Subdivision

Jack Kelly (Ashley Bradnam) and his father Digger (Gary Sweet) are builder-carpenters in the Queensland town of Hervey Bay. They do a lot of work for local property developer Harry (Steve Bisley). But when a corporate property developer from Victoria moves in, headed up by the spunky Tiffany (Brooke Satchwell), things get messy and father and son soon find themselves at loggerheads.

Ashley Bradnam based the screenplay for Subdivision on an idea he got when he saw a local builder going broke and observed the repercussions it had on the entire community. In this film the local developer going bust is Steve Bisley’s Harry and the effect this has on local workers is driven home with a climactic scene of a community meeting in which the locals call Harry to account. The sub-plot of Jack’s attraction to Ashley is amusingly handled, but something doesn’t ring quite true, in the seemingly mismatched nature of these two individuals.

Director Sue Brooks captures quintessential Australianness without resorting to the kind of caricature seen in films like The Castle. At times the pace felt a tad turgid and I longed for the plot to get a move on,but I was impressed by many of the performances. Bradnam’s Jack is a very believable larrikin type, while Sweet is excellent as the taciturn but hard-working father. The tensions between Digger and Jack are well handled, with the typical male’s inability to communicate or express emotion featuring large. Veteran Australian screen icon Bruce Spence plays Singlet, a down-to-earth local who attempts to sell his farm land to the developers. It’s great to see Spence, star of many Australian films of the 1970s, the most famous of which is Stork, in a truthfully believable role, rather than the overly Ocker caricature he has so often played. Jack’s islander friend Solly (Aaron Fa’aoso) brings another odd subplot, in that girlfriend Dale (Kathryn Beck) is pregnant but the father’s identity will not be clear until all see if the baby is white or coloured. The childbirth scenes are very funny in a uniquely Australian way. .

In many ways Subdivision is a slight film, but one to which those who live in Queensland or who work in the building industry will really relate. It offers a convincing  picture of Australian working class life and close-knit small town communities, although while I enjoyed it, I was at times confounded by the plot (which developer is which, who is working with who?). Whilst I fear there may not be enough to make it a huge crowd-puller (it has been on the distributor's backburner since last year), those who do see it will be rewarded by its memorable and delightful final scene.

 

Want something different?