I’ve followed actor-writer-director Abe Forsythe’s career for a while now and when I heard he had a movie coming out it was a no brainer, I’d be going to see it. For me the measure of a good movie is one that you’re still thinking about days later, that’s certainly the case for his black comedy Down Under.
Down Under puts Australian culture under the microscope immediately after the 2005 Cronulla riots. At the beginning of the movie the audience is reminded of the event through some flashback images from the real event. The film then moves into fiction focusing two groups of men who jump into their cars heading out for retaliation.
First up a group of Aussie’s headed up by Jason (Damon Herriman) and his Ned Kelly loving mate Ditch (Justin Rosniak) whose latest tattoo seeing him wearing a bandage around his head for most of the movie. The reveal at the end of the movie … priceless. Throughout the movie we also catch up with Jason’s heavily pregnant girlfriend Stacey (Harriet Dyer) who puts everyone at risk by demanding … a kebab.
Australia’s love of nicknames brings us Shit-Stick (played delightfully by Alexander England), a pot head smoking gentle giant who works in a video store. He’s soon roped into their escapades simply because he owns a car. His cousin Evan (new comer Christopher Bunton) who has Downs Syndrome is also invited to join them and ‘become a man’.
‘Christopher’s presence on set made my job a lot easier and helped me unveil the heart of this story,’ explained director Forsythe.
On the other end of the spectrum is a group made up of drug dealing Nick (Rahel Romahn, whose intensity shows through on the big screen just as it did on the small). Nick hopes to rekindle his friendship with Hassim (Lincoln Younes) who, born and bred in Australia, would rather stay at home studying or work at his shift at the chicken shop. But when Hassim is unable to get hold of his brother after the initial riots, Nick’s ideologies start to play on his mind.
‘When I was writing the script we weren’t talking about this issue,’ explained Forsythe. ‘My initial impulse was to get us talking. Now it’s bubbling up but it seems like a lot of people are yelling at each other and not listening to each other …now it’s like it’s festered and everything that’s happened in the world is feeding into it and it’s turning nasty.’
Director Abe Forsythe
Forsythe went on the explain that ‘the movie is about racism and how it basically stems from ignorance. The best way of avoiding a repeat of the Cronulla riots is by talking about the issue for a start and informing the conversation in a way so that we’re listening to each other and not just shouting over each other. The intent of the movie as to play into that conversation.’
Six years in the making the film and deliberately confronting. The movie is equal parts hilarious and difficult to watch. Forsythe’s desire to get the audience thinking was definitely achieved. I pondered:
- The ineptitude displayed by both groups culminates in one of the funniest car chases you’ll ever see.
- The similarities across the groups is brilliantly explored.
- David Field’s depiction of Vic is a nice change from how we usually see this actor.
- Down Under will be a difficult movie for some, indeed a few people left the preview. And if you don’t like swearing this isn’t for you.
To view the trailer click here.
Starts August 11th
