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Released by: Subversive Cinema
Released on: 4/25/2006
Director: Geoffrey Wright
Cast: Aden Young, Tara Morice, Nadine Garner, Ben Mendelsohn, Chantal Contouri, Petru Gheorghiu
Year: 1994
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The Movie:
Made two years after he found some success with the skinhead drama Romper Stomper, Geoffrey Wright's Metal Skin (also known as Speed, don't confuse it with the Keanu Reeves film!), which he wrote and directed, is an interesting follow up to that film that plays with some of the same themes but puts them in a very different setting.
Joe (Aden Young of the recent Crocodile Hunter movie, but more respectfully, from Black Robe) is a young man whose life has been seriously screwed up since his father, who was at one time a shooting champion, went nuts. Joe gets a job at the local grocery store which offers some reprieve from his dad but is hardly a satisfying outlet for his woes. Things get a little more complicated when he falls pretty hard for a pretty girl named Roslyn (Nadine Garner), who is unfortunately the long time girlfriend of Dazey (Ben Mendelsohn of Quigley Down Under), one of his co-workers.
Joe and Dazey are able to put aside their differences concering Roslyn when they find in each other kindred spirits - they're both car freaks. Dazey being a little older takes Joe on as a sort of apprentice and teaches him what he knows about driving fast, and they form a strange and loose friendship.
To complicate things further, a girl named Savina (Tara Morice of Strictly Ballroom!) also works at the grocery story. Savina has issues of her own - her mother (Chantel Contouri) is an overbearing Christian fundamentalist whose behavior has caused her to head in the exact opposite direction of where she intended, towards Satanism! Savina has taken quite a liking to Dazey, and isn't above working some of her black magic in hopes of making him hers. Unfortunately, Joe thinks that Savina is lusting after him, which just adds fuel to the already very strange fire.
These four miscreants band together and decide to forgot their problems by drag racing - kind of a strange idea on the surface but in reality, they're simply thrill seekers and drag racing is as good a way as any to get them - and so is sex.
Hardly the feel good movie of the year, this is a fairly bleak action-drama hybrid that concentrates more on the quirks of its characters than on genre conventions. It's an interesting film that effectively uses its suburban setting to relay to us the monotany that every day life can so easily bombard us with and shows us how four people chose to escape it through, what seems to be on the surface at least, some rather irrational behavior. If one thinks about how hopeless the situation is for these four, maybe they're not so irrational after all - if you've got nothing to lose, why worry about the consequences? That seems to be the attitude that the four central characters come around to adopting before it all hits the proverbial fan towards the end of the movie.
Set in some sort of working class area of Melbourne the film really benefits from the uniquely Australian landscape and quirky supporting actors who fill up the film. The grand finale car chase set in and around the docks of Melbourne - the perfect location to wrap up the film - is up there with some of the classic Hollywood car chase scenes and while it can't top Bullet (let's face it, nothing can top Bullet), it definitely holds its own in terms of excitement and sheer coolness. Quite a remarkable feat when you consider the fact that the movie wasn't made with a massive studio budget.
In terms of visuals, Metal Skin is pretty impressive. Shots such as when the camera follows Roslyn through a massive maze of cargo containers panning away to show just how lost she really looks will stick with you, as will quieter, more subtle shots such as when the camera captures an ornament hanging off of a porch as it turns in the sun and the wind. The editing technique employed in the movie is also quite solid, resulting in a well paced film that doesn't over stay its limit and that never proves to be boring even during the down time in which there are no thunderous cars racing down the pavement or emotional turmoil rising up between characters.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Subversive brings Metal Skin to DVD in a pretty impressive 2.35.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer that looks quite brilliant. The color reproduction is dead on and print damage has all but been eliminated save for the presence of some moderate film grain. Black levels are spot on, and there aren't any mpeg compression artifacts to report. Some mild line shimmering is present in spots but the good definitely outweighs the bad here, the movie looks great.
Equally impressive is the Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound mix. The dialogue, the score and the sound effects all blend together really nicely in a truly immersive track that brings the movie to life. The original 2.0 mix is also included for purists, and it sounds just as good in terms of clarity and proper mixing. Bass levels are strong and deep, dialogue is clean and clear, and Metal Skin sounds good, especially the car chase scenes!
Subversive have once again gone the extra mile in terms of gathering supplements for this release. First up is an optional video introduction from director Geoffrey Wright, who spends a few minutes priming us on what we're about to watch.
From there we move on to the cast and crew commentary, in which Wright is joined by a few other cast and crew members. With multiple participants and some clever editing, it's not surprising to find out that this track stays pretty lively throughout and that it delivers a lot of good information, a lot of which pertains to the location shooting and idiosyncrasies of the characters. Wright talks about some of the themes he wanted to explore a little bit in the film and also details some of the more technically oriented aspects of the production, while the cast members fill in a lot of the smaller details and give us a pretty well rounded look at life on the set of Metal Skin as well as some interesting interpretations of the movie. Interestingly enough, Wright spends a fair amount of time explaining why he chose to follow Romper Stomper with the oddity that is Metal Skin, which was conceived of first.
If the commentary weren't enough, the disc also contains an excellent documentary that explores the making of the film. Geoffrey Wright tells how a road accident that he had while making Lover Boy inspired him to go out and make Metal Skin as it gave him an interest in road accidents. Interviews with the four main actors and Wright make up the bulk of this documentary and while it covers some of the same ground as the commentary there's enough different material in here to make it worth looking at and some of the audition stories are pretty amusing. There are quite few clips from the film in here and these could be a bit spoiler-ish so make sure you watch the feature first. This documentary clocks in at just over thirty-four minutes in length.
Subversive has also included Lover Boy, Geoffrey Wright's first shot film, available with or without commentary from the director. This is an interesting hour long film about a young man named Mick (played by Noah Taylor of Shine) who mows lawns for extra money. One of his mother's friends, Sally (Gillian Jones), hires him and soon finds herself drawn to him in a rather immoral way. Despite the very obvious age difference between the two, she begins to seduce him.
Not a masterpiece but an interesting look at the breaking of a social taboo through some interesting character development and some very good performances, Lover Boy fits right in with Romper Stomper and Metal Skin as another one of Wright's snapshots of the oddities of life in suburban Australia. Noah Taylor is very good as the young man who is obviously miles above the maturity level of his friends (and possibly even ready for a relationship with a considerably older woman) while Gillian Jones hits all the right notes and delivers a believably sexy performance that allows you to understand why Taylor's character is attracted to her in the first place. At times it's a little disturbing but the film never goes so far as to feel gratuitous and the film unfolds in a rather unconventional manner that makes it a pretty unique first attempt from the director.
Rounding out the extras on the first disc are a trailer for Metal Skin, trailers for a few other Subversive Cinema DVD releases such as The Gardener and Blue Murder, and a rather generous still gallery consisting of behind the scenes photographs and some very cool promotional artwork.
But wait! That's not all! The first pressing of the DVD also includes the film's original soundtrack on CD. With music playing a very, very important role in the film it's nice to be able to go back and enjoy some of the compositions without the dialogue over top of them and this CD is the perfect way to do it.
Also included tucked away inside the keepcase are a reproduction of the movie's original theatrical poster and a trio of lobby card reproductions as well. The case itself is housed inside a shiny slipcase that definitely draws your attention.
The Final Word:
Subversive delivers an exceptionally strong package for a quirky and genuinely cool little Australian import. Metal Skin won't be for everyone but it's a really well made movie with some solid performances and some interesting ideas that is well worth checking out by anyone with a taste for the odd.