Australian
Screen

Clip description

After a violent eruption at home, the three brothers take their mother’s car out into the late-night streets. Brett (David Wenham) intends to settle a score with a man who stabbed him, but they’re too late. They end up parked and bored – the two younger brothers doped up on speed. Brett’s description of the ‘moment of peace and serenity’ makes Glenn (John Polson) and Stevie (Anthony Hayes) laugh, even though they’re out of it. The three brothers smoke and watch a young woman standing alone at a bus stop.

Curator’s notes

This scene is the end of Brett’s homecoming celebration: 18 hours of drinking, fighting and family disruption is about to erupt into a crime of terrible ferociousness. We’re never told what they do – even in the ‘future’ scenes, which depict what happens after the crime. Brett’s speech about being ‘gods in our world’ has a chilling intelligence and clarity. He has not taken any drugs, unlike the others. What happens next will be an act of will – his will. In a cinema that’s not short on violent male characters, Brett Sprague is one of the most chilling creations, partly because of his intelligence, and yet David Wenham’s performance doesn’t allow us to view him as a monster. The most discomfiting thing about the film is how ordinary these men are.