MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Director: Justin Kurzel
FilmPulse Score: 6/10
Snowtown tells the true life story of John Bunting, Australia’s most prolific serial killer and the ringleader of a “degenerate sub-culture” of murderers. The debut feature-length from Justin Kurzel seems to stay true the events that occurred from 1992 to 1999, in which Bunting murdered 11 people with the help of James “Jamie” Vlassakis, Mark Haydon, and Robert Wagner. Snowtown is definitely an intense and unsettling portrait of several cold-blooded killers
But the film really focuses on the relationship between Bunting (Daniel Henshall) and Vlassakis (Lucas Pittaway) and how Bunting manipulated then sixteen year old Jamie into helping his group commit the murders. Bunting and Vlassakis are portrayed brilliantly by Henshall and Pittaway, respectively. Henshall is perfect as a formidable manipulator and a cold, calculating murderer, while Pittaway holds his own (in his first role) as an emotionally damaged teenager.
The movie opens with a neighbor across the street helping out Jamie’s mother, Elizabeth (Louise Harris) by watching her three boys. While she is gone, the neighbor takes pictures of the three in their underwear. Then John enters the picture, doing his best to harass the neighbor, with the help of Jamie – enough so that he eventually moves out. All of the neighbors get together and vent about the system, pedophiles, and other subjects. It is during one of these neighborhood vent sessions that John shares his idea of becoming vigilantes, essentially forcing these pedophiles out of the neighborhood.
The remainder of the film focuses on the murders, committed in real life by Bunting, Vlassakis, and Wagner. The murder scenes are brutal and unsettling, and spare little in way of gruesome detail. Bunting’s calm, methodical attitude towards the killings stands in sharp contrast to Jamie’s relative unease. It is through the shots of Jamie that the audience gets a glimpse into the charismatic manipulativeness of Bunting. Yet by the end of the film, Jamie himself seems almost cold to the whole ordeal, presenting a dark picture of the effect Bunting had on those around him.
The style throughout the film, most notably in the first half, is extraordinarily disjointed, and can be difficult to follow at times. Kurzel rapidly shifts between scenes, quickly moving between characters and time. This technique makes it difficult to fully grasp the events of the film; indeed, those looking for a clear account of the real-life murders may be a bit disappointed. While the cinematography and plot techniques are interesting, they may be better suited to a fictional story.
What really holds the film together is the soundtrack, composed by Kurzel’s brother Jed. A melding of techno, industrial, and ambient sounds, the music in the film creates a dark and somber feel that leaves the viewer on edge throughout. The lighting, setting, and cinematography, too, are all beautifully executed, and enhance the subject matter of the film, adding to the bleak atmosphere.
Snowtown is difficult to watch, not only due to its subject matter and gruesome violence, but also due, in part, to the technique. Though the pace slows down in the second half and the story becomes clearer, the first hour may leave some viewers frustrated and confused as to who the characters are and what their role is in the story. Perhaps a documentary feature would have been better suited to portray this dark time in Australia’s history to an audience largely unfamiliar with it. However, viewers not easily turned off by this film’s dark subject matter may be pleasantly surprised by this first feature. Justin Kurzel has proven himself a director worth watching; it will be interesting to see what we can expect from his future releases.
