The Hard Word

A gun goes off. Rachel Griffiths and Guy Pearce bound towards one another from opposing sides of a firelit, dining room in a country inn. As they come within arms reach of one another, Guy Pearce takes Rachel Griffiths hand by the wrist. In that same hand, Rachel Griffiths keeps a firm grip on her gun. The couple come closer together still and kiss passionately, their movements becoming like a slow dance, sensual and langourous. Guy Pearce's hand is still firmly wrapped around Rachel Griffiths wrist as her gun sways dangerously between them. The couple kiss once more, and then Rachel Griffiths pulls back slowly. In the pause, her eyes brighten knowingly and a smile simmers and spreads across her lips. And this is the moment that proves just how good Australian film has become.

The Hard Word is the latest in a string of sophisticated Australian films which have been released over the past few years. Like Lantana, The Bank and He Died With a Felafel In His Hand before it, The Hard Word assimilates American big budget generic formulas into an Australian oeuvre; boasting well realised scripts, strong performances and equally strong production values. The result of this in recent times has been the growth of a burgeoning national cinema in Australia, and increasing attention being paid to it on the international stage.

The Hard Word's narrative has been described by director Scott Roberts as "a traditional crime story". It focusses on the lives of Dale (Guy Pearce), Mal (Damien Richardson) and Shane (Joel Edgerton) - three bank robbing brothers who, once released from jail, find themselves thrown into a familiar world of police corruption and judicial collusion. The brothers are soon blackmailed into performing their next job in a plot that takes the notion of the double-cross to a new, scintillatingly playful level.

The Hard Word's dramatics consist of a kind of slowly paced, deadpan comedy broken by moments of surprising, Tarantinoesque violence which are subtly reminiscent of the anti-genre approach used by many independent American filmmakers.

The Hard Word's use of Australian vernacular is both eerily precise and playful; as the three brothers central to this film exchange an insular form of communication between themselves which may bring a sense of deja vu to fans of David Lynch's Twin Peaks.

The Hard Word also lacks nothing in terms of visual style, as it manages to employ some beautifully shot, complex, deep frame compositions, and also manages to steer clear of many of the more myth making elements of Australian film, through the setting of much of its story on-location on the streets of Melbourne and Sydney.

The feature film debut of writer / director Scott Roberts is unarguably a bold and accomplished work. Roberts brings a quintesentially Australian flavour to the action genre to arguably produce Australia's best crime film thus far, and Guy Pearce's most impressive performance to date.

Highly recommended.

Vanessa Long

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