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Snowtown is about true murders in the town of Snowtown, Australia. As far as I know, the killer would stuff his victims' corpse into a barrel of acid. The movie follows the same plot, a warning for the faint hearted that it's as you guessed not for the faint hearted, the film follows through with a very bleak tone and there's not much of a single uplifting moment. It's probably the bleakest film of the 20th century so far, excluding foreign and indie films. Daniel Henshall plays the one committing the atrocities (John Bunting) and he does a damn fine job, he sort of plays a double life in here - one moment he's a happy Australian chap, chatting with the locals in a harmless way. Next, he's a deranged, rambling maniac and comes off as very manipulative, especially to Jamie Vlassakis who's the son of the mother Bunting is dating. He's played by Lucas Pittaway, who also puts in a good performance and imitates a traumatised and unconfident (easy to use) young boy to great detail.
I think it's a quality film, I personally didn't like it though. You have your Midnight Cowboys, your Taxi Drivers, your Hostels but I don't think they match the coldness found in Snowtown. Hell, I even think it pussifies Henry: The Portrait of a Serial Killer which is a tough cookie to crack. I wouldn't say it's a snuff film because most of the film depicts the characters suffering psychological torture rather than the traditional, off-putting kind.
I don't mind anyone who likes it, I can understand Snowtown's greatness but it just wasn't my cup of tea.
Review #11 - Snowtown (aka The Snowtown Murders):
(Justin Kurzel, 2011)
(Justin Kurzel, 2011)
Snowtown is about true murders in the town of Snowtown, Australia. As far as I know, the killer would stuff his victims' corpse into a barrel of acid. The movie follows the same plot, a warning for the faint hearted that it's as you guessed not for the faint hearted, the film follows through with a very bleak tone and there's not much of a single uplifting moment. It's probably the bleakest film of the 20th century so far, excluding foreign and indie films. Daniel Henshall plays the one committing the atrocities (John Bunting) and he does a damn fine job, he sort of plays a double life in here - one moment he's a happy Australian chap, chatting with the locals in a harmless way. Next, he's a deranged, rambling maniac and comes off as very manipulative, especially to Jamie Vlassakis who's the son of the mother Bunting is dating. He's played by Lucas Pittaway, who also puts in a good performance and imitates a traumatised and unconfident (easy to use) young boy to great detail.
I think it's a quality film, I personally didn't like it though. You have your Midnight Cowboys, your Taxi Drivers, your Hostels but I don't think they match the coldness found in Snowtown. Hell, I even think it pussifies Henry: The Portrait of a Serial Killer which is a tough cookie to crack. I wouldn't say it's a snuff film because most of the film depicts the characters suffering psychological torture rather than the traditional, off-putting kind.
I don't mind anyone who likes it, I can understand Snowtown's greatness but it just wasn't my cup of tea.