Tag: John Brumpton

Kid Snow

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★1/2Kid Snow

Rated: MA15+

Directed by: Paul Goldman

Written by: John Brumpton

Produced by: Lizzette Atkins, Bruno Charlesworth, Megan Wynn

Executive Producers: Matthew Gledhill, Gary Cooper

Starring: Billy Howle, Phoebe Tonkin, Tom Bateman, Mark Coles Smith, Hunter Page-Lochard, Shaka Cook, Jack Latorre, Nathan Phillips, Tasma Walton, John Brumpton, Robert Taylor, Tristan Gorey.

‘Relax.  You’ll get your story.’

Robed, Kid Snow (Billy Howle) and Hammer (Tristan Gorey) shadow box in warm-up before fighting in a competition that ultimately leads to Hammer’s reign as champion.

Cameras flash.

A leggy blond holds a placard, ‘Round 1.’

It’s 1961.

And Kid Snow’s about to throw the fight.

Kid Snow throws the fight to give his brother Rory (Tom Bateman) a chance to get to the top.

It’s family. Their father (John Brumpton) thinks Rory has a better chance but it’s obvious to those watching the fight that Kid Snow could have beaten Hammer and Hammer knows it.

After disaster strikes, leaving Rory maimed and their father dead, the film jumps forward 10 years, showing the two Irish brothers in outback Australia; Rory managing a travelling Tent Fighting show, featuring Kid Snow along with indigenous fighters: Lovely (Mark Coles Smith), Lizard (Hunter Page-Lochard), Armless (Shaka Cook).  And dressed up as a woman, Billy (Nathan Phillips) – the idea to goad the spectators into taking on the travelling fighters to win money and of course, boasting rights.

It’s a living.  A show that now Australian reigning champion Hammer wants to see because he knows Kid Snow thinks he could have taken him all those years ago.  Now he’s champion, Hammer wants to prove he deserves to be champion.

It’s a showdown a reporter, Ed (Robert Taylor) has come to write about – reigning champion versus comeback tent fighter.

At its heart, the film is an underdog story.  Kid Snow taking the fall for his brother, left fighting ‘mugs’ for a living, and introducing Sunny (Pheobe Tonkin) arriving at the show with a black eye and pickpocketing, trying to make her way for her son, Darcy (Jack LaTorre).

Director Paul Goldman states:

‘Our three leads, Billy Howle (Kid Snow), Tom Bateman (Rory Quinn) and Phoebe Tonkin (Sunny), are the beating heart of this film. Each of them brave and compelling in their commitment to diving deeper into their characters and the complex relationships and emotions that resonate through this story.’

There’s the drama of the two brothers’ relationship; the elder brother Rory maimed and bitter, Kid Snow still nursing his pride after throwing the fight that could have made him.

Then there’s Sunny; Rory blackmailing her into working for the show, offering her a chance to make money as a dancer.

Then there’s the blossoming romance between Sunny and Kid Snow as Rory watches from the sidelines.

And as noted by Goldman, this is a unique film about Tent Boxing, ‘A world that, strangely, has never before been brought to the screen.’

There’s a good steady build to the story, written by John Brumpton whom represented Australia in amateur boxing in Thailand and decided to get some work for himself alongside his acting career as a scriptwriter, creating a script with himself as the protagonist.

The actors performed their own stunts which shows on screen, the feeling authentic which brings to light the attention to detail, the knowing look from Sunny, the honesty of Kid Snow.  There’s a good rounding-out of characters that pulls the audience behind the characters, to cheer for the underdog, Kid Snow while also gaining insight into the relationship between the two brothers.

The film does take a beat to warm up, the acting stilted until the fast forward 10 years and the introduction of Sunny.  Then the characters relax into their roles as the relationship between Sunny and Kid Snow develops and the comradery of the follow fighters plays more of a part as Kid Snow prepares for the challenge of boxing against a professional fighter rather than the mugs in the tent.

There’s a good storyline here, and a strong performance from Billy Howle, so although there’s that stilted start, the film keeps building to ultimately cheer the underdog story at its end.

Worth a watch.

Pawno

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★★☆ (4.2/5)

Director: Paul IrelandPawno

Screenplay: Damien Hill

Cast: Damien Hill, John Brumpton, Maeve Dermody, Mark Coles Smith, Kerry Armstrong, Malcolm Kennard, Brad McMurray, John Orcsik, Mark Silveira.

A day in the suburb of Footscray.

Pawno is a well-paced, character driven film with a great soundtrack.  This is a snapshot of Footscray culture showing insight into the need to belong with a bit of humour thrown in the mix.

I remember when I first moved to Melbourne in the ’90s, walking to the Footscray train station after staying at a friend’s the night before.  Suddenly, there was this young Vietnamese guy asking me, ‘Are you chasing?  Are you chasing?’

A catch phrase if I was looking for a hit.

Did I look like I was chasing?  I probably did that morning, hungover, a skinny 18-year-old heading for the train station on a Sunday morning.

Footscray is known for its drug culture.  But there’s so much more to this suburb, shown so well in this film.

The characters are the story.

The director, Paul Ireland, shared the difficulty in finding two actors who could play the part of Pauly (Mark Coles Smith) and Carlo (Malcolm Kennard), the two junkies drinking their dose of methadone, passing the day; great mates that’ll break your heart.

Friendship and humour can get a person through the day, through the quiet desperation of needing that hit.  The mateship of these two junkies is a delight even though the tragedy is obvious.  It’s such a pleasure to see the good boys underneath the bad.  To see the life behind the begging.  There’s a dark humour here, shown with a depth of understanding.

Then there’s Les Underwood (John Brumpton), owner of a Pawn shop: what a great place to show each character, to show the underbelly when in need of a loan.

Les is a wise and warm character on the one hand and a no-nonsense businessman, on the other.  An iconic Aussie male who’s seen it all and can tell the bullshit from the genuine.

But love his dog Ruby, you love the man.

It’s a fine line between making a profit and giving someone a loan out of mateship.  Sometimes, it’s brutal.

John tells a mother (Kerry Armstrong) looking for her junkie son, ‘The young keep their own time.’

What more can he do?

‘I’ll let you know when he pops up again.’

Then there’s the shy Danny Williams (Damien Hill) working alongside John as his assistant.  A gentle character who in finding his mental stability begins his search for love.  The community embraces Danny, accepting those who are really trying versus the real desperates, the junkies who are still chasing, baby bottle in hand.

Damien Hill was also the screenwriter of Pawno, and I’m not surprised he has a background in the theatre as it’s the dialogue that makes this film such a success.

The addition of the young blind girl playing the ukulele adds an emotional note, knowing she’s not quite right, but her heart is there, in her playing.

In the Q&A session, the director, Paul Ireland said it took just one take at each location for her to get it right.  And it’s beautiful, her voice and her playing.

All of the characters are flawed.  Each with their own battle of mental illness, heartbreak, addiction; loneliness.

It would have been easy to get bogged down in the melancholy, but there’s humour here, the focus is on the good: the poem written to the beautiful girl in the bookshop, the drummers tapping out a heartbeat and the dance of a local in appreciation, the expression of graffiti and the love of a dog.  Pawno shows life in all its complications with the simplicity of a leaky kettle or a favourite mug.

I was surprised there wasn’t a greater focus on the Vietnamese culture.  Walking the main street, you will see nothing but Vietnamese restaurants with aquariums full of what’s to eat.  And this could have been better represented in the film by showing more of the signage, hearing the language.

Scratching the surface of the Vietnamese culture would have added a greater weight to the film but I appreciated the thought put into each character who was shown.

You don’t need to throw a lot of money at a film when you’ve got characters with depth.

 

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