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Clip description
McGahan (Brendan Cowell) arrives home in the morning after a very stressful night at the caravan, during which he fired a shot at three men beating up Lucky Phil. The ringing in his ears gets worse. McGahan’s partner Caitlin (Katie Wall) misunderstands why he has taken out his gun. She thinks he’s contemplating suicide. When she rushes to stop him, he realises he can’t hear her.
Curator’s notes
The film takes a lot of risks in the soundtrack, to give us a sense of how isolating tinnitus can be, but this scene is also about McGahan’s reaction to stress, which is to avoid direct physical contact, even with the woman he loves. McGahan resists any display of vulnerability, like almost all of the male characters in the film (see both earlier clips). The women in the film generally respond differently to situations of stress, by reaching out. McGahan’s progress in the film is towards this goal of becoming more open. He tries to resist the brutalising effects of police work.
