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Clip description
Jerry (Nathan Phillips), Cheryl (Gillian Alexy) and Pete (Khan Chittenden) visit the scene of the crime in the culvert, with a few other friends. Jerry does not know that Pete and Cheryl took part in the bashing. When Jerry breaks a beer bottle against the wall, Cheryl leaves in disgust. Pete runs after her. In the car park, Cheryl tells Pete that she’s pregnant; she doesn’t know whether the father is Pete or Jerry. Pete is terrified and offers to pay for an abortion.
Curator’s notes
The film is partly about the transition from teenager to adult, but it happens very violently in West. One minute Jerry and Pete are kids getting stoned and drunk, the next they are potential fathers, and in Pete’s case, a serious criminal. The same seriousness impacts on Cheryl – who starts the film as a gorgeous young woman with a strong sense of herself. By these scenes, her whole world has changed and so has her demeanour. She and Jerry have grown up very fast during the days since we first met them, but not Pete. He is even more bewildered by what’s going on, which makes him a pitiable character, as we see in this scene, a good example of how well developed the performances are.
