
Snowtown is an astounding achievement, yes. Certainly, it should earn pride of place in that ever-expanding Aussie canon we might dub “bogan gothic”, beside last year’s Animal Kingdom. Unquestionably, it deserves to be this week’s top pick. Whether punters will pay to endure it, however, remains to be seen.
Crystal Theatre \ Belles Will Ring
SUPPLIED
Music
CRYSTAL THEATRE \ Belles Will Ring (Dot Dash)
There’s a lot going on in this second LP from the Blue Mountains quartet. Songs swoon from psychedelic road-movie bustle to Simon & Garfunkel languor, with backwards nods to the likes of Pink Floyd, Roy Budd and the Zombies. There’s certainly no shortage of jangly guitars and precise harmonies.
Yet, for all the retro ’60s flourishes, Crystal Theatre owes as much to British bands of the ’90s. Street Lamp Stomp fuses the energy of the Stone Roses to Cream’s I Feel Free, while other tracks recall the druggy splendour of Suede’s forgotten masterpiece, Dog Man Star.
In some ways, it’s not the sort of album you might expect from a group hailing from an Aussie country town. In other ways, it’s exactly the sort of album you’d expect from a group stuck up a mountain with only records for company.
The influences may show, but they’re surprising enough for the record to feel fresh. More importantly, the songs are simply stunning, without feeling the need to slap you over the head. Layered, beautiful and utterly absorbing, these are tracks to treasure.
Staying in
CLOUDSTREET \ Showcase, Sunday May 22, 8.30pm
There’s no doubting the love and energy that has gone into this long-awaited adaptation of Tim Winton’s novel. Premiering this week on Showcase, this is one of the most lavish local productions to grace our screens this decade. It’s beautifully shot and thoughtfully cast, with some lovely performances all round. Given all this finery, it’s hard to explain why it doesn’t quite work. Yes, it’s pretty and wonderfully lyrical, but cloudstreet, despite its packed setting, only ever feels strangely empty. And is it slow.
While the direction is flat, the camera too often keeping its distance, the real problem is a script that follows the book around like an irritatingly devoted puppy without ever quite becoming its own beast. Scenes that read beautifully on the page flounder here like poor fish trapped in his net. Doubtless, cloudstreet will be widely praised as quality Australian television. It is that, but it should have been so much better. There are moments of sheer genius, but somehow they never connect into a powerful narrative.
The book might have had global appeal, but it’s hard to imagine this playing beyond our shores. If it feels like classic Aussie television, that’s mainly because it already feels dated. Modern television is snappier, wittier and far more involving than anything on offer here.
With a script embellished to earn its six hours, this might have been a masterpiece. As it stands, cloudstreet is pleasant, worthy and pretty but rarely gripping.
Going out
MAGNIFICENT OBSESSIONS: HOLLYWOOD DAMES FROM SCREWBALL TO SIRK ACMI, Thursday May 19-Tuesday May 31
There’s a rare chance to catch some big-screen classics over the next fortnight as ACMI puts leading ladies in the limelight. Films by the likes of Douglas Sirk, Howard Hawks and Frank Capra rub sequined shoulders as Katharine Hepburn, Barbra Streisand and Jane Wyman face off against Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart. Tiptoeing its path from the ’30s to the ’70s, the program balances the social critiques of melodramas such as Imitation of Life against the screwball high jinks of Bringing Up Baby. Entertaining, revealing and really rather wonderful, this collection should be irresistible, whether your passion is wise-cracking dames, screen divas or simply magnificent cinema.