Australian
Screen

an NFSA website

Mad Bastards (2011)

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clip Alcohol, violence and a pathway forward

Original classification rating: MA. This clip chosen to be PG

Clip description

Local policeman Texas (Greg Tait) kicks off the first men’s group meeting in his small town in the Kimberley. Meanwhile in the city, TJ (Dean Daley-Jones) is at a pub. He tries ringing his son, Bullet, in the Kimberley but no one hears the phone over the noise of a party. TJ meets some ex-cons at the pub and plays pool, and tension starts to build up in the bar. Back at the house where Bullet lives with his mother Nella (Ngaire Pigram), the party is over. Nella yells out from inside the house after a man attacks her. Bullet and another boy run away from the house.

Curator’s notes

This clip shows the healing power of the men’s group as a potential pathway forward for the ‘mad bastards’ of the film. It’s contrasted with the destructive world of alcohol and violence in which Nella and TJ are both caught up, whether in the country or the city.