Artsploitation
generally releases newer films from all over the world, usually of a more
transgressive or provocative bent that generally pushes the envelope of modern
cinema. While most labels treading a
fine line between art and exploitation generally look to the past,
Artsploitation prides itself on looking ahead to the future of exploitative yet
artistic filmmaking. For them to release
a renowned classic film from the 1970s by a great director still active in the
film business is unheard of for them but here we are.
The
film in question is Roxanne and I.Q. director Fred Schepisi’s The Devil’s Playground, a
semi-autobiographical ensemble piece about youths being educated in a 1950s
Australian all-male seminary, specifically zeroing in on a thirteen year old
boy conflicted between his Catholic upbringing and his burgeoning prepubescent
sexual curiosity. Written, produced and
directed by Schepisi, The Devil’s
Playground represents a daring and confident debut that would signify the
emergence of a major cinematic talent and an important chapter in the
Australian New Wave of cinema whose power to enthrall and disturb hasn’t eroded
with age.
From
the outset and given documentary films like Deliver
Us from Evil concerning sexual abuse in the clergy, one gets the sense The Devil’s Playground will be that sort
of picture that pushes into uncomfortable territory. While it does have a
thread of unease running through the thing, it’s important to consider the time
it was made and the writer-director’s own experiences working in a seminary
before becoming a filmmaker. Schepisi
himself didn’t suffer any abuses but decided the clergy wasn’t for him.
Instead
his film avoids showcasing abuses and focuses on the life of Tom (Simon Burke)
who struggles with his on puberty and internal war between denying/indulging
his sexual yearnings he himself doesn’t understand. Intercut with the story of the schoolboys in
the Catholic education and Tom’s personal conflict is that of the Brothers
instructing the youths, many of whom are torn about their vows of celibacy and
what their lives might have been had they strayed from the cloth.
Watching
Schepisi’s film was an enlightening experience which managed to examine with
subtlety and nuance the conflict between the Cloister and the flesh, abstinence
and sin and their ramifications on the so called notions of good versus
evil. Largely driven by dialogue and
episodic sequences chronicling the day-to-day trivialities of the Catholic
school grounds as well the nightly debates among the Brothers with boozing,
playing pool and piano, it’s a slice of life film about what it means to
experience changes from childhood to adulthood under the veil of a moral and
spiritual compass. Moreover, it tries to
examine how such a complicated dichotomy between impure thoughts and
self-repression of such can become destructive, even deadly.
That
Schepisi would go on to direct romantic comedies including but not limited to Roxanne, L.A. Story and I.Q. after
starting out with such a sharp and incisive semi-autobiography is kind of
astonishing. You would never know this
was from the same man without knowing his name and where his career would
develop. But aside from the still
disturbing thoughts being portrayed and examined onscreen, including a particularly
provocative moment with a sexually repressed priest fantasizing about swimming
underwater with naked women, The Devil’s
Playground largely expresses its ideas through conversation among the
priests and students.
The
film is a handsomely shot effort thanks to cinematographer Ian Baker who
photographs the seminary with grace and subtlety and Bruce Smeaton’s
understated score adds an additional layer of confused unease signifying the
thirteen year old protagonist’s changing feelings about himself and the world
around him. It’s also exceptionally
well-acted, boasting a myriad of strong performances from the youthful cast as
well as that of the priests, particularly Arthur Dignam as the self-loathing
ogler who may or may not harbor pedophilic feelings towards the student body. The film’s lead played by Simon Burke took
home a Best Actor Australian Academy Award and it remains an indelible example
of fine child acting in the cinematic landscape.
Still
a significant addition to the Australian New Wave which sits nicely alongside
the likes of Wake in Fright, Walkabout and Picnic at Hanging Rock, The
Devil’s Playground is an important contemporary film which is less about
the conundrum of repressing base inclinations than it is about what it means to
come to terms with them and still lead a good, normal life. Like the priests, the film’s protagonist Tom
is fraught with anxiety and frustration between the Catholic teachings and the
ongoing changes within himself as he matures from preteen to young adult. It speaks to an ongoing internal conflict
every person experiences and how easy it is for those thoughts and feelings to
set us on the right or wrong paths in life.
Score:
- Andrew Kotwicki