Tom White

This is a thought-provoking Australian film about the subject of untreated mental illness and the total isolation from family and friends which can follow. It shows how those who suffer from mental health problems may try to cope with the situation themselves rather than seek medical attention. It's a dark and brooding film, which explores the twists and turns of life on the street, and shows us how difficult such a life can be. The movie avoids sentimentality and leaves the viewer to ponder where untreated depression and related mental health issues may ultimately lead.

Colin Freils provides a wonderful character study in his role as Tom. Unfortunately, though, some of the support acting is decidedly lacklustre. Nice camera work throughout.

'Tom White' contrasts strongly with several other well-known films dealing with mental illness: 'A Beautiful mind' was a glossy big-budget production with a positive message, and 'One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest' focused on an institutional setting.

In Tom White, the title character (played by Colin Friels) "drops out" of society after a work crisis and becomes homeless. He drifts through Melbourne meeting a rent boy (Dan Spielman), an ex-junkie (Loene Carmen), a tramp (Bill Hunter) and a young graffiti artist (Jarryd Jinks).

Scripted by Australian playwright Daniel Keane, Tom White continues to explore the societal dissociation that Keane covers in his stage works. Like them, too, it suffers from heavy-handedness, resulting in impassioned performances from hollow characters.

Additionally, Keane's interest in medieval miracle plays – where every character is symbolic – clashes with director Alkinos Tsilimidos and cinematographer Toby Oliver's naturalistic film-making. Tom White is harshly lit and like Praise (1998), confronts the ugliness in Australian society. At the same time we don't know what motivates these people, and the dialogue is unrealistic. It's an uneasy mix.

Colin Friels turns in a strong performance, as does Rachel Blake as his wife. But many of the other characters are overly stagey. Tom White is at its most interesting towards the end, when Tom is interacting with the young graffiti artist, but is overall an interesting failure. **/***** stars.

As an Australian currently living in Sweden, I enjoy the rare chance of getting to watch something Australian. Even if the movie itself turns out to be awful, seeing Australian brand food in the meal eating scenes and hearing real Australian accents and slang words is a novelty. But more importantly, with movies like Tom White, having lived in Australia makes me appreciate the dark humour and sarcasm that a lot of people miss. A perfect example of this is the scene with Tom and a homeless man (The homeless man's name has slipped my mind).

Homeless man: What's a man when he's dead? Tom: He's ****ing dead.

These sort of comments delivered in a deadpan way are typical of Australian humour, and also of Australian straight forward, honest attitudes. Unfortunately a lot of viewers from 'overseas' won't realize these sorts of one liners and overly negative comments are meant to be funny.

All this aside, Tom White is a great movie. It's essentially divided into parts. Each part of the movie focuses on the friendship between Tom and whoever he's currently living with. The friendships last about 20 minutes of screen time each, once the friendships end for various reasons, the film becomes about the next person Tom befriends. Because of this, watching Tom White is a bit like watching 4-5 different short films, with each friendship being its own film. All of the characters are interesting, including the minor characters, like the homeless aboriginal guy with a long grey beard and carrot top shaped hair.

If you have any romantic fantasies about living in Australia, let me tell you that this movie is a fairly accurate portrayal of Australian life and Australian people. You don't spend all day at the beach, seeing kangaroos is a novelty that gets old fast. The Australia in Tom White is the real Australia. The characters in the movie is what real Australians are like. Australians are like the people in this movie, not Steve Irwin. Living in Australia is like they live in the beginning of the film, it's not spending all day surfing.

"Tom White" has been given only a very limited release in Australia, and this coupled with its unrelenting grimness means it may not achieve the critical

success it deserves.

It's a very fine film, perhaps the best and most substantial Australian film for some time. It's refreshing to find an Australian film that's not cutely folksy or condescending to its characters, subject matter or audience.

The script falters occasionally but is generally tight and convincing. The

photography is stunningly beautiful. Direction and acting are also outstanding and deserve to collect several AFI Awards. Besides Friels' stunning starring role, Hunter and Blake merit special mention . Several other small roles offer varying delights in a film that's both episodic yet well structured in its depiction of the picaresque descent from middle class respectability of the eponymous hero.

'Tom White' is by no means an easy film or, strictly speaking, an enjoyable one. But you come away thinking about the issues it raises, digging as it does into layers of emotional truth and 'life in the margins' (albeit, admittedly, somewhat romanticized).

Tom (a superb performance by Colin Friels) is a man who designs home for a living and then chooses to make himself homeless. Outwardly, he has all the signs of a comfortable, successful life - new home, loving family, successful if stressed career. But his shaking hands show something different - especially when it soon becomes clear that not everything is as it appears at work. Male middle aged 'crisis' is a huge issue in Australia at the moment, and the cause of many unexpected suicides. Tom White chooses a different path and cuts all bonds with his up to now normal life. He has chosen the margins, where those he meets, in spite of their position, have enormous self-dignity - the rent-boy, the ex-junkie, the gentlemanly tramp, the 14 year-old graffiti artist. Tom goes on a journey of his own and plumbs the depths of society, yet he overcomes and discovers his own dignity and understanding of who he is.

As mentioned, it can be somewhat romanticized, and there is little in the way of the real squalor of homelessness, but nevertheless the film presents food for thought in an attempt to present a broader understanding of those who are or chose to live on the fringes rather than endure life without any real meaning.