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Snowtown (2011)

Director: Justin Kurzel

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9 reviews

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From Time Out London

One has to go back a long way, to Rowan Woods’s ‘The Boys’ (1998) or John McNaughton’s ‘Henry: Portrait of A Serial Killer’ (1986), to find a crime drama as intense, disturbing and unresolved as Australian director Justin Kurzel’s film about the infamous ‘Bodies in the Barrels’ murders near Adelaide in the 1990s.

The remorseless pacing of Shaun Grant’s spare script and the pulsing drive of Jed Kurzel’s electronic score draw us reluctantly but inexorably into the familial and group dynamics which acted as the catalyst for a string of killings. Yet for all its unflinching bleakness, this is a sympathetic attempt to understand how vulnerable 16-year-old Jamie Vlassakis (Lucas Pittaway) – from whose naive point of view the appalling events are observed – came under the malign influence of charismatic psychopath John Bunting (Daniel Henshall). Equally impressive is the film’s intimate portrayal of Jamie’s marginalised community and dysfunctional family, both of which have been blighted and fractured by endemic poverty, drugs and sexual abuse.

When John moves in with Jamie’s separated mother, Liz (Louise Harris), his surrogate father figure brings stability to her three sons’ lives – providing money, cooking proper meals and buying them presents. But he also becomes the self-appointed spokesman for the disenfranchised locals, a deprived underclass seething with anti-gay prejudice and a blind hatred of paedophiles. However, since everything is seen from gullible Jamie’s vantage point, a question mark remains: is John really capable of the violent, homophobic vigilantism he openly brags about, or is this just macho bravado? A hint of how things might escalate comes when John and Jamie graduate from throwing ice-cream cones at their paedophile neighbour’s windows to sloshing the dismembered head, tail, paws, ears and bloody entrails of a slaughtered kangaroo on to the sexual offender’s porch.

‘Snowtown’ is an uncomfortable film to watch, but its sickening suburban horror is made bearable by Kurzel’s rigorous restraint, mostly oblique presentation of the killings and fierce determination to delve beneath the grisly details. Non-professional actor Pittaway brings a slab-faced sensitivity to his portrayal of suggestible Jamie, while other locals play characters much like themselves, which adds texture and unexpected humour to Kurzel’s portrayal of a damaged community in thrall to an insidious, beady-eyed psychopath – played with sly ferocity by sole professional actor Henshall.

Stripping away the generic trappings and flashy visuals that marred another recent Australian suburban crime drama, ‘Animal Kingdom’, Kurzel and that film’s brilliant cinematographer, Adam Arkapaw, make judicious and effective use of slow motion and speeded-up images, adding another level of nerve-shredding psychological tension.

Author: Nigel Floyd

Time Out London Issue 2152: 17 – 23 November, 2011

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User reviews of this film

Alright alright alright t said...

Posted on Jan 21 2012 02:39 Alright alright alright that's eaxtcly what I needed!

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Daniel said...

Posted on Nov 26 2011 21:39 I will definitely say this is a good film. It'll make you sick to your stomach but the events unfolding on the screen demand that kind of response, It's not a film I'll watch again anytime soon but I was very impressed, it's brilliantly executed on every level. Not for everyone, but if you like bleak films this one rivals "Henry" and the original "The Vanishing"

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Commonsense said...

Posted on Nov 26 2011 20:19 Without a doubt the most brilliant piece of cinema since City of God. Its bleak, depressing and hard to watch. But it will blow your head off. if your idea of a good movie is the latest blockbuster from Hollywood, then don't bother watching this, it will be beyond your understanding. If, however, you relish good film making, this is unmissable.

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Mike said...

Posted on Nov 24 2011 20:48 Grim on any number of levels. Left after an hour.

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john o sullivan said...

Posted on Nov 24 2011 09:39 definetly agree the director is one to watch
but for all the impressive performances and brilliant direction what did it mean
fracturing the time narrative confused... the dogma camera started to annoy me by the end
and so much was left unsaid where did the centre of mayhem come in to the familys life
everthing seemed to random
maybe that was deliberate
did the the killer start out with a plan to kill all paedophiles but got sidetracked
the director was asked why he doesnt reveal the gand would reguarly aclaim the benefits of the dissapeared
he said it wasnt important
just found it unsattisfing now will have to read one of the two books the films based on
i dont need films to wrapped up in a bow at the end
but too many questions and no answers
but undoubtaly one of the best films of the year

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jules said...

Posted on Nov 17 2011 14:30 very very grim and a little flat, no conclusion no suspense , just depressingly grim. Not as good as Animal Kingdom.

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neil mitchell said...

Posted on Nov 16 2011 10:51 Fully agree, staggeringly impressive film.

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Mema said...

Posted on Oct 20 2011 18:28 It is a horrible yet brilliant film. There was a lot of stuff that I did not know about Vlassakis' tragic life which led to him being involved in these murders. I am a couple years younger than him and from Adelaide, but obviously had a completely different upbringing with awesome parents, brother and life in general. Just so awful and so sad.
This film is brilliant, really brilliant. I thought, first time film director, not a big named cast, how good could it be? Too good! That's how good, too! So confident was I of its imminent mediocrity that I even watched it on a plane... how wrong I was. All the actors are brilliant, especially Pittaway and Henshall, and the direction was absolute first class.
It's an awesome film, one I never want to see again.

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iLovefilms said...

Posted on Sep 27 2011 23:05 It was a strong movie & the directing was outstanding. But for the first time ever I found myself not knowing whether to finish it. It takes real-life depression drama to another level & the subject along with what appears on screen can sometimes make you feel sick. I've watched all type of films going, both violent & controversial. Yet this one was almost too much as it was so real; but it's definitely a film you should see. Be warned that it does deal with paedophilia & male rape among other things. The cast were amazing throughout & the acting was near flawless. I really think some incredible films are coming out of Australia in recent years. All in all a very powerful film that may be too much for allot of people to stomach. Check it out if you can handle these disturbing topics. I would give it three stars as it's a very dark story, but for the acting & performances alone it has to be four.

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