BURKE AND WILLS
Directors: Oliver Torr and Matthew Zeremes Stars: Oliver Torr, Matthew Zeremes, Ashley Lyons, Hannah Durack, Libby Richmond, Bianca Biassi, Winston Cooper
Reviewed by GREG KING
This is not a film about the legendary early Australian explorers, but rather a contemporary comedy/drama about two twentysomething slackers who share a house in a Sydney suburb and some of the conflicts that occur. There have been many films dealing with the experiences of sharing a house, from adolescent frat comedies to Single White Female, the thriller about a psychotic housemate, and through to the black comedy of He Died With A Felafel In His Hand.
Burke And Wills has been made in the spirit of some other recent Australian films shot on a shoe-string budget and put together with a do-it-yourself mentality (the recent 2:37, Lost And Found, The Garth Method, etc). Burke And Wills is the labour of two young film makers Oliver Torr and Matthew Zeremes who have a lot of ambition and determination. Working closely with cinematographer Callan Green, the film was shot on a $20,000 budget over nine days, and many of the scenes were improvised and shot in one take. The pair has also decided to shoot the film in black and white, which hides its flaws and gives it the look and feel of an early Jim Jarmusch film, or even Kevin Smith’s debut Clerks.
Wills (Zeremes) is an unemployed dreamer and slacker, and needs somewhere to live after his girlfriend tires of him and kicks him out of her house. He moves in with the introverted and lonely Burke (Torr). The two initially bond over food and drinks and meandering conversations about bowel movements and other typically male topics. But eventually the dynamics between the pair change. Wills moves forward with his life, getting a sales job, while Burke suffers a breakdown following the death of his beloved grandmother. The film’s sudden shift into darker, disturbing territory temporarily jolts audiences out of any sense of complacency or boredom.
There is an almost amateurish quality to some of the early establishing scenes that may have some cringing with embarassment. The film is leisurely paced and the dialogue often stilted and unconvincing. Unfortunately, neither of the central protagonists is particularly likeable, and the character development slight. Audiences will likely remain at arm’s length from them and their experiences.
*1/2