Revolver director Justin Kurzel’s controversial first feature film Snowtown launches in Australia
Revolver director Justin Kurzel‘s first feature film Snowtown has launched in cinemas around Australia. Produced by Warp Films (This Is England, 4 Lions) the film first premiered last month at the Adelaide Film Festival where it won the Audience Award.
Snowtown was the only Australian film to be selected for the prestigious Critics’ Week as part of the 2011 Festival De Cannes and was awarded the President of the Jury Special Award this week.
The film, which tells the story of John Bunting, one of Australia’s most notorious serial killers, was shot in South Australia in August 2010. Snowtown has received praise for being one of the most extraordinary (albeit dark) Australian films ever made.
Empire Magazine and the Telegraph awarded it 5 and 4.5 stars respectively. Jim Schembri (SMH) declared ‘Snowtown is not only one of the best Australian films so far this year – and 2011 is turning into another great one – it qualifies as one of the best yet. Miss it at your peril.’ Similiarily Leigh Paatsch commended Kurzel on an ‘IMPRESSIVELY directed, brilliantly acted and a complete work of focused, brutal power, Snowtown stands as the one of most impacting films ever made in this country.’
Kurzel’s commercial accolades include his work for WWF Earth Hour which received the Titanium Lion at the Cannes International Advertising Festival in 2007 and his Dare campaign which picked up a Bronze at Cannes in 2009 and was also listed in Campaign Brief’s Top 30 TVC’s of the decade. His recent campaign for Tooheys also took out three Bronze awards at Cannes in 2010. Kurzel also directed the recent NAB spots via Clemenger BBDO, Melbourne.
Kurzel (above) is represented by Revolver for commercials.
12 Comments
Saw Snowtown this morning. Congratulations to Justin and the other film makers. Found it intense but not as gratuitous in violence as I expected. Really great performances. Great cinematography with some real brave undercranked shots of stillness that postition the characters in mixed up mind, space and time. A really great edit too – nicely considered timing with a soundtrack that resonates in your brain for an hour after you leave. Good one. Not much product placement though… 9/10
forgot to mention starring the guys from the telstra ads.
cheer up. depressing stuff…
I walked out on Snowtown yesterday. The direction was fine but why are we making films like this in Australia? Why are the film agencies investing in content like this? Can’t we make films that are artful and well crafted but are about more joyous things.
Saw Snowtown on Friday. Was dreading it, but thought it was a truly masterful piece of film making. Script/dialogue = superb, soundtrack astounding, performances excellent, cinematography mindblowing so the direction was overall very good I’d say.
Wish I could forget bits of it though.
Well done.
I would give Kurzel and his film company more credit than Revolver in this instance.
I hated the film. It was just horrible. Ive been trying to find one positive thing to say about it and I find that impossible.
ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT
seen it. technique was great (although flabby editing) but i just couldn’t agree with them for making it seeing as victims families are still living with this horror.
not to mention the two younger vlassakis kids who have to be reminded that one of their brothers killed another brother AND they were abused by a pedo – both of which are depicted.
i’m sure they will be thrilled it made it into critics week at cannes.
I saw Snowtown. I like Australian Film & I find the base level of some Australian Crime intriguing. I went into film expecting gruesome but it was much more. It was eye opening, terrifying, shocking & heart breaking. Within moments I was pulled from my life, into this devastating film. It’s not pleasant but its startlingly real look at family life & a community that we might prefer didn’t exist. Before reading of this crime I naively thought that anyone born in our country has some kind of fair crack at life. This film provokes that some never get that chance. There’s realness in this film that is so raw. There’s a scene I’d love to watch again of them dancing, full of hope, at a local community hall. I recommend seeing this film.
I reccomend you don’t see this film. It is dreadful on nearly every level.
I recommend (WOW – I can spell recommend !) that you do see it if you enjoy Australian cinema at it`s best.
Acting was great and it was good to see actors that weren`t hugely famous but hopefully we`ll see in more productions from now on.
Having visited lot`s of places in the northern suburbs of Adelaide this is a pretty accurate depiction of life in housing trust estates – sad but true.
Get it on DVD and make sure you have a little bit of knowledge on the backgrounds of the characters and I promise you won`t forget it for a while.