Made in Australia

Matthew Victor Pastor is a little fucker!
Well he is as the staring role in this his debut feature, Made in Australia.
As Director he is earnest and original as actor; raw, repulsive and compelling.
This visual opus magnum is overloaded with hubris, style and spunk! but that's not a bad thing.

The title sequence  is a case in point cut in among the rugged, rocky Victorian coast which once bought tragedy to many hopeful arrivals to Australia in the form of shipwreck and death Pastor reveals himself as naked, scarred and emotionally bare bar his trusty tape recorder in an epic schlong shot and then again as a bit too close up shot!

The Epic Schlong shot that says so much!!!

But moving beyond the obvious is actually a compelling narrative, kinda coming of age, of a randy Asian Australian trying to find his place in the world, yeah and it's a pretty fucked up world too.
Set in two countries, going from the land of Oz to Hong Kong and then back again.
Is he home? Where is home? What is home? What is love?
His quest for belonging drives this personal story and it drives him to despair. The scars on his body run deeper than his flesh but we see how he gets them in a series of self abusive acts and experiences where having a good fuck seems to replenish him so he can do some more.

"Please make me come so I don't have to feel pain"

 

He is on a quest and by definition it must be dangerous and there must be discovery. And there are plenty of metaphoric dragons, witches, libertines and damsels but he is no shining white knight.

Matthew and Janice just working it all out

As director he burs the lines of documentary and fiction with a lot of the characters being themselves. There is Pastor, Mum, Dad but the standout is Janice, his Hong Kong girlfriend who shows him love but also delivers heartbreak and treachery in equal doses. Her performance is raw and real, sometimes uncomfortably so. She is the reason behind this film and she is the reason why this film works so well. These four people are referred to as 'Players' not actors, not real people. Is that Pastor trying to fuck our brain or is it more raw unbridled honesty?

The rest of the cast play roles that are based on real life events, recreations but we never really find out the extent of the artistic license, if any? All actors and players deliver the story with an uncanny sense of melodrama, slightly reminiscent of Lynches Sandy and Geoffry in Blue Velvet. It's awkward at first but as the story rolls it becomes an essential ingredient with them all walking that fine line of bad acting and emotive performance, some better than others but it's a style throughout the film and the style is triumphant when the curtain drops.

Janice being with the pain of love

Striving to tell an emotive story whilst maintain an original style to the filmmaking is pulled across the line with some just fabulous musical scoring from Andrew Tran and Matt Vongsykeo. Sound and music really make some of the scenes so powerful it's a testament to these musicians but also Pastor's editing and placement of these pieces and also the matching with the shots. Some great moments of drifting away with the sorrow to be abruptly pulled back into the violence.

 Check the trailer out but.....

......if you happen to be in Melbourne this coming weekend it is screening on Channel 31 (God Bless its Soul) Tune in at midnight on the 26th of September 2015. It's part of the MUFF Features which have been screening in this slot for a while now.

This is why we love community television.
Check it all out.








or if you are in AU you can buy it here