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Erskineville Kings centres on Barky (Denniss from Wildside) a young guy who's returned home after two years working on the cane fields, and judging by his taciturnity you realise it wasn't a working holiday - rather an escape. From what? That question is still to be answered. One by one, Barky reunites with his old friends as clues are offered as to why he ran away and what he's doing back. Indeed, this is one of the film's qualities. Much like a play, Anik Chooney's script shrewdly withholds details, which is initially frustrating as it slows the film, but it's an approach that yields strong performances from the young cast.

Jackman (Paperback Hero), who is better known for his theatre roles, plays Barky's older brother Wace. As brothers go, they're worlds apart. Barky's timidity and vulnerability certainly aren't hand-me-downs from his brooding, belligerent sibling. And it takes their father's funeral to reunite them.

The contrast in this relationship is White's central theme: the dilemma of the Australian male afraid to express more subtle emotions for fear of compromising the stoicism and impregnability that are frequently held up to represent Australian masculinity.
As the title suggests, the film wanders through Sydney's Erskineville and Newtown, its camera lingering masterfully over the chapped streetscapes that provide the right metaphor for the brother's relationship.

Sometimes it looks like the before shot in a house-paint ad, but Lanny (Vandenberg from next month's Strange Planet) and Barky's awkward reconciliation makes a beautiful primer. ---Lex Hall

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originally posted: 09/20/99 02:09:00
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