KT 086: Flathead (Jaydon Martin, 2023)

We look at Jaydon Martin's FLATHEAD before it screens at ACMI ce soir

Oct 17, 2024

Flathead
Jaydon Martin, 2024
DCP Courtesy: Bonsai Films
Classification: CTC

Words by Finnlay Dall

Flathead is screening as part of ACMI’s New Voices in Australian Cinema tonight. There will be a Q&A with Jaydon Martin hosted by KT’s own Digby Houghton. Tickets here.

When confronting their own mortality, people will eventually turn to some form of belief, either to some higher power or some cosmic entity, or they will embrace the nothingness that comes from the abrupt end of life. I myself for example am relatively agnostic; I do not believe in a human like God but am hopeful that there is a place beyond death. But for other people, religion is a chance at redemption. Feeling they have screwed up in this life, they ask for forgiveness simply so that they may find a better purpose in the next one.

At least, that’s what cinematographer and first-time director, Jaydon Martin seems to suggest. Using its framing as docufiction to explore the small town of Bundaberg, Flathead invites the audience to observe the eclectic lives of real people whilst still being able to tell its own fable of two men trying to find a place, not only in this one, but the one beyond. Cass Cumerford and Andrew Wong (playing fictionalised versions of themselves) are both at major crossroads in their lives. The former faces death after a brain cancer diagnosis, and unable to afford treatment, heads back to Bundaberg in search of repentance before his final days. Meanwhile, the latter, a local Fish and Chip shop worker, contends with the death of his father, and lost in grief, looks for a more purposeful line of work. While the lives of an elderly man and the son of a Chinese migrant couldn’t be more different, Martin points out three commonalities between the pair: 1. They are both Bundaberg born and bred, 2. They are both working class and 3. They are both desperate to find some sort of faith to guide them.

Martin sets out to turn the small coastal town of Bundaberg into Australia’s own Holy Land. Enlisting the help of cinematographer Brodie Poole, monochrome images are steeped in all sorts of religious metaphor and evoke this sort of ethereal reality. Expansive skies overshadow a hunching Cass in one scene while in another a local church looks down on him like some obelisk created before time itself. Fields of tomato plants sprawl across the farmland like the fruits of Eden while cows graze in pastures like God’s own creatures. Considering Martin’s history behind the camera, it's not hard to see why Flathead’s visual language is its greatest strength. However, I found it hard to ignore his implicit bias towards Christian imagery. It made some sense, as that’s what Cass practises for most of the film, but even when the camera put us into Andrew’s POV, his experience felt very whitewashed overall. Martin does try to immerse us in more eastern traditions, as Andrew dresses in white for his father’s funeral, a stark contrast to the white people in black tie around him, but moments like this feel like an afterthought rather than an intentional choice by the director. Which is a shame, since a more holistic vision, in which Bundaberg is presented as a melting pot of different ritualistic practices, could have created a far richer world for the audience to explore. We can see a possible version of this when Cass’ Israelite friend goes to a Christian church, or when Andrew sings Christian hymns over an eastern altar of his father, but these glimpses into other religions are far fleeting.

On the topic of people, the quirky townsfolk of Bundaberg play an equally important role in building its mythology. The film opens with a statement suggesting that “Regional Australia has historically relied on…[a] transient working class” and due to “labour shortages…[in] the agricultural sector,” just surviving has become costly. Everyone in Flathead is implied to be from a working class background. Cass’ Israelite friend even implies that if there were a heaven, we wouldn’t be “all together” as a collective. Instead, we’d be cut up into “sections.” From farm hands and fast food owners to nudists and hippies, Martin makes it clear that Bundaberg is a blue collar slice of heaven, or, when bar fights or bonfires breakout, a little slice of hell. At first, it was unusual to see a movie which highlighted the struggle of the working class without any upper class character to oppose them or show any sort of antagonistic force.

Flathead | ACMI: Your museum of screen culture

However, Martin chooses to instead investigate the ways working class people have an internalised hatred for their current lives, and lining up again with the theme of redemption, wish for a better life. This is most evident in the brief flashes of phone and camcorder footage we get from Cass and Andrew. For instance, Andrew is seen talking in a YouTube video about the benefits of eating well when exercising, only for Martin to smash cut back to him sullenly eating nachos in a bowling alley. These vignettes are also the only time we see any form of colour. And while not a direct inspiration, these mixed media elements seem to have a similar function to Radu Jude’s Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World, in which full colour phone footage represents what characters show to the rest of the world and fully contrasts with the black and white reality of how characters actually feel. It is one of the very few times the audience actually gets to connect to any form of humanity in the story.

Obviously, this was fantastic to see, but the film seemed all too eager to move past these moments of human vulnerability, of which there are only three. Which to me, seemed strange, considering Martin’s vocal support for the resurgence of social realism in cinema, even name dropping fellow Rotterdam Film Festival alumni and Melbournite David Eastal’s The Plains in an interview with MIFF this year. I would argue that unlike Jude and Eastal, whose experience in writing and directing allows their characters to be slightly more fleshed out, Martin’s choice to focus on picturesque visuals and bigger ideas of faith and existentialism ultimately blurs his message in the end. Because the consequence of Flathead’s tunnel vision is that the whole thing becomes a fragmented story that is neither social nor real. Which is a problem if the answer to a purposeful life is the connections we make with other people. That’s not to say there is no human connection present, as Cass and Andrew do eventually meet. However, while it is touching to see Cass perform an incense prayer with the help of Andrew, it’s placed within the last ten minutes of the film.

As a debut, Flathead does pull out some great themes on faith and the meaning of life and death in a working world. However, it leaves the audience wanting for a stronger human touch. And while it does eventually ground itself through small character moments, these come a bit late, hindering what could have been an even more meaningful message.

WEEKLY FILM LISTINGS

17 Oct - 23 Oct

Notable Screenings & Events

Into the Collection: Cine-Files

Join us at The Capitol for Into the Collection: Cine-Files, an evening dedicated to exploring the history of Melbourne's rich film culture, as pieced together by this year's AFI Research Collection Fellow, Digby Houghton.

22 Oct 2024
06:00 PM - 08:00 PM
The Capitol

Akira Kurosawa Restorations are screening at the below cinemas:
Cinema Nova, Palace, Astor, Moving Story Cinema (Lido, Classic)

Un Projects: Film List: Collection (spell)’: an evening of short films!

Noor Al-Asswad, PS/QA, Under the Lemon Tree (2020)
Takani Clark, (TAS) AU, Elder of Shells (2019)
Rosalind Nashashibi, PS/UK, Electrical Gaza (2015)
Jacqui Shelton, IE/(VIC) AU, Bím Caillte ( 2023)

Friday 18 October, 6 - 9pm

New Releases

Memoir of a Snail
Adam Elliot, 2024
Screening Everywhere

From Hilde, With Love
Andreas Dresen, 2024
Screening at most arthouse screens

Like My Brother
Sal Balharrie, Danielle MacLean, 2024
Screening at most arthouse chains

Cat Video Fest
Will Braden, 2024
Screening everywhere

ACMI

Focus on Mohammad Rasoulof

Mohammad Rasoulof In Conversation
Screened tonight for free

Iron Island
Mohammad Rasoulof, 2005
Screening Thurs 17 Oct

There is No Evil
Mohammad Rasoulof, 2020
Screening Fri 18 Oct

The White Meadows (کشتزارهای سپید)
Mohammad Rasoulof, 2009
Screening Sat 19 Oct

Goodbye
Mohammad Rasoulof, 2011
Screening Sun 20 Oct

A Man of Integrity (لِرد)
Mohammad Rasoulof, 2017
Screening Sun 20 Oct

Manuscripts Don't Burn (دست‌نوشته‌ها نمی‌سوزند)
Mohammad Rasoulof, 2013
Screening Mon 21 Oct

MIFF Encore Screening

Voice
Krunal Padhiar, Semara Jose, 2024
Screening Sat 19 Oct

Left Write Hook
Shannon Owen, 2024
Screening Sun 20 Oct

ARTIST FILM WORKSHOP

KT RECCOMENDS:

AFW + NFSA #68: ANIMEIGHTIES
8pm Tuesday 29 October
The Brunswick Green, 313/315 Sydney Road, Brunswick.
16mm projection. $10 on the door.

Pleasure Domes, 1988, Maggie Fooke. 8 min
Shadowland, 1988, Anthony Lucas. 6 min
Still Flying, 1989, Robert Stephenson. 8 min
Dance of Death, 1983, Dennis Tupicoff. 9 min
Suburban Windows, 1981, Robert Wyatt. 20 min
Rainbow Diary, 1984, Ivor Cantrill. 17 min

ASTOR CINEMA

Italian FF: Conclave
Edward Berger, 2024
Screening Tonight

Tom Petty: Heartbreakers Beach Party
Cameron Crowe, Doug Dowdle, Phil Savenick, 2024
Screening Thurs, Sat

Rashomon
Akira Kurosawa, 1950
Screening Fri 18 Oct

Cinema Erotica:
Eyes Wide Shut
Stanley Kubrick, 1999
Screening Fri 18 Oct

The Hidden Fortress
Akira Kurosawa, 1958
Screening Sat 19 Oct

Ikiru
Akira Kurosawa, 1952
Screening Sun 20 Oct

Yojimbo
Akira Kurosawa, 1961
Screening Sun 20th

The Substance
Coralie Fargeat, 2024
Screening Mon 21 Oct

Hellraiser
Clive Barker, 1987
Screening Tues 22 Oct

BBBC CINEMA (GALLERYGALLERY BRUNSWICK)

Closed until 2025

THE CAPITOL

100 Years of the Capitol

The Wizard of Oz
Victor Fleming, 1939
+
Cabaret
Bob Fosse, 1972
+
All That Jazz
Bob Fosse, 1979

Screening on Sun 20 Oct

CHINATOWN CINEMA

High Forces
Oxide Chun Pang & Chi-Leung Law
Screening Fri, Sat

Joker: Folie à Duex (Chinese Subs)
Todd Phillips, 2024
Screening Daily

Tiger Wolf Rabbit
Wu Bai, 2024
Screening Daily

Stand by Me
Yin Ruo Xin, 2024
Screening Sun

CINÉ-CLUB (Carlton)

Coming back in some variety soon

CINEMANIACS (ASTOR)

No screening this week

CINEMA NOVA

Events

Check sites for rep titles

Release

The Apprentice
Ali Abbasi, 2024
Screening Daily

Ghostlight
Alex Thompson, 2024
Screening Daily

The Critic
Craig Armstrong, 2024
Screening Daily

Megalopolis
Francis Ford Coppola, 2024
Screening Daily

The Substance
Coralie Fargeat, 2024
Screening Daily

Bonnard, Pierre and Marthe
Maurice Pialat, 2023
Screening Daily

Kneecap
Rich Peppiatt, 2023
Screening Daily

I Saw the TV Glow
Jane Schoenbrun, 2023
Screening Thurs

Strange Darling
Jacqueline Lentzou, 2024
Screening Daily

Longlegs
Graham Verchere, 2024
Screening Daily

How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies
Liu Jia, 2024
Screening Daily

Kinds of Kindness
Yorgos Lanthimos, 2024
Screening Daily

La Chimera
Alice Rohrwacher, 2023
Screening Daily

DOGMILK DEGUSTATIONS: @ Miscellania

Coming back kinda soon

EXPERIMENTAL FILM CLUB

Listings coming soon

FRENCH FILM CLUB

Done for now, will return soon

GAY24 (Bar Flippy’s)

Halloween screening week after next!

HITLIST (9 Gertrude St, Fitzroy)

Shut for now

LIDO / CLASSIC / CAMEO

Events

Check sites for rep titles

General Release

The Apprentice
Ali Abbasi, 2024
Screening Daily

A Different Man
Aaron Schimberg, 2024
Screening Daily

Joker: Folie à Duex
Todd Phillips, 2024
Screening Daily

The Critic
Craig Armstrong, 2024
Screening Daily

Megalopolis
Francis Ford Coppola, 2024
Screening Daily

The Substance
Coralie Fargeat, 2024
Screening Daily

My Old Ass
Megan Park, 2024
Screening Daily

Last Summer
Catherine Breillet, 2023
Screening Daily

Kneecap
Rich Peppiatt, 2023
Screening Daily

I Saw the TV Glow
Jane Schoenbrun, 2023
Screening Thurs

Alien: Romulus
Fede Álvarez, 2024
Screening Daily

Strange Darling
Jacqueline Lentzou, 2024
Screening Daily

OVA CLUB

No screening this week

THE MELBOURNE CINÉMATHÈQUE (ACMI)

The Magic City
Nikos Koundouros, 1954
Screening Wednesday 23 Oct 7:00pm
+
1922
Nikos Koundouros, 1978
Screening Wednesday 23 Oct 8:35pm

TOP OF THE HEAP (Tramway Hotel)