By Erin Free
Worth: $18.50
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Tracy Mann, Moira Maclaine-Cross, Julie Barry, Vera Plevnik, David Argue, Ian Gilmour, Richard Moir, Charles Waterstreet, Hugh Keays-Byrne
Intro:
...this edgy, funny, wholly authentic slice-of-life is a must-see for anyone with an interest in Australian cinema.
“People of a certain age” may very well remember the lines of young “ragers” outside cinemas waiting to see the Aussie youth comedy-drama Going Down when it was released in 1982. Like Bruce Beresford’s 1981 classic Puberty Blues, its depiction of young people was grittily authentic and brutally honest without dipping into cheap hysteria, and it clicked tight with its youthful target audience. Those too young to see Going Down at the cinema may likely remember it on video store shelves in the 1980s sitting next to the disreputable likes of Porky’s and Private Resort. Since then, however, Going Down has vanished from view…but now it’s back in a brand new, restored print that happily loses none of the film’s finely honed and colourfully achieved grungy aesthetic.
Beginning with an ingenious tracking shot through a filthy, debauched, sludgy share-house party straight out of John Birmingham’s He Died With A Felafel In His Hand (though even that seminal tome didn’t feature a pants-less, arse-out bloke vomiting in the lounge room), Going Down barrels hard and fast through to the next night, which represents the last hurrah for the edgy but sensible Karli (Tracy Mann is magnetic), who is leaving Sydney for New York. She rouses her friends – daggy, put-upon Ellen (the hilarious Moira Maclaine-Cross); troubled Jackie (a very touching Julie Barry), who is considering a career move into prostitution; and fiery, funny, but deeply vulnerable alcoholic Jane (the extraordinary Vera Plevnik, who very sadly passed away not long after the film’s release) – for a big night out…and the quartet does not hold back.
Written by actresses Moira Maclaine-Cross and Julie Barry, along with Melissa Woods, Going Down is refreshingly feminist in its approach (another link with Puberty Blues), digging deep into the concerns of its female protagonists and making them very much the focus of the film. Though thoughtful and sensitively handled, Going Down is, however, first and foremost a party movie, a proto-Dazed And Confused jammed with rampant drug use, excessive alcohol consumption (remember those big, white cans of Tooheys Draught? And when people actually drank Fosters?), tawdry sex, and general bad behaviour.
Shooting with punkish flair and assisted no end by a soundtrack of contemporary hits (Pel Mel and Dynamic Hepnotics also appear), director Haydn Keenan captures it all brilliantly, delivering a highly energised youth flick that also features essential work from some of Australia’s best actors. The late, great David Argue is mind-bogglingly good in multiple roles, going full Jerry Lewis to play both a wacked out, roller-skating dole office clerk and a jaded, drug-addled drag queen…oh, and a nightclub bouncer too. It’s physical comedy at its ingenious best, and it’s a privilege to see it again on the big screen.
Late actor and director Esben Storm steals all of his scenes in a masterful performance as the witty, acerbic but deeply sad drug addict Michael, whose desperation is both infuriating and heartbreaking. Just for good measure, Toecutter himself, Hugh Keays-Byrne, also makes a striking impression as a poetry spouting Greek Chorus cyclist. Oh, and the film also features the first screen appearance of Claudia Karvan and an hilarious cameo from infamous Sydney lawyer Charles Waterstreet. Phew!
An incredible depiction of a wilder, far less developed Sydney – witness Bondi Beach with the notorious Astra Hotel glowing from its mid-hill perch overlooking the allegedly needle-strewn sand – Going Down resounds both with historical significance and rebel energy. That’s a volatile combination, and this edgy, funny, wholly authentic slice-of-life is a must-see for anyone with an interest in Australian cinema.
Click through for our interviews with Going Down director Haydn Keenan and leading lady Tracy Mann.
