Drown

Australian independent films are alive and available to us, the discerning public, One of the better films, based on Stephen Davis' play, "Drown," by director Dean Francis who co-wrote (with Davis) this superb adaptation about the Australian macho ethos in a band of Sydney Lifeguards (called Lifesavers, logically) in their skimpy "swimmers" or Speedos.

Most are heterosexual and standing up for those who are not straight - women as well as men -- is difficult in this hard-drinking, head-butting society, Len Smithy (Matt Levett), a champion lifeguard, five times a winner in a yearly competition, is deeply closeted as a gay man - certainly to others, but also to himself, But his infatuation with handsome Phil (Jack Matthews) has not gone unnoticed by his co-lifeguard, Meat (so nick-named due to the size of his appendage) (Harry Cook), who wonders at the level of Len's homophobia.

After Phil wins this year's competition by a hair, Len cannot accept being so "humiliated," so, knowing that Phil has a secret male lover, Tom (Sam Anderson), he baits him into crashing a major gay bar (along with Meat, who is increasingly unhappy with Len's behavior), Getting a blowjob in the bar's john from an Asian young fellow (Jayr Tinaco), Len's self-hate boils over, with disastrous effects on himself and his two friends, when he gets Phil drunk and takes him to the same beach that just earlier that day he had lost his title, What transpires during that drunken night is the climax of the film.

Francis' astute direction - exploring this shaky line between safe and risk - creates incredible tensions which reflect Australia's uneasy acceptance of homosexuality, especially when coupled with male aggression. He has cast it extraordinarily well, with Levett an absolute marvel at exposing Len's lust, shame, and self-awareness of his predicament, And Phil's acceptance of Len's conflicted feelings towards him allows Len to publically humiliate him, much to the growing consternation of Meat, who understands much more about what's happening than either Len or Phil do.

There is no way to watch a group of Lifesavers in their tiny Speedos without a growing awareness of the on-display view of male virility and its effects on women as well as on other men, The script, in using a visual motif of a woman who deliberately swims past Len to drown herself at sea (stunningly effective in the acting of Maya Stange), encapsulates Len's dilemma: live free or die in shame, In a short flashback scene, we see young Len's father beating him in order to make a "man" of him and drop his "girlish" ways - infuriating and sorrowful as to how it molded this unfortunate fellow, shown earlier rescuing a drowning boy.

Shot on a minuscule budget (raised from crowd-sourcing monies), the film has been well-edited by Francis and shows a good deal of gaymale Sydney, with its largest Stonewall celebration in the world, The acting is superlative by the three leads; the risk-taking by the actors pays off tremendously well. A sterling film from Down Under.

"Drown" 2014
DVD
$14.99 on Amazon
www.strandreleasing.com