Snowtown

losthorizon

I see it was released in Dublin during the week. Please let it come down the country at some stage. It looks brilliant. Another great Aussie crime flick.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvu_tBQgZyI

They are churning them out at the moment.

KilOit

Looks excellent, Animal Kingdom vibe from it though, which isn't a bad thing of course.

spurious

I went to see this today on a 'let's just go to whatever is starting soon' whim.
I had no idea what it was about in advance.

Lordy.

A group of elderly ladies, obviously on a regular Saturday afternoon outing left shellshocked after about an hour. I'm glad none of the delicate 'Twilight' people wandered in.

First rate acting all round - horrific story - all the more horrific being based on real events. I got a little bit confused as to who was who in the victim stakes, but I don't think it really mattered in the end. I'm certainly going to read up on the actual events.

Gee Bag

spurious wrote: »

A group of elderly ladies, obviously on a regular Saturday afternoon outing left shellshocked after about an hour.

Surprised they lasted that long!

Fishooks12

Brilliant film but a lot more shocking than AK so approach with caution

johnny_ultimate

I'll admit to being a little bit torn on this film. It was unrelenting yet repetitive. Formulaic (an odd complaint for a true story, I'll grant you) yet uniquely presented. Disjointed yet strangely confident. For every scene that threw me for six, there was another I felt was overemphasising ideas that were already well covered.

Performances were certainly good all around, but at the same time all the characters were such cartoonish, ghastly creations it was impossible to root for anyone at all really. That's not a problem with in itself, but it created a film that felt eerily distant for me. I don't think anyone could deny the grimness is almost suffocating (in a good way, even) but after this, Samson & Delilah, Beautiful Kate and Animal Kingdom I'd love an Australasian movie that isn't so unrelentingly grimy.

I did appreciated how some major revelations were presented with a disturbing casualness. Other times the fractured structure was quite tricky to keep a grip on - sub characters certainly suffered from a lack of identity.

The extended final sequence, however, I will admit to being drawn in by. The odd soundtrack, chilly cinematography and dark atmosphere really pulling together to make some terrific cinema.

Ultimately, for me it was an interesting but flawed experience, and I emerged not really knowing what to think of it all. It came across like This Is England minus the nostalgic warmth or colourful cast. Or Kill List with a slightly less unexpected delivery. Having seen Sion Sono do far more interesting things with the 'true story serial killer' film with Cold Fish earlier this year - a film that had a delirious sense of humour and even more extreme larger-than-life characters on top of the graphic bloodshed - Snowtown seemed exhausting in comparison. But then, wasn't that sort of the point?

Fishooks12

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

I'll admit to being a little bit torn on this film. It was unrelenting yet repetitive. Formulaic (an odd complaint for a true story, I'll grant you) yet uniquely presented. Disjointed yet strangely confident. For every scene that threw me for six, there was another I felt was overemphasising ideas that were already well covered.

Performances were certainly good all around, but at the same time all the characters were such cartoonish, ghastly creations it was impossible to root for anyone at all really. That's not a problem with in itself, but it created a film that felt eerily distant for me. I don't think anyone could deny the grimness is almost suffocating (in a good way, even) but after this, Samson & Delilah, Beautiful Kate and Animal Kingdom I'd love an Australasian movie that isn't so unrelentingly grimy.

I did appreciated how some major revelations were presented with a disturbing casualness. Other times the fractured structure was quite tricky to keep a grip on - sub characters certainly suffered from a lack of identity.

The extended final sequence, however, I will admit to being drawn in by. The odd soundtrack, chilly cinematography and dark atmosphere really pulling together to make some terrific cinema.

Ultimately, for me it was an interesting but flawed experience, and I emerged not really knowing what to think of it all. It came across like This Is England minus the nostalgic warmth or colourful cast. Or Kill List with a slightly less unexpected delivery. Having seen Sion Sono do far more interesting things with the 'true story serial killer' film with Cold Fish earlier this year - a film that had a delirious sense of humour and even more extreme larger-than-life characters on top of the graphic bloodshed - Snowtown seemed exhausting in comparison. But then, wasn't that sort of the point?

I think it was. I for one felt drained after but It's really stuck with me since, especially the cinematography and soundtrack.

The real triumph of the film IMHO is the insight it gives into the mind of a serial killer and how they can somehow come to justify their actions (in this case a warped sense of vigilantism).

I agree about some of the support characters being slightly unexplained and at times it's hard to figure out who people are in relation to each other.

I found it hard to figure out who had been killed when they placed the stage phonecall

I also agree that it's difficult to root for anyone given how dark the characters are. Especially towards the end when

The boy becomes a participant in the killing when he could have easily walked away

. Essentially though I think it's meant to be like this, nothing good came from the real life events, therefore the film should just be as dark and unflinching in its portrayal

I found every minute of it utterly compelling, really fascinating picture if nothing else.

Also on a lighter note, nice to see Ray Lamontagne getting some acting under his belt (hope someone gets this);)

Fishooks12

Also, how good was Daniel Henshall? Fantastic performance as John Bunting

Only professional actor involved too

Boo Radley

This is a film, as pointed out before, that can be hard to watch. The

sexual violence

was the most difficult to endure imo.

I was drawn in by the directing style and the grungy, almost punk sounding repetitive soundtrack (I'm referring to one scene in particular) which was pitch perfect and even reminded me a little of parts of the accompanying music for the Joker in the TDK (coincidently the actor who plays Jamie looks a bit like Heath Ledger), but obviously a lot more menacing.

My biggest complaint is that it was unusually tricky to keep track of characters and just exactly who it was that had been murdered. That said it's definitely worth a look. The grey/blue colouring to the film suited the tone and atmosphere it was reflecting very well and some of the flickering effects used gave it a surreal sense at appropriate times.

I'd also recommend having a read of John Bunting's wikipedia article for more insight into the killings and his victims.

I agree with the above poster that the casual feel to big reveals was disturbing and very well executed.

Warper

Just back from this. I always avoid reviews, storylines beforehand as it makes the film more unpredictable.

First off, this is very bleak. There is probably not one scene that is light-hearted. It is tragedy followed by more tragedy. That said, this is a very well made film with brilliant acting. At times it can get hard to watch with the horror of their lives unrelenting. It is pretty sadistic and the fact its a true story is scary. Worth watching.

Dots1982

Wanted to see this flick but seems like its run in Ireland is finished on Saturday so I won't get to go to it which is disappointing and surprising. If anyone knows any cinema showing next week please share.

craftypaddy

watched this last week, it was good but im glad the wife wasnt home there are some graphic scenes in it, i was close to turning it off at one sex scene but the story was gripping

MisterAnarchy

Overall I wasnt impressed with the film .
With so much potential ,the actual case information is very limited, as is the direction and screenplay.

There is little emotional involvement of the viewer, and a few minutes of very gruesome deaths.
Due to the little involvement it is often hard to make sense of it, in a manner of recognizing who killed who.
Also it wasnt made particularly clear in the film

but the killers also claimed the Social Security Benefits, Pensions and Unemployment Benefits of the victims.
Indeed greed become the primary motive after the first few killings.

The pacing is poor, and at 120 minutes the film is at least 30 minutes too long.
The audio was also poor ,it was very hard to hear the dialogue at times .

The acting was pretty poor ,especially by the main kid .
The actor who portrayed Bunting was excellent though ,you could easily see he was the only professional actor.

Its still worth a watch but it could have been alot better.
Its a side of Australia that you dont see in the come to Australia ads on the tv .

UglyBolloxFace

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

Its a side of Australia that you dont see in the come to Australia ads on the tv .

Why would you see that?

You don't see images of the financial crisis in Failte Ireland adverts.

Tusky

Watched this last night. Grim doesn't cover it! Very good film but I would be hesitant to recommend it. A real endurance test, very very dark and extremely disturbing. Have read the background of the real events and I'm amazed I had never heard of it before.

OldeCinemaSoz

escaping the usual over written **** above...

i'm quite looking forward to this one.

Tusky

OldeCinemaSoz wrote: »

escaping the usual over written **** above...

i'm quite looking forward to this one.

Excuse me??

Tusky

Tusky wrote: »

OldeCinemaSoz wrote: »

escaping the usual over written **** above...

i'm quite looking forward to this one.

Excuse me??

Ignore him, he's been posting crap all night.

pookiesboo

Is the film Snowtown really that disturbing? In two minds about watching it tonight as someone gave me a lend of it, has anyone else seen it? Im female by the way

Sad Professor

It's fairly disturbing, yes. Although what's most disturbing isn't the what you see (most of which is implied) but the bleak atmosphere of despair that seems to envelop every frame of the film.

It can be a bit difficult to follow as well if you aren't familiar with the events. It was clearly made with Australian audiences in mind. Not a bad thing though.

You probably won't want to ever watch it again, but I'd still recommend it.

Fishooks12

Sad Professor wrote: »

It's fairly disturbing, yes. Although what's most disturbing isn't the what you see (most of which is implied) but the bleak atmosphere of despair that seems to envelop every frame of the film.

It can be a bit difficult to follow as well if you aren't familiar with the events. It was clearly made with Australian audiences in mind. Not a bad thing though.

You probably won't want to ever watch it again, but I'd still recommend it.

Probably the best way of summing it up. It's a brilliant film IMHO, but really harrowing and tough to watch. Worth the ordeal though

pookiesboo

Sad Professor wrote: »

It's fairly disturbing, yes. Although what's most disturbing isn't the what you see (most of which is implied) but the bleak atmosphere of despair that seems to envelop every frame of the film.

It can be a bit difficult to follow as well if you aren't familiar with the events. It was clearly made with Australian audiences in mind. Not a bad thing though.

You probably won't want to ever watch it again, but I'd still recommend it.

I read about the murders a while ago, it seems very disturbing! Plus the fact that its a true story makes it worse id say. Theres something about Australian crime/horrors, they can be really disturbing like Wolf Creek and I am You which is fine except for the death scene

latenia

I grew up on gore, horror and slasher flicks from their 80s heyday and haven't been shocked by a film in about 20 years, but I actually had to turn away during

the strangulation in the bath scene, not because it was gory but it was the most harrowing killing scene I've ever watched.

pookiesboo

latenia wrote: »

I grew up on gore, horror and slasher flicks from their 80s heyday and haven't been shocked by a film in about 20 years, but I actually had to turn away during

the strangulation in the bath scene, not because it was gory but it was the most harrowing killing scene I've ever watched.

Yes, Thats what I was told as well,that scene just goes on for far too long to keep watching