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Clip description
Daniel (Tom Long) returns to the place where he was abducted – a back alley near the river in Melbourne. He relives the abduction by three hooded women, then decides to report it to the police. When he tries to tell the two constables (Ken Radley and Anthony Wallace), they think it’s funny.
Curator’s notes
The film has a strong sense of an altered or dreamlike reality that undermines both the main character’s confidence, and that of the audience, in the truth of what is on screen. It’s possible to interpret the whole thing as Daniel’s hallucination, brought about by some kind of breakdown. He revisits the place for this reason – to try to find a clue as to what happened, or whether it really did happen. The three women are made to look very unreal, like a trio of ghostly witches who came forth from the dark recesses of Daniel’s imagination after a particularly tiring and demanding rehearsal. The scene with the cops reinforces the sense that female-to-male rape isn’t taken seriously. It’s more male fantasy than nightmare experience, as far as these two dimwitted officers are concerned.
