KT 075: Birdeater and Australian Gothic
Why do Aussie dudes act up in the bush?
Birdeater, Wake in Freight and Australian Gothic
Words by Kristian Greif
There is a moment roughly three-quarters of the way through Birdeater where the film shows its hand, profoundly revealing its stylistic and dramatic tenets. This moment occurs just before the narrative (which traces the unsettling exploits of a night long buck’s party in a remote bush location) reaches its climax.
Following a tumultuous dinner, the heavily intoxicated and increasingly aggrieved attendees of the party, sit around a fire to play a game of “paranoia”. The premise of the game is simple: One ‘player’ secretly whispers a heinous or embarrassing act in the ear of another. The ‘listener’ in turn announces whom amongst them they think is most likely to have committed such an act without revealing any further details, much to the distress of those named. Once this occurs, a coin is tossed to determine whether the details of the act will be revealed to everyone, or not.
Naturally, the disturbingly jealous, abusive, and controlling fiancé, Louie (Mackenzie Fearnley), finds himself named three times over, each time failing a coin toss to determine why. In a state of torment, Louie looks around at each of the callously amused partygoer’s faces, while the distorted and shrieking laughs of kookaburras uncannily pierce the diegetic soundscape. It is as if the landscape is laughing at him, too.
Returning to the idiom with which we began: it is this moment where the cards are turned face-up and the hand is revealed. The story told in Birdeater is less a traditional horror, though it has horrific elements, and not quite a suspense driven thriller either. Rather, it is ostensibly Gothic. Specifically, it is a key example of the unique Australian Gothic style, following quite overtly in the footsteps of Ted Kotcheff’s celebrated 1971 film Wake in Fright.
Certainly, this much has not been lost on critics and journalists covering the release. Numerous articles, reviews, and interviews with the film’s directors, Jack Clark and Jim Weir, point to the dialogue between the two films. Moreover, they point to a pervasive ‘gothic-ness’ which seems to emanate from both Birdeater and Wake in Fright.
But what does it mean for a film to be Gothic? And what is so distinctly ‘Australian’ about Australian Gothic cinema?
It would be easy to answer these questions by labelling both films as unsettling stories that are made and set in Australia. However, this doesn’t fully describe what is unique about this highly idiosyncratic genre. It is not just the settings and characters featured in these stories that are macabre and distinctly Australian, but more significantly, it is the way that these stories are ‘told’. These films are made using a local cinematic dialect. Or, perhaps more appropriately, a local accent.
To make sense of this, Wake in Fright provides us with a seminal and genre defining precedent of the Australian Gothic style.
The narrative takes us on a hallucinatory and nightmarish journey into Bundayabba and its surrounds. Bundayabba, which is affectionately dubbed “the Yabba” by its locals, is a fictional town wherein a culture of violence, gambling, and above all, binge drinking, predominates. Located in a miscellaneous outback setting, it is also extremely remote, extremely dusty, and extremely hot.
Seen through the eyes of urban middle-class schoolteacher, John Grant (Gary Bond), this is a place that amplifies the normative traits of settler colonial hetero-masculinity to grotesque and uncanny extremes. Alcohol is consumed to an extraordinary excess, fuelling violent, chaotic, and highly destructive rampages. Funnily, neither the locals nor local law enforcement seem to mind this behaviour. Instead, they grow angry should someone refuse to engage in it. In the Yabba, the worst crime of all is to refuse a drink when it is offered.
The Gothic ‘horror’ and uneasiness in Wake in Fright is not overt, nor is it supernatural. There are no monsters or ghosts threatening the safety of the characters. It is banal and social in nature, simmering away under the surface of its narrative, only to erupt in moments of perverse excess. This uneasiness is also projected through the depictions of the landscape. It appears oppressively large and inhospitable. At times it seems so hostile that it almost takes on an invisible presence, as if to challenge any settler notion of it being ‘tameable’ or ‘empty’. There is also a deep sense of claustrophobia emanating throughout the film. John is both physically trapped in the vast and expansive outback, and socially trapped by the customs and behaviour of the locals of the Yabba.
It is through these elements, both political and geographic – a settled, or rather, unsettled society in an unsettling landscape - that a sense of a uniquely Australian Gothic-ness emerges.
Returning to Birdeater, it is clear to see the continuation, and perhaps modernisation, of this style. The bucks party depicted in the narrative is a perversely ritualised affair, laden with social edicts prioritising intoxication, aggressive banter, and boisterous play, all of which descend into grotesque and disorienting displays of masculinity and sexuality.
The subtly horrific and claustrophobic themes are also present. This time it is the bride-to-be, Irene (Shabana Azeez) who is trapped. She is being held in a controlling and abusive relationship with Louie, a fact which seems to only partially concern his friends. The other characters also seem to be trapped in different ways, each individually grappling with their relationships, friendships, and identities.
Above all, the eerie and isolated bush location of the party sets the stage for these unsettling social dramas to unfold. This is particularly salient during night scenes, where its extreme darkness and strange sounds seem to encroach ever closer on the characters and their actions.
Ultimately, we are left with a deeply uneasy and damning look at our own social tendencies, played out in the uncanny and occult landscape that we call ‘home’.
I would encourage anyone to go and see Birdeater and Wake in Fright. If for no other reason than to enjoy an encounter with this peculiar and fascinating genre. While Birdeater does not reach the horrifyingly sublime heights of Wake in Fright, it is certainly a welcome addition to our local cinematic oeuvre.
Birdeater is in cinemas now
Wake in Freight is screening as part of Hear my Eyes at MIFF next week.
WEEKLY FILM LISTINGS
01 August - 07 August
New Weekly Releases
Skategoat
Van Alpert, 2024
Screening Daily at Nova and Screening Moving Story Cinemas (Lido, Classic, Etc)
The President’s Wife
Léa Domenach, 2023
Screening Daily at Palace, Nova and Moving Story Cinemas (Lido, Classic Etc)
Ka Whawhai Tonu
Mike Jonathan, 2042
Screening Daily at Nova
Film Festivals:
Scandinavian Film Festival here
Screening Daily at Palace Cinemas
Melbourne Documentary Film Festival here
Screening Daily at Nova Cinema
New Voices in Australian Cinema
Bassendream
Tim Baretto, 2022
Screening Tues 6 Aug
Spotlight on K-Horror
Train to Busan
Yeon Sang-ho, 2016
Screening Sat 3 August
Save the Green Planet
Jang Joon-hwan, 2003
Screening Sun 4 August
Matinees
The Lesson
Alice Troughton, 2023
Screening Fri - Sun
Senses of Cinema Launch
The Gold Bug
Alejo Moguillansky & Fia-Stina Sandlund, 2014
Screening Fri 2 Aug
No screening this week
ASTOR CINEMA
Longlegs
Oz Perkins, 2024
Screening Thurs, Sun, Mon and Tues
In a Violent Nature
Chris Nash, 2024
Screening Thurs, Sat, Mon and Tues
Klute
Alan J. Pakula, 1971
Screening Thurs 1 August
Don’l Look Now
Nicholas Roag, 1973
Screening Sat 3 Aug
Kinds of Kindness (35mm Presentation)
Yorgos Lanthimos, 2024
Screening Sat
Scenes of a Marriage - 283 Min Version
Ingmar Bergman, 1973
Screening Sunday 4 August
BBBC CINEMA (GALLERYGALLERY BRUNSWICK)
Closed
No screening this week
CHINATOWN CINEMA
A Place Called Silence
Sam Quah, 2024
Screening Daily
Successor
Yan Fei and Damo Peng, 2024
Screening Daily
CINÉ-CLUB (Carlton)
Closed for winter
No screening this week
How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies
Pat Boonnitipat, 2024
Screening Daily
Tótem
Lila Avilés, 2024
Screening Daily
The Teacher Who Promised the Sea
Patricia Font, 2023
Screening Daily
Body Double
Brian de Palma, 1984
Screening Daily
Day of the Locust
John Schlesinger, 1975
Screening Daily
To Live and Die in LA
William Friedkin, 1986
Screening Thurs and Sun
Interview with a Vampire
Neil Jordan, 1994
Screening Daily
The Third Man,
Carol Reed, 1949
Screening Dauly
Beat Street,
Stan Lathan, 1984
Screening Daily
2001: A Space Odyssey
Stanley Kubrick, 1968
Screening Wed 7 Aug
Check Nova listings for full list
DOGMILK DEGUSTATIONS: @ Miscellania
No screening week
No screening week
GAY24 (Bar Flippy’s)
No screening this week
HITLIST (9 Gertrude St, Fitzroy)
Shut for now
LIDO / CLASSIC / CAMEO
Events
Check sites for rep titles
General Release
Skategoat
Van Alpert, 2024
Screening Daily at Nova and Screening Moving Story Cinemas (Lido, Classic Etc)
The President’s Wife
Léa Domenach, 2023
Screening Daily at Palace, Nova and Moving Story Cinemas (Lido, Classic Etc)
Ka Whawhai Tonu
Mike Jonathan, 2042
Screening Daily at Nova
Longlegs
Oz Perkins, 2024
Screening Daily
Birdeater
Jack Clark & Jim Weir, 2024
Screening Daily
Kinds of Kindness
Yorgos Lanthimos, 2024
Screening Daily
Maxxxine
Ti West, 2024
Screening Daily
The Bikeriders
Jeff Nichols, 2024
Screening Daily
OVA CLUB
No screening this week
THE MELBOURNE CINÉMATHÈQUE (ACMI)
Closed for MIFF
TOP OF THE HEAP (Tramway Hotel)
No screening this week
No screening this week
MELBOURNE UNIVERSITY: SCREENING IDEAS
No screening this week
PALACE BALWYN / BRIGHTON / COMO / KINO / PENTRIDGE / MOONEE PONDS / WESTGARTH
Palace’s Saxo-Scandinavian Film Festival. More info here
General Release
The President’s Wife
Léa Domenach, 2023
Screening Daily at Palace, Nova and Moving Story Cinemas (Lido, Classic Etc)
The Teacher Who Promised the Sea
Patricia Font, 2023
Screening Daily
The Bikeriders
Jeff Nichols, 2024
Screening Daily
Birdeater
Jim Weir, 2024
Screening Daily
Longlegs
Oz Perkins, 2024
Screening Daily
See Palace site for further screenings
No screening this week
No listings this week / click link above to see what’s on (their site too hard to navigate)
Trap
M. Night Shamyamalan, 2024
Screening Thurs, Sat, Sun, Mon, Tues, Wed
Hundreds of Beavers
Mike Cheslik, 2023
Screening Thurs, Sun, Wed
Joan Baez: I Am a Noise
Miri Navasky, Maeve O’Boyle, Karen O’Connor, 2023
Screening Fri, Sat, Wed
Singin' in the Rain
Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly, 1952
Screening Sat, Mon
Longlegs
Oz Perkins, 2024
Screening Sat, Sun, Wed
UNKNOWN PLEASURES @ Thornbury Picture House
No screening this week