Move over 'The Man from Snowy River', Australia now has a new representative of the national identity: 'The Houso'.
One was the product of generations of independent-minded pioneers whose concept of social security was riding a boundary fence armed with a rifle; the other is a product of the Nanny State.
This is a funny movie, especially for Australians who have more than a passing acquaintance with the housing commission areas depicted in the film. Australian cinema has always been able to come up with outrageous movies that offend just about everyone, however not many of them are funny - this one is.
The reason it works so well is that Paul Fenech, the director, writer and star of the film, built the satire on keenly observed truths. A unique commentator on Australian society, he delivers his insights cloaked in humour, giving them more power than any lettered university lecturer with access to all the demographic data and pie charts in the world.
You don't need to know the TV series to follow this movie, it stands by itself. The setting is Sunnyvale, 'Australia's worst suburb', with a culture that makes the one in "Lord of the Flies" look enlightened. The story centres on Shazza (Elle Dawe) who lives in a crowded housing commission home with her defacto and his parents. She just wants to have a quiet bong on the bed while someone minds the baby, but Shazza's life is full of crises.
When her mother sends a letter asking for help, Shazza is given a van and a fuel card by the leader of the local bikies (a perfectly cast Angry Anderson) and heads for Alice Springs with the anarchic crew from Sunnyvale.
Although you could spend hours analysing the things that inspired the humour in this film, Fenech put his finger on the biggest effect the lifestyle has on just about everyone in Sunnyvale - they are totally reactionary - they live minute by minute, let alone day by day, and the only forward planning that takes place is triggered by anxiety over the next Centrelink payment.
Not all the bits of business work; it gets a bit crazy before the end, but the laughs arrive regularly. Much is communicated visually - the scene of the diminutive housos set against the backdrop of Sunnyvale's most impressive structures, the jungle of electric power towers, says a lot about their environment. The antithesis of political correctness, the film is however non-discriminatory; everyone gets a thong slap.
Although overseas audiences would probably need subtitles for this film - there were times when I could have used them myself - Australia's Housing Commission program probably equates to the council estates in the UK and 'The Projects' in the US, but I can't remember too many comedies emanating from them - maybe there is an opportunity for Fenech to expand his franchise.
Now that a gap in my knowledge has been closed - next time I pass the housing commission complex in the suburb where I live, I will have far more respect for the comic potential that exists therein.
