Snowtown

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Naomi

Another gritty naturalistic australian crime drama, apparently that's all we can make now, but why would you stop when they are good and keep winning awards?

This one's not a very good first date movie. It's detached and slow and the rape and murder scenes aren't your fun Tarantino style affairs. We get dragged along with the young protagonist as he's slowly groomed to be a killer. Fantastic naturalistic performances from all the cast and it just manages to avoid being another boring character study by keeping the tension building and the situations escalating throughout.

Actually I really like the music too, what little they had of it. The film doesn't call for much but when it's there it seems a little dissonant to the style of the film but it actually adds nicely, the thumping bass line driving though.

This film is based on a true story which means it has some things going for it and against it. It's probably a little more horrific to know that these events really took place. But it doesn't leave the film with much of an ending. I really don't like it when a film finishes and then you have to read 5 minutes of white text on black that explains what happened to everyone.

Also being based on what is known as the "Snowtown Murders", the film is simply called Snowtown, so anyone like me who was hoping to see a town covered in snow will be very disappointed. Once they go indoor ice skating and once there is a snow globe in the background of a shot that I reasoned could be a metaphor for the characters isolated world, but I think that's pushing it a little.

But despite the absence of snow it all looks very cold and wet and trashy. A hostile environment for a hostile little film. Bleak, brooding, tense, unpleasant and recommended.