by Erin Free
Worth: $16.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Salvatore Samperi, Artom Simin, Aaron Scully, Amelia Conway, Jamaica Vaughan, Eirini Pap, Wazza Waseeq
Intro:
The fight scenes...are a kinetic wonder...
Ever since digital democratised filmmaking, and effectively put cameras in the eager hands of those with limited funds and minimal industry contacts, Australian cinema has seen an enjoyable uptick in genre driven product. But while horror has had plenty of nouveau proponents, that other principal pillar of genre cinema – namely, action – has been left largely untouched. Perhaps unimpressed and disinterested when it comes to cops on the edge, shady government operatives, and every-men out for a little vigilante justice, Aussie genre directors have instead trained their focus on boogeymen, both real and imagined. Now charging in with a flurry of high-kicks and knife lunges to redress the balance are co-directors Mathew John Pearson and Salvatore Samperi with their Aussie action belter Unseen Enemy.
Set in and amongst Sydney’s slick high rises, back-alleys and waterways, Unseen Enemy follows deeply compromised private investigator Levi Meli (Salvatore Samperi), living on his own and separated from his wife and children, when he is asked to come out from hiding to help locate the missing sister of a former colleague. This puts Levi on a violent trajectory with the menacing organised crime figure Siroos (Artom Simin practically oozes threat and menace), an amoral, hair-trigger madman with his own sinister agenda. It also places Levi in the orbit of a crew of equally menacing, sword-wielding yakuza gangsters who have their own part to play in proceedings.
Boasting absolutely top-notch tech credits – stylish, polished imagery from cinematographer Koji Chan Takahashi; fluid, finely considered editing by Michael Yee; a classy score from Markus Ojala – Unseen Enemy is a low-budget indie that punches impressively way above its weight. The script might be just a little over-populated and tightly stretched, but this bold effort from director Mathew John Pearson and co-director, writer and star Salvatore Samperi looks and sounds absolutely great.
The fight scenes (choreographed by Michael Jupp, along with the film’s two stars, multi-hyphenate Salvatore Samperi and Artom Simin) are a kinetic wonder, packed with original moves and often shot in one-takes so you can see every punch and kick land…and land hard. The committed, charismatic and very muscled-up Salvatore Samperi and Artom Simin really go at each other here, making for great combatants, with the clear absence of stuntmen raising the stakes on every fight scene. A good action flick’s fight scenes form the bedrock that holds it all together, and Unseen Enemy has some of the best you’ll see in an Australian film. Expect this stylishly composed action extravaganza to become a major calling card for its directors…someone needs to hook Salvatore Samperi and Artom Simin up with Frank Grillo…now!
