Snowtown

Snowtown is based upon the true story of serial killer John Bunting and is one of the most disturbing and gripping films ever to come out of Australia!

The debut by director Justin Kurzel was honoured with the prestigious ‘Adelaide Film Festival’s Audience Award’, was given the ‘President’s Special Mention’ at Cannes, and was officially selected for the ‘2011 London Film Festival’. Not bad for a debut!

Between 1992-1999, in Snowtown outside of Adelaide, eleven people (ten male, one female) were tortured and then murdered by John Bunting – making it one of the most horrific crimes in Australian history. The victims usually were people that Bunting knew: people from the neighbourhood and which he suspected to be homosexuals, paedophiles, drug-users or which he disliked for other reasons. It’s difficult to decide what is more depressing – the hopelessness of the Snowtown, or the lower class and disenfranchised society the place caters for.

Amidst this grim milieu, sixteen year-old Jamie Vlassakis (Lucas Pittaway) lives together with his mother Elizabeth (Louise Harris) and his two younger brothers. Surrounded by frustration and general violence, Jamie dreams of escaping his living hell. One day, his mum introduces her new boyfriend to the family. John Bunting (Daniel Hershall) takes on the role of an ersatz father figure, who manages to bring some stability into the Vlassakis household. However, it’s not before long and John turns out to be a bigot and psychopath, taking delight in torturing animals and ready to take the law into his own hands. At first, the confused Jamie is appalled and disgusted and tries to distance himself, only to get sucked more and more into the blood-drenched world of Bunting.

Snowtown is not an easy movie – it’s theme but also the setting are at times so uncomfortable to watch, one needs to press the ‚pause’ button to briefly recover. However, it’s precisely that feeling of discomfort as well as the realistic performances of the cast that make the film so powerful.
Daniel Heshall in particular is superb in his portrayal of Bunting – a man who effortlessly glides between charisma and unspeakable brutality. Lucas Pittaway’s performance as Jamie is not far behind.

Revolver Entertainment are releasing the movie both in DVD and Blu-ray format, with some interesting bonus material including ‚The Snowtown Crimes – Featurette’.