Unease is what greets you in this psychological crime drama set in Melbourne in the mid ‘70s.
The film tracks the relationship between Sparra (Alex Russell) and Paula (Jessica De Gouw) and the impact on their lives of the charismatic and dangerous Pommie (Sullivan Stapleton). Sparra is a very private man in his twenties who is trying to make a fresh start in a new city. He earns an honest day’s pay for an honest day’s work and becomes engaged to the lovely Paula. Sparra and Paula appear to be a regular young couple – in love and setting up their new home together in the bush. They are busy planning for their future until Pommie turns up. Pommie, just out of prison, tracks down Sparra, expecting to pick things up where they left off. Sparra is clearly thrown by his arrival. Paula is initially intrigued by Pommie – she knows little of Sparra’s past – but all that is set to change.
It has taken a while for this to make the big screen. Cut Snake won the Inaugural Adelaide Film Festival/Insite award for Best Unproduced Screenplay back in 2002. The prize for writer Blake Ayshford was a rehearsed reading of the screenplay, directed by Tony Ayres (The Home Song Stories and Walking on Water). After a number of years it came across Ayres’ desk again, at which point he decided to option it as his third feature. While it has gone through a number of changes since 2002, Ayres always loved the character of Pommie, a psychopath and a man of contradictions.
As for his former associate Sparra, initially we – the audience – see him as purer than the driven snow, but that quickly changes. Ayres makes the good point that often we start off with a rather conventional idea of who a person is, but the more one explores, the more complicated and grey things become.
Cut Snake is both engaging and surprising, with the film’s music an important component of the foreboding that permeates almost every scene.
Sullivan Stapleton, who was so menacing in Animal Kingdom, is at it again here. Put simply, he’s not the kind of guy you want to meet in a dark alley. I thought Alex Russell was also compelling as the quietly spoken lad with movie star looks who hides a dark secret. Jessica De Gouw, too, makes a strong transition from the naïve beauty to a young woman willing to fight for what she believes in, regardless of the fact that her glass bubble has been well and truly shattered.
The strength lies in the screenplay and in the representation of the period. While not obsessing over detail, the cinematography, costume and set design mimic my recollection of that era.
The title says it all, for when you have a character that is capable of doing just about anything to anyone, the consequences will be significant. Rated MA, Cut Snake is well worth a look and scores a 7½ out of 10.
Director: Tony Ayres
Cast: Sullivan Stapleton, Jessica De Gouw, Alex Russell
Release Date: 24 September, 2015
Rating: MA15+
Alex First
David Edwards is the editor of The Blurb and a contributor on film and television