SNOWTOWN

Snowtown is the story of notorious Australian serial killer John Bunting and his accomplices, who in the 1990’s murdered 11 people in and around Adelaide, dumping their remains in the eponymous town of the title. It is a brutal and tough film to watch. A grim ordeal in places, but worthwhile overall if you can stomach being in the company of some callous and wretched specimens of humanity.

The film as been accused of being lacking in judgement of its abhorrent central characters, but their actions speak for themselves in some pretty harrowing scenes of torture and murder. While it’s true that the film does have a certain air of detachment, it is not manipulative in the way a Hollywood serial killer movie might be. The filmmakers take up a distanced vantage point for sure, but there won’t be a single person watching this who could take away anything other than revulsion from Bunting’s deeds. The film’s skill is in this detachment. You are complicit in a way - forced to witness the crimes in the same way that Jamie Vlassakis initially is, as he is drawn in to Bunting’s deluded and sickening world.

Make no mistake though, this film does not ask you to sympathise with any of these people. Instead it attempts to show how these crimes could occur. John Bunting is portrayed as a charismatic ‘bloke next door’, popular in the neighbourhood and a father figure to Jamie Vlassakis (excellently played by Lucas Pittaway in his debut role) and his brothers. It’s a chilling turn by Daniel Henshall, who deserves all the plaudits he’s is currently receiving. But even so this charisma masks the true nature of a violent killer, as a warped sense of vigilante justice paves the way for evermore disturbing and escalating homicides.

There is very little by way of expository dialogue. There are no characters rattling off unrealistic summaries of events, and this further lends itself to the feeling of the viewer as eyewitness. Whilst this is an interesting and admirable approach, it is also where Snowtown does falter. Whilst I do always appreciate a filmmaker crediting his/her audience with enough intelligence not to have to spell everything out, Snowtown’s sparseness of exposition leads to some confusing and often muddled elements. As a non-Australian, largely unfamiliar with the crimes of John Bunting and his accomplices, I did lose my way on more than one occasion particularly surrounding the identities of some of the peripheral characters.

Nevertheless, it is resoundingly worth watching, if wholly unpleasant as an experience. It has a seedy, washed out look that helps drag you into the claustrophobic confines of the murder scenes, and the unpleasant mire of the protagonists. As you observe the depths to which human beings can sink, you’re not asked to like it, merely to witness it. While Snowtown is an excellently made and beautifully shot movie, it is not likely to be one that welcomes repeated viewings.

IMDB: Snowtown