20/20 Filmsight - Film Criticism by David O'Connell

First time feature director Brendan Fletcher has been receiving plenty of praise for Mad Bastards, and rightly so. But this story about the dark side of male machismo couldn’t really be called auteur filmmaking: Fletcher co-wrote the screenplay with two of the film’s charismatic Aboriginal stars – Dean Daley Jones and Greg Tait – who drew heavily on personal experience to help mould their troubled characters.

Fletcher’s background is in documentary filmmaking, so it may come as a surprise that Mad Bastards packs a potent narrative not often found in local independent cinema. The film’s almost old fashioned in the way in which it moulds its story of TJ (Daley-Jones), a broken, big city bruiser barely in control of his anger. TJ is alone and listless in Perth, and a visit to his incarcerated brother convinces him to travel northeast deep into the remote Kimberley region and seek out his young son, Bullet (Lucas Yeeda).

Bullet lives in Five Rivers, an Aboriginal community riven with alcohol-driven strife and barely held together by his middle-aged cop grandfather, Tex (Tait). TJ’s arrival in town will have consequences for both characters, as well as Bullet’s alcoholic mother, Nella (Ngaire Pigram – apparently the only trained actor in the entire cast).

This might sound like the recipe for a grim experience at the cinema, but Mad Bastards has been pieced together with plenty of inspiration. Helping lighten the story of solemn pilgrimage, domestic struggle and redemption is the ability of the screenwriters to seek out the lighter touch: witness Tex organising a men’s night for the Kimberley locals, an event where he’s the only one who does any talking.

Mad Bastards’ other ace-up-the-sleeve is the Pigram Brothers, who helped produce the film. Fletcher got his start in the motion picture business shooting video promos for the Broome-based Pigrams, and they pad at the fourth wall with their engaging musical diversions.

The humour and bonhomie help brace the film and provide important relief from the more dramatic moments, but there’s some solid writing going on here too. He’s the hardest of hardnuts and possesses an explosive temper, but within minutes of the film beginning we’re already rooting for TJ, and Fletcher, Daley-Jones and Tait have dovetailed the two sides of the story together nicely so that when he finally arrives at Five Rivers the tension is unmistakable.

Along TJ’s journey of redemption he will meet all sorts of odd characters destined to help in his quest. It’s fable-like stuff, and rolls off the screen with remarkable ease despite the few rough edges that sometimes show through – including a plot that occasionally takes an odd turn and some brittle acting.

This is superior local filmmaking, a little more concerned with telling a story than documenting the troubles of Aboriginal people in the Kimberley region. It works its subtext through plot and character rather than pointedly slapping the audience across the face. With beautiful looks courtesy of DOP Allan Collins and some thoughtful editing from Claire Fletcher, Mad Bastards is a heartfelt and highly accomplished local film that deserves to be seen by a wide audience.


I say: Local filmmaking doesn’t often reach such great heights. Mad Bastards isn't perfect, but it strives to nail the basics and that’s an under appreciated quality in modern local cinema.

See it for: Daley-Jones and Tait both pack some impressive charisma, and if tourist visits to the Kimberley don’t receive a boost via Collins’s photography I’ll eat my Akubra.