Snowtown

We have all seen the advertisements on TV of "Come to Australia for your holidays life it's pardise in the land of oz!"...... well there's a flip side to this and Snowtown is it!
Based on the Bodies in barrels murders committed in 1998 by John Bunting and cohorts, Snowtown shoots in real locations (Just north of Adelaide) with actual residents. Bunting, brilliantly played by Daniel Henshall, is a truly terrifying presence and the crimes are sometimes recreated obliquely, sometimes protractedly are punishing to watch. But Justin Kurzel's debut is most impressive at painting a very grim portrait of a community ravaged by poverty, drugs, violence and behind closed doors abuse of the worst nature. This is the toughest Oz offering since The Boys, Snowtown also shares themes with the outstanding Animal Kingdom.
It's a very tough film to watch, as the grimness realy digs deep under the skin and it's a film that has the overall effect of being hit by a sledge hammer as after viewing you feel you'll need a bath to scrum away the grime of what you have just watched, and although the close door ending is uncompromising it's the excellent performances by the leads that linger just as much as the actual shocking facts.
See if you like......
Animal Kingdom.
The Slap.
Henry A Portait Of a Serial Kiler.
Jeremy Kyle.

We have all seen the advertisements on TV of "Come to Australia for your holidays life it's pardise in the land of oz!"...... well there's a flip side to this and Snowtown is it!
Based on the Bodies in barrels murders committed in 1998 by John Bunting and cohorts, Snowtown shoots in real locations (Just north of Adelaide) with actual residents. Bunting, brilliantly played by Daniel Henshall, is a truly terrifying presence and the crimes are sometimes recreated obliquely, sometimes protractedly are punishing to watch. But Justin Kurzel's debut is most impressive at painting a very grim portrait of a community ravaged by poverty, drugs, violence and behind closed doors abuse of the worst nature. This is the toughest Oz offering since The Boys, Snowtown also shares themes with the outstanding Animal Kingdom.
It's a very tough film to watch, as the grimness realy digs deep under the skin and it's a film that has the overall effect of being hit by a sledge hammer as after viewing you feel you'll need a bath to scrum away the grime of what you have just watched, and although the close door ending is uncompromising it's the excellent performances by the leads that linger just as much as the actual shocking facts.
See if you like......
Animal Kingdom.
The Slap.
Henry A Portait Of a Serial Kiler.
Jeremy Kyle.

There's no denying that this is in no way an easy or a pleasant watch but if you are in the mood for a look at the extremely dark side of human behaviour and monstrous-ness then look no farther than this drama based on the true events that took place in the early to mid 1990s in an Australian suburb blighted by just about every woe going.

That it's true is almost the most unbelievable part, simply because if this was presented as fiction it would seem completely unrealistic that this could ever happen. But, it did, and John Bunting was the man at the centre of it all. Played here with fascinating conviction and almost seduction by Daniel Henshall he creates a personification of evil that it's still relatively easy to see how people could fall under his influence.

With direction that relies less on dialogue and more on actions and where the camera is as certain events take place (some of the murders for instance and the haunting final sequence and shot) this is strongly directed and acted all around. Like I said, this is far, far, far from an easy watch but it is yet a film that I was glad I made myself watch it.

Dark, harrowing yet beautiful and thought provoking...I couldn't recommend more highly, a definite MUST SEE

Brutal, bleak and raw, and shocking in the mundanity of its horrific events, Snowtown demands your attention and rewards you with an uncompromising look at the tragedy of a doomed, neglected community. Hard to watch but a film worth enduring.