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Head on - Alex Dimitriades, Paul Capsis, Julian Garner, Ana Kokkinos
Threat advisory: Severe - Severe risk of entertaining activities
Movie propaganda
Head on. Full on. All night. Come on.
Head on is an extraordinarily bold, contemporary film. Alex Dimitriades stars as Ari, a wild young man caught between his Greek heritage and the world of music, sex and drugs. Someone whose orthodoxies have collapsed. A rebel without a cause for the end of the millennium.
Nineteen years old. A little confused. A lot pissed off. Ari jams all his energy and defiance, pain and joy into one high velocity night of dancing, sex and drugs. He's running head on into his own kind of freedom.
Persons of interest
- Alex Dimitriades .... Ari
- Paul Capsis .... Johnny
- Julian Garner .... Sean
- Elena Mandalis .... Betty
- Tony Nikolakopoulos .... Dimitri
- Damien Fotiou .... Joe
- Eugenia Fragos .... Sophia
- Dora Kaskanis .... Dina
- María Mercedes .... Tasia
- Alex Papps .... Peter
- Vassili Zappa .... Vassili
- Andrea Mandalis .... Alex
- Maya Stange .... Janet
- Christos Tsiolkas .... Author: Loaded
- Andrew Bovell .... Screenwriter
- Mira Robertson .... Screenwriter
- Ana Kokkinos .... Screenwriter
- Ana Kokkinos .... Director
Cinematic intelligence sources
- Awards and Film Festivals:
- Australian Cinematographers Society 1999: Won: Award of Distinction: Feature Productions Cinema (Jaems Grant)
- Australian Film Institute (AFI) 1998: Won: Best Achievement in Editing (Jill Bilcock); Nominated: Best Achievement in Costume Design (Anna Borghesi), Best Achievement in Direction (Ana Kokkinos), Best Achievement in Sound (Lloyd Carrick, Roger Savage, Craig Carter, Livia Ruzic), Best Film (Jane Scott), Best Original Music Score (Ollie Olsen), Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Alex Dimitriades), Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role (Paul Capsis), Best Screenplay Adapted from Another Source (Andrew Bovell, Ana Kokkinos, Mira Robertson)
- Australian Writers' Guild 1998: Won: Awgie Feature Film - Adaptation (Andrew Bovell, Ana Kokkinos, Mira Robertson)
- Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards 1999: Won: Best Actor - Male (Alex Dimitriades), Best Supporting Actor - Male (Paul Capsis), Readers' Award for Favourite Australian Film (Ana Kokkinos); Nominated: Best Cinematography (Jaems Grant), Best Director (Ana Kokkinos), Best Film, Best Music Score (Ollie Olsen), Best Screenplay - Adapted (Andrew Bovell, Ana Kokkinos, Mira Robertson)
- Gijón International Film Festival 1998: Nominated: Grand Prix Asturias: Best Feature (Ana Kokkinos)
- LA Outfest 1999: Won: Grand Jury Award: Outstanding Foreign Narrative Feature (Ana Kokkinos)
- San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival 1999: Won: Best First Feature (Ana Kokkinos)
- Verzaubert - International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival 1999: Nominated: Rosebud: Best Feature (Ana Kokkinos)
- cf. Head-on (Gegen die wand)
- NB: Greek and English languages with English language subtitles
- Studios and distributors:
Intelligence analyst
Special Agent Matti
Theatrical report
Now those of you who know me will be aware that I'm a complete and utter cynic with a hide that's as tough as old boots and a talent for obliterating second-rate films. It has now been two days since I saw Head on and I'm still disturbed by it.
As you can see by the censor's rating and consumer advice, this is a full-on film. About the only thing you don't see is penetration. This is not what affected me: come the after-life I am planning on burning in Hell with all the other fun people. What got to me was the utter loss of humanity. Ari is a messed-up teenager running rampant on drugs and hormones, hating himself and his life at the same time as he clings ever more desperately to it.
I have always been fond of the underdog, and I have the romantic penchant for lost causes, and Ari is both. I yearn to reach into the dark pit of Ari's life and bring him up into the light, to show him just how wonderful life can be. (Please excuse my rampant optimism, I am having a sugar rush as I write this.)
I am not saying that this is a perfect film, the story is a tad confused and the verbal poetics are excessive, but like Titanic before it, Head on can be forgiven its minor errors in favour of the greater good.
Alex Dimitriades finally does something that shows how good an actor he can be (this is what I was talking about when I said Alex was good in The heartbreak kid, not the pecs). Alex performs with a stunning intensity that burns holes in the celluloid, oozing testosterone, sexuality and desperation in every frame.
The supporting cast (and no matter how good they are, they can only be that) display the tragedy of the human condition that drives Ari to the depths of his self-loathing. Paul Capsis as transvestite Johnny/Toula encapsulates this brilliantly: simultaneous caricature and original, combining the best and worst of both realities. Every character struggles through the film, unsuccessfully hiding inner pain behind surface simplicity.
The direction by Ana Kokkinos in her first feature film ranges from completely acceptable to utterly inspiring: Ari's drug-fucked walk down an alley is awesome. She will go a long way. (You read it here first.) The soundtrack is also outstanding, both in its enhancement of mood and its entertainment factor, from bazouki to the Theme from Shaft to Primal Scream's Loaded. Ari's drug-hazed, raging, aggro, horny life is laid out for our ears to enjoy.
Head on is definitely not an easy film to watch, but it is easily a film that you should watch.
Security censorship classification
R 18+ (High level sex scenes, drug use, adult themes)
Surveillance time
104 minutes (1:44 hours)
Not for public release in Australia before date
Film: Undated February 1999
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