Review: Wolfram – A roo dollars more

Directed by Warwick Thornton
Starring Hazel Jackson, Eli Hart, Pedra Jackson, Deborah Mailman, Erroll Shand

7/10

Set a few years after the events in Sweet Country, this sequel sees a pair of children (Hazel Jackson and Eli Hart) forced to work in a claim mining wolfram (tungsten). When one of them is stolen by a couple of dangerous wastrels (Erroll Shand and Joe Bird) that are new to the territory, the other seeks to find and rescue them.

Wolfram brings a spectacular sense of time and place to the screen. That experience is not entirely comfortable, but it is not meant to be. The sense of rot and decay in the settlement is palpable. It is a one-horse town, and that horse is dead and rotting in the streets, attracting flies. That’s not a metaphor (well, perhaps it is part of one, but that is a larger overarching one), but rather the literal truth on the screen. The overwhelming buzzing of the insects is used to phenomenal effect in the soundscape of the film, returning often through the course of the film, exposing the tension and decay at the heart of things. It’s a vivid assault on the senses and, combined with some claustrophobic camera work, lends a tangible menace throughout the film.

Wolfram is also remarkably good at conveying a sense of inequality and the danger this represents. Predominantly this is for indigenous people, but it is extended throughout to other minorities through race, age, gender and social standing. That sense of predation, that fear of exploitation, is central to the film. It’s part of that oppressive atmosphere that characterises Wolfram and a major element to the tension to which the audience are subjected.

One of the key factors is how well the villains are portrayed. There’s little nuance in how Casey is written. He’s a violent, exploitative individual, fostered by racism, sexism, and an entitled sense of superiority. Yet Erroll Shand seizes the bit with his teeth and makes him as loathsome and pathetic as he can. This contrasts with Hazel Jackson, Eli Hart, and Pedra Jackson adding whimsy (and much-needed relief) even as the trio of protagonists are endangered and try to escape colonial slavery.

Where Wolfram falls down is in the lack of narrative drive. It’s great at atmosphere and tone, but does little to tell a story with it. The events seem tentatively linked, and the major actions of the piece are more often the results of minor characters than that of the protagonists. As a sequel to arguably the greatest Australian Western, it doesn’t do a lot to justify its existence.

Wolfram is an atmospheric meat-pie Western, but not a patch on the original. Still, it’s worth a look for just how well it does create a sense of place and time, as unpalatable as that can be on occasions.

DAVID O’CONNELL