Set against the sun-starved suburbs of northern Adelaide, Snowtown is an unflinching look at the sordid underbelly of Australian life and crime that rejects common sentiment despite delving into a much chartered niche in Australian cinema: the gritty, crime fuelled drama with something to say.
First time writer/director Justin Kurzel's bleak, brutal and bloody nasty rendition of the notorious Adelaide killings is certainly a step up in class from last year's overrated Animal Kingdom and although his work fails to rank amidst seminal Aussie films like Romper Stomper and Chopper, Snowtown is a harrowing, hand-held drama of considerable patience, poise and impact that deserves attention.
Shot on a shoestring budget and based on true events, the film follows 16 year-old Jamie (Lucas Pittaway), a troubled teen who becomes involved with his mum's "welcoming" new lover John Bunting (Daniel Henshall): the hateful head of a self-governing, self-righteous group of neighbourhood watchmen who would go on to commit a string of heinous murders that would shake Australia to its very core.
The similarities to Animal Kingdom, then, are obvious; a mislead, partially moral teen gets caught in a morose web of communal crime and killings. Snowtown has a look, sound, setting and feel akin to its crime-based predecessor yet somehow emerges a far more chilling, absorbing text.
The restrained and multi-layered performance of Lucas Pittaway brings to mind the work and aura of a young Heath Ledger and despite Daniel Henshall's forbidding and intense portrayal of the bearded Bunting, it's Pittaway's turn that steals the show in this grim and fearless affair of the tense and the intense; of hate crime, malevolence and a descent into evil and all out madness.
First degree murder, drug use and poverty aside, a host of challenging themes are also thrust to the fore and shot with unflinching clarity and realism. Paedophilia, rape, sodomy, animal cruelty and sadism all fall under the microscope. One particular scene featuring a stop/start strangulation of a local victim is nigh on impossible to watch. Its also worth noting that a great deal of the facts and details regarding the actual events were omitted from Justin Kurzel's script as they were deemed too distasteful by the Australian Film Council.
Snowtown is a slow-boiling and ultimately shocking experience that'll unnerve even the most robust of film fans. It is an unforgiving film. As bold, real and as harsh as they come. It's not for the feint of heart. Do not expect to be entertained or even excited by this one. That's not its intention. That's not its purpose. This claustrophobic docudrama merely casts a callous eye over an irrefutably dark period in Australia's history that follows the likes of Animal Kingdom and the stirring Martha Marcy May Marlene in its sombre depiction of a young and mislead soul in torment.
First time writer/director Justin Kurzel's bleak, brutal and bloody nasty rendition of the notorious Adelaide killings is certainly a step up in class from last year's overrated Animal Kingdom and although his work fails to rank amidst seminal Aussie films like Romper Stomper and Chopper, Snowtown is a harrowing, hand-held drama of considerable patience, poise and impact that deserves attention.
Shot on a shoestring budget and based on true events, the film follows 16 year-old Jamie (Lucas Pittaway), a troubled teen who becomes involved with his mum's "welcoming" new lover John Bunting (Daniel Henshall): the hateful head of a self-governing, self-righteous group of neighbourhood watchmen who would go on to commit a string of heinous murders that would shake Australia to its very core.
The similarities to Animal Kingdom, then, are obvious; a mislead, partially moral teen gets caught in a morose web of communal crime and killings. Snowtown has a look, sound, setting and feel akin to its crime-based predecessor yet somehow emerges a far more chilling, absorbing text.
The restrained and multi-layered performance of Lucas Pittaway brings to mind the work and aura of a young Heath Ledger and despite Daniel Henshall's forbidding and intense portrayal of the bearded Bunting, it's Pittaway's turn that steals the show in this grim and fearless affair of the tense and the intense; of hate crime, malevolence and a descent into evil and all out madness.
First degree murder, drug use and poverty aside, a host of challenging themes are also thrust to the fore and shot with unflinching clarity and realism. Paedophilia, rape, sodomy, animal cruelty and sadism all fall under the microscope. One particular scene featuring a stop/start strangulation of a local victim is nigh on impossible to watch. Its also worth noting that a great deal of the facts and details regarding the actual events were omitted from Justin Kurzel's script as they were deemed too distasteful by the Australian Film Council.
Snowtown is a slow-boiling and ultimately shocking experience that'll unnerve even the most robust of film fans. It is an unforgiving film. As bold, real and as harsh as they come. It's not for the feint of heart. Do not expect to be entertained or even excited by this one. That's not its intention. That's not its purpose. This claustrophobic docudrama merely casts a callous eye over an irrefutably dark period in Australia's history that follows the likes of Animal Kingdom and the stirring Martha Marcy May Marlene in its sombre depiction of a young and mislead soul in torment.