Shittown

There was controversy upon release of the film Snowtown (2011), I had even heard viewers to have walked out during its screenings. On a Sunday night about a week after its release I saw the film. As spectators had already fashioned that it was ok to leave the cinema I was determined not to.

It was hard to ignore the film’s hype or fellow friends who described it as ‘full on’, even my own prejudices as former South Australia I wanted it accurately told. When I heard the restaurant Eagle on the Hill mentioned in the film’s dialogue, I was happy. Perhaps only a South Aussie would get the reference to the once tasteful restaurant, (now closed) described on the level of a ‘bogan’. To me this demonstrated the subtlety on the characters the film adheres to throughout.

Directed by Justin Kurzel (his first feature film), along with cinematographer Adam Arkapaw who had previously worked on Animal Kingdom (2010). The film is based on the true events of the eight murdered bodies found in barrels North of Adelaide in Snowtown. These crimes were instigated by the often charismatic John Bunting (Daniel Henshall), whose persona hides a true world of hate within. Bunting manipulates the film’s protagonist Jamie Vlassakis (Lucas Pittaway an amateur found in his local shopping centre) by becoming a father figure, in much the same way as the local community are fooled by his quasi vigilante motifs. Pittaway’s natural and understated performance makes us feel sorry for the path he has crossed. Similarly this conflicting emotion occurs in Dead Man Walking (1995) the film divides between feeling sorry and repulsed by convicted killer Matthew Poncelet (Sean Penn) as well as our attitudes on the death penalty.

As I found myself glued and at no point wanting to leave, Snowtown brought guilty pleasures. I was drawn to its mundane, realistic characters and family orientated activities so familiar to us like breakfast and barbeques. Bunting spends a lot of time in the kitchen stuffing false comfort down both the character and our throats. But Snowtown does not let us get too attached the consumption of food, it becomes as nauseating as the torture scenes. Despite its torture scenes was not to give us a thrill like any torture porn, but to document the truth behind the corruption of an isolated community.

The Snowtown murders is not uncommon to the Australian public and has been well documented to the point of cult status, even today you can drive to Snowtown to buy paraphernalia. However, what is so threatening about the filmic version is its recognisable nature of human characteristics and their collapse, violence aside, Snowtown presents the harsh reality some endure.