As part of Vivid Creative Sydney and in conjunction with the third day of the Sydney Film Festival, Friday night at the MCA celebrated the relationship between film and music with the Australian premiere screening of the Pop Art film LBF (Living Between Fucks), followed by the live stylings of Kids at Risk and Fergus Brown – both of whom took part in the film, alongside Teenagers in Tokyo and the band formerly known as Tennis.
Directed by Macquarie University lecturer Alex Munt, the fast-paced film is based on a novel of the same name and features standout performances from the lead actors – Toby Schmitz, Bianca Chiminello and Gracie Otto. The film handled the relationship between its art form and the world of music well, though when it came to the narrative, I felt the 65 minute film missed the mark. I’m not familiar enough with the Cry Bloxsome novel to comment on its original context, but I feel that something may have been lost in translation. It delved into a variety of worlds: philosophy, love, life, death etc – though only came off scratching the surface of anything it touched. I found it difficult to connect with the main character, Goodchild (Schmitz), as a result – though the film was not without some wonderful moments.
Made over a two year period, no doubt with a myriad of different cameras, there is often a lack of continuity to its quality. Some sequences were shot beautifully (of particular mention was the Teenagers in Tokyo party sequence), and graded well, while others felt more rushed and out of place. Being a film made for nothing, this can be understandable. However when two years are poured into a project, I was nonetheless a bit surprised. But maybe that’s just part of the ‘pop art’ aesthetic. More impressive, however, was the consistency in performances over this period – something that both the director and the actors should be applauded for.
The story of “The Dead Girl” (played by Otto) proved the most fascinating part of the story, though the story’s focus was ultimately on a Sydney Eastern Suburbs lifestyle (and Schmitz getting swept up in it). It’s this lifestyle focus which leads me to think that it was all a little too close to home for me to see the film objectively. As such, I wouldn’t take anything I’m saying as a definitive review. At the end of the day, it just didn’t work for me.
It was, after all, a brilliant effort – to have gotten this project off the ground and taken it to premiere at SXSW is nothing short of astounding for a director who holds the project close to his heart. As someone who dabbles in this world, and frequents with people who are trying to do the same, I know first hand how difficult it is, so a massive congratulations is due. Great things will no doubt come out of it all for Munt. The feedback from SXSW seemed quite positive.
**SPOILER ALERT** The film ended with one of its best moments – Schmitz, in a moment of self realization, escapes the madness, winds up on a bus and sings along to the Kids at Risk track “Sugar” (see below). So it was only natural that Kids at Risk took to the stage after the film.
The group are in the midst of promoting their soundtrack for the film Griff the Invisible, and played a mix of their tracks – including of course, “Sugar”. This wasn’t the first time I’d seen the band, but it was certainly the first time I’d seen a whole set – no doubt catching them at one of those Mum nights (or something like that) in the past. I have to say, these guys kick some serious arse live – props to Munt for his choices of musicians to feature, they are all great talents.
With the night running a little behind schedule, I had to bail before Fergus Brown took to the stage, but having seen him and his band quite a few times in the past, I have no doubt the tracks from Burgers Frown went down a tasty treat. Pun intended.
