Idiot Box
Directed by David Caesar
Produced by Glenys Rowe
National release on February 20
Preview by Marina Cameron
Director David Caesar describes the purpose of his dark comedy as taking the audience on a roller coaster, and that's certainly how it felt. This in-your-face depiction of the boredom and frustration of being young and unemployed in the western suburbs is at once very real and very frightening.
The story centres around Mick (Jeremy Sims) and Kev (Ben Mendelsohn) and their quest to kill time and get something out of a life which has presented them with few options. This leads them on a trail of alcohol, drugs, fast cars, violence, petty crime and eventually bank robbery.
The quick scene cuts and punctuated use of a fantastic sound track (put together by Tim Rogers from You Am I), sound effects and theme music gives the film texture and a racy feel. The TV is always on in the background, beaming in from a world totally separate to the one of Mick and Kev. A scene of a Couchman show discussing the effect of violent movies and video games on youth, then a brief comment about youth suicide, pop up in the background as a sanitised comment on what is very real for Kev and Mick.
You are drawn into a familiar Australian world and a dizzying bombardment of experiences — from awkward teenage sex, to getting wasted because there is nothing else to do, to getting hassled by CES — within which everyone can find something to identify with.
This is no glorification of the violent, sexist, racist, alienated and often pointless life of the young male in the western suburbs. The aggression, anger and macho are all there, but the film's portrayal of the two young men is thoughtful. There is a warmth in their friendship and in Mick's entanglement with a young woman from the local bottle shop, Lani (Robyn Loau), that displays hope in people's humanity.
The humour explodes the idea of callous, dole-bludging youth. It paints a very real picture: the pressures of family; the hopelessness of no jobs, no opportunities; the thrill of saying "up yours" to the system in various ways.
The cops which pursue Mick and Kev, down to the final showdown outside the bank, are real too — mildly corrupt, slightly inept crusaders. Driving into the western suburbs, one of them says "This is the arse end of the earth — you can smell it from here — and we're the toilet paper".
Caesar's previous films have mostly been documentaries (including Bodywork about work in the funeral industry and Living Room about life in the suburbs). The same real-life feel shines through in Idiot Box despite the slick production. There are no big messages in this film. It is comment through description. It makes sense then that producer Glenys Rowe should say of Caesar that "he's very aware of class, but it's from an observational point of view. A lot of what he says comes close to Marxism, but he wouldn't know what a Marxist was ... And he has a real love, a warmth for people." Definitely worth a look.