No. 43 (2021) GREENFIELD. MAY 27th.

 

Film No. 43 (2021)  May 27th.  1:00 PM  Cinema 3  LUNA,  Leederville. 

"It's not really a bad place" (One of just a few statements made in the company of James by young men justifying their existence in Greenfield).

This small film with a big message is set in a Western Australian country community, Greenfield. We watch through the eyes of an outsider. A city guy named James (Ethan Tomas) who's in love and arrives in town to make it up to his girl Kelley (Marthe Snorresdotter Rovik). Sounds simple enough but James walks into a town hemmed in by alcohol, drugs, homophobia and jealousy issues. The tight, young tribe are friends, mainly due to circumstance, and James it seems, is the circuit-breaker. He's grounded and without some of the masculinity issues he's suddenly confronted by.  Ethan Thomas has a Joel Edgerton quality in his performance, a brooding demeanour which has us on his side. Perhaps the story is a little one dimensional but GREENFIELD never bites off more than it can chew. 

I've lived in Western Australian country towns and I've seen some of the themes raised here first hand. People are pressured to conform in many quarters of townships they have decided to make their home. Outsiders take longer to be accepted. Males battling to build a life in a new town can find it's a risk too far. Then if they can't live up to a set masculinity standard (which has no measure in any case) mental health issues can arise.

GREENFIELD had its origins as a Web-Series of the same name in 2015. The series was crowdfunded and had a moderate following which grew steadily over time. This feature is the 90 minute cut from the original 5 episodes (35min per ep). The creators have been tenacious in their efforts to get this feature to screen. Considering their shoestring budget, they reached their goal (screenings) but only in limited independent cinemas throughout Australia.

Beyond Blue is an Australian support organisation which prides itself in reducing suicides in this great country of ours. GREENFIELD represents art with a message; the message has its foundations in tolerance. While the film never proports to solve the issues, no one left our screening in any doubt about the effects a more tolerant society would have on the mental health of many.  10GUMS.