Death in Brunswick

I've only just come across this movie for the first time and found it interesting in many ways. It's more of a straight drama than a comedy, though it does have moments of grim humour. It's not really a "black comedy", but is simply the story of one man (played by Sam Neill) and his constant struggle to maintain his self-respect and survive in his sordid surroundings. Brunswick is a working-class suburb of Melbourne, Australia, with a large migrant population, and this sometimes ambling/slow-moving film, captures some of the typical "feel" of the place. Quite a good movie; a bit different to the norm.

Funny how two Kiwis (John Clarke & Sam Neill) have made one of the best and most keenly observed films ever made about the inner suburbs of Melbourne and sad how the only reviewers who couldn't appreciate its humour came from the southern states of the USA. Perhaps the humour came out of references that were a little too specific for people who haven't experienced post second war Melbourne and the effect that the large influx of southern European migrants had on both the city and the migrants themselves over the second half of the twentieth century. John Clarke, who another reviewer rightly said could be funny reading a phone book, steals the movie as the laconic friend of Sam Neill, the weak but likable hero of the story. Clarke played a significant part in the writing of the movie, which has a much lighter touch than the book upon which it its based, and his character gets many of the best lines. Sam Neill is terrific as the hapless hero of the piece, Ms Carides has an appeal that no "thirty something" male could resist, and the supporting characters including "Cookie's" domineering mother, Sophies' fearsome father, Clarke's no-nonsense wife, the club's sleazy owner and his dopey flunkies, and the drug dealing Turk and his associates are all just flawless. There may be parts of the world that contain people sufficiently insular to not appreciate this movie's humour or the way it shows a weak man dealing with and coming to terms with the forces that have oppressed him and one can but feel sorry for them. For the rest of us its a both a movie to bring a wry smile to our faces and a warning against eating crunchy pizzas.

From the moment the film opens, depicting aluminium cans rolling ceaselessly (and noisily) in the wind, along with the elderly Greek ladies putting this year's Christmas trees into the wrecked Austin 1800 (stuffed next to previous year's Christmas trees), you know that this film is going to be a little different.

Melbourne, one of the most multi-cultural metropolis's in the world (should that be metropoli?) is the setting for this rather dark comedy drama. Carl, an unemployed and very much down on his luck chef, gets a job at a less than reputable nightclub in the Melbourne suburb of Brunswick. He falls in love with one of the Greek barmaids, much to the consternation of the owner of the bar who has been betrothed to the barmaid. Not helping matters much is a Turkish kitchen hand, who appears to want to spend more time trading in stolen goods and drugs than actually working as a kitchen hand.

When matters escalate out of hand, Carl needs the specialist help that only his friend, Dave can provide. If it can be said that a good friend will help you move (house), it's fair to say that only a true friend will help you move - a body, and as a gravedigger at the local cemetery Dave is in the ideal position to help "dispose" of one of Carl's kitchen disasters.

Along the way, Dave is pestered by his Feminist-rights movement wife who spends most of her on-screen time berating Dave for his pathetic life, while Carl spends his time being roughed up by the nightclub bouncer, roughed up by a Turkish crime syndicate, or, more worryingly, being berated and belittled by his mother.

A truly enjoyable Australian film from the early 1990's, though apparently not available in Australia - I had to get my copy from the UK, though fortunately the UK release is region free.

A funny, dark comedy about a life changing episode of a 34 year old single man.

Coming from a posh upbringing but a complete slacker, or so you are lead to believe. The confused man seems to aspire to more and meets a young (19) bar girl at his work where he has just become the struggling head cook.

The clue to the twist is in the title, from being a romantic comedy with lovely little moments that echo your own ways in the early stages of dating. It then spins on it's head as an offbeat thriller, still just as funny though.

The darker side to the film gives it's funniest moments, notably after paralysing his mother, he then controls her wheelchair with a remote control to get about. Also his best friend deserves a mention, great deadpan calmness, especially when burying the body.

Maybe it is a little long for the story at hand but still well worth watching even if romance or thrillers aren't your thing as it has many other layers.

I enjoyed DIB and don't have much to add to the other positive reviews posted, however I just had to comment on the couple of reviews questioning whether it was a comedy. If you don't understand and enjoy BLACK comedy then don't watch a black comedy and expect to enjoy it! Surely the title should give you a pretty good clue as to whether you're going to like it or not. If you find the idea of death/grim subjects innately unfunny then switch off!

I find it tremendously sad, but not surprising, that there are so many people in the world who can't find something funny unless it's "clean" and "nice". What a loss for them. Oh well, all the more for the rest of us!