Worth: $13.00
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Cast:
Leila Mcdougall, Oliver Overton, Joel Jackson, Robert Taylor, Susan Prior, Damian Walshe-Howling, Trevor Jamieson
Intro:
... a brave and compassionate story, uneven or not, using cinema to send an important message.
Written by and starring Leila Mcdougall, Just A Farmer takes a hard look at some of the most challenging issues facing rural farmers – issues that Mcdougall knows too well from her life on the land. In an interview with the ABC, Mcdougall pointed out that “there are a lot of movies about farming that don’t reflect us the way we are,” and that, “as well as presenting an authentic view to the public and highlighting increasingly complex challenges facing farmers, it’s also educating farmers that they need to take the time to take care of their mental health and look after their physical health as well.”
From the Victorian bushfire catastrophe of Black Saturday in 2009, disastrous floods 2010-2011 and some of the worst fires ever recorded during the SE coast inferno 2019-20, we are tragically familiar with extreme conditions that can devastate rural communities. But there are other statistics that we are generally not so familiar with, and that’s where McDougall’s film wants to draw our attention.
Suicide rates among farmers in Australia are up to 94% higher than non-farmers. On average, one farmer dies by suicide every 10 days. In a National Farmer Wellbeing Report last year, it revealed that causes of severe depression certainly include the crippling aftermath of disasters, but are compounded by isolation, a sense of being overlooked and undervalued by government and public at large and a culture of stoicism, the stigma of mental health issues and lack of support services.
Mcdougall believed a feature film would attract wider attention than the more obvious documentary form. The project became the feature directorial debut of actor Simon Lyndon. Filming on the low budget feature took place predominantly at Leila Mcdougall and husband Sean’s farm at Tatyoon, a village in western Victoria, 180km north-west of Melbourne.
In Just a Farmer, Mcdougall’s character, mother of two and farmer’s wife Alison, embodies many of the tragedies that the writer/actress wants people to talk about. Early in the story, husband Alec (Joel Jackson) hangs himself after years of silently bottling up depression.
Apart from her devastating bereavement, Alison has another challenge to deal with, her father-in-law Owen’s alcoholism. Owen (Robert Taylor) expresses how common it is for alcohol to become the go-to ‘remedy’ in the absence of support networks. He shows how the booze leads to spiralling problems of further isolation and denial, ill health, struggle to maintain already heavy work loads and obvious safety issues with livestock and machinery.
The atmosphere and relentless routine of farm life is beautifully depicted through the lens of cinematographer Gavin Head (Gurrumul, Bad Girl) with editing by Ashlee Lukas (Godless: The Eastfield Exorcism). Incidental scenes like the shearers, cast from locals, provide excellent moments.
Waking in the early morning, grieving, depressed or not, a farmer is still required to care for livestock, and the film offers an authentic insight about how when one bit of machinery breaks down, it leads to a frightening unravelling of all the other costly and crucial components of a working farm.
Mcdougall herself is a strong screen presence, emotive and watchable. Joel Jackson as Alec is convincing, and there are great moments of vulnerability and pain exhibited by Owen. Other scenes play as obvious and over orchestrated, such as Owen, prostrate on the veranda, beer dripping from the upturned tinny in a two shot that is forced and instructional.
There are other moments that also verge on ‘teaching’, especially about the stages of grief, and the need to share feelings when depressed. In these passages, the story lost a sense of the characters’ unique experiences and became more of an illustrative case study.
The pub, as the social hub of the district, and the implied drinking culture, is well featured in natural, non-judgemental scenes. An aside to what other damage alcohol can do appears in a brief but electrifying moment where Alison confronts a group of local women who are drinking and gossiping about her deceased husband.
With its location shots and authentic sense of farm life, Mcdougall communicates a brave and compassionate story, uneven or not, using cinema to send an important message. The pastoral life is one that farmers should be proud of, yet it can sometimes mask a private hell.
