Beautiful Kate (2009)

Sophie Lowe finds love in all the wrong places in Beautiful Kate (2009).

She'll remind you of Saoirse Ronan in
The Lovely Bones (2009).

At a glance:

Some family secrets are more criminal than terrible, as we reluctantly learn from actress Rachel Ward's directorial debut Beautiful Kate (2009), an accomplished Aussie mystery thriller that could've done with a more effective title. I've been lookin for similar stuff havin wet my beak with Snowtown (2011) and Animal Kingdom (2010), not to mention I've developed an interest in Ben Mendelsohn's CV since he starred as Daggett in The Dark Knight Rises (2012). This one's about a rugged writer (Mendelsohn) who returns to the family farm after some 20 years just to visit his dyin dad (Bryan Brown) but finds himself lingerin in his repressed guilt over his dead siblings. Our protagonist remembers all to well the untimely death of his twin sister (Sophie Lowe) and brother (Josh McFarlane) when they were all backwater brats. Fortunately, there's a survivin daughter, Sally (Rachel Griffiths), who remains filial to the bedbound bastard - a grumpy old man who's takin his failures and resentment to his grave but not before givin his son hell.

Bad news on the doorstep:

Ben Mendelsohn and Maeve Dermody.

I read that native viewers took exception to how the rural folks speak but I think what sapped some power out of the picture was the diminishin focus on Mendelsohn as the movie wore on. His emo downtime came up short and our connection to the character is interrupted. I'm guessin the narrative tone of the 1982 Newton Thornburg book from which it was adapted is such? More landscape, less love? Wouldda been awesome if we could just invest in the main character more.

Perennial wonderment:

Will I ever figure out the difference between yabbies, crayfish, crawfish and lobsters? I'm not even sure what I've been eatin for a tenner at the local Chinese every week.

Reminds me of:

Affliction (1997), The Lovely Bones (2009), Somersault (2004) and The Cement Garden (1993). Not the most upliftin stories, are they?

Most memorable line:

"She's an actress. She doesn't wear clothes." Our protag pokes fun at his spoilt nympho girlfriend (Maeve Dermody). She's the sort who professedly exaggerates her moans durin doggy style sex and complains that she's only a whore because she's bein fucked like one. The needy always fuck face to face, no? I recall Sergio Castellitto and Claudia Gerini's tender scene in Don't Move (2004).

Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?

It finishes as a dreary drama made worse by an overused, though excellent soundtrack. The epilogue also does smack of self-importance and there's a certain conceit to the way the camera lingers around the characters. Still, it's a compellin rural tale built on no small measure of effort and you'll find it very palatable for mature audiences game for some disturbia.★★★
Bonus material:

Can you have sex while staring directly at your parents' pictures?

I don't think you can see what they're up to from here.

Pleased to see me?

L-R: Ben Mendelsohn, Brian Brown, Rachel Griffiths, Maeve Dermody.

Snowtown (2011)

All faggots die cruel deaths because God doesn't like faggots,
except maybe Freddie Mercury and Elton John.

At a glance:

Gays, suspected gays, paedophiles, suspected paedophiles and the difference between them all: John Justin Bunting, convicted serial killer with 11 poor souls under his belt (a twelfth couldn't be proved), now correspondingly servin 11 life sentences without the possibility for parole. There's a lot of drug addicts, cross-dressers, incestuous wastrels and morbidly obese foul-mouthed people, too. This powerful Australian movie is a dramatic account of what is referred to as the Snowtown murders, told through the eyes of James Vlassakis, a young man who was apparently slowly drawn into the killings but later turned witness for the prosecution. This movie was released reportedly only after a judge lifted the remainin suppression orders that kept the case details confidential. It's got some seriously nauseatin scenes of bizarre, extreme and unnecessary violence, which include choppin up dead kangaroos (unsimulated).

Lucas Pittaway as James Vlassakis.

Bad news on the doorstep:

Two whole hours of mostly mood might be a big ask for some people. I actually went a full half hour thinkin this is a movie about the depressed Aussie underclass and what they have for breakfast. And why is there so much smokin in this movie? There seems to be an embarrassment of cigarette shots even. No wonder one of the characters died of cancer in real life.

Perennial wonderment:

How the hell did the main guy cry so well? That's some seriously committed mucous right there. This Lucas Pittaway bloke is really somethin and so is the debutin director, Justin Kurzel.

Daniel Henshall as John Bunting.

Reminds me of:

The white underclass I used to hang out with. Didn't meet any serial killers, though.

Most memorable line:

"Do you like bein' fucked? Do you like bein' fucked? So why not do somethin' about it? 'Cause all I ever see you do is sook, mate. No? What didjah do about Jeffrey? Fuckin' nothin'. You see me and Robert mopin' about? Hmm? No you don't because you do that they fuck you forever. You don't want that, do you? When are you gonna grow some balls, mate?"

Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?

Painstakin watch with a methodology that was a payoff in itself. Give it some time. Study relationships and landscape. O sweet, sweet terror.★★★1/2

Trailer for the curious:

Bonus material:

Here's a photo of the real John Bunting.
When he was young, his favourite pastime was
said to be burnin insects in acid.