Film: Red Hill
Year of production: 2010
UK Release date: 30th May 2011
Distributor: Momentum
Certificate: 15
Running time: 95 mins
Director: Patrick Hughes
Starring: Ryan Kwanten, Steve Bisley, Tommy Lewis, Claire van der Boom, Christopher Davis
Genre: Crime/Thriller/Western
Format: DVD
Country of Production: Australia
Language: English
Review by: Rob Markham
Westerns are at home in Australia. The Proposition showed that the wilds of the US were not the only place this genre could work. Red Hill is the latest Australian western and a first time feature for director Patrick Hughes.
Constable Shane Cooper and his pregnant wife move from the city to Red Hill, a small town in the country, after suffering a miscarriage. On his first day, Cooper meets with the sheriff, Old Bill, a hardened policeman with no tolerance for mistakes and a grudge against the modernisation of the town.
As Cooper settles in to his new role, news of an escaped convict, Jimmy Conway, reaches the town. Old Bill assembles a team of armed men and prepares to take on Conway, knowing that he will head for the town of Red Hill to settle old scores.
As Conway storms the town, taking on everyone he meets, it is left to Cooper to learn the reasons for Jimmy’s revenge against the police and thugs of Red Hill, and there is more to it than meets the eye…
Red Hill begins with an eerily effective scene of horses in the country being scared by an unseen and growling presence in the trees at the base of a mountain. The Australian scenery is shot beautifully and the scene sets up the film to good effect. We are then introduced to the characters one by one, first meeting Cooper as he leaves his new home and heads for town and his first day as a Red Hill police officer.
There is plenty to like about the opening scenes. The shift in tone from creepy to menacing to humorous provides a sense of tension, as we are unsure what type of movie we will be watching. The opening would suggest a horror or thriller of sorts, while the sets, scenery and characters suggest a western. We are further thrown off the scent when the news of an escaped convict is followed by scenes of Cooper investigating the slaying of a horse, apparently by a wild animal.
It is only when we see a posse being rounded up and a plan of defence for the town being formulated that we are put squarely into the western genre, furnished with all its clichés. The monstrous sheriff, the moral lawman, and the avenging outlaw, all follow standard genre conventions.
It is unfortunate that the filmmakers did not, at this point, decide to make anything more interesting. What follows is a series of set pieces where Conway is involved in shoot-outs with local law enforcement, and characters (and logic) are abandoned for the sake of the action. Cooper is left out in the wilds to find his way back to town, and Old Bill is absent while his men are being slaughtered.
This wouldn’t be such a bad thing if the set pieces themselves were at least aiming at something other than average fare. Each shootout seems to be a rehash of superior westerns, neither going all-out with the violence, nor restraining it to make a point. Instead the scenes of violence are somewhere in between and end up feeling tediously sanitised.
There is some good use of the Australian countryside, but this seems to be abandoned as we follow Conway’s rampage, which does the film a disservice considering the themes at work. Hughes includes a discussion about how the town is wasting away through lack of old industry and the refusal of residents to accept new income streams. Added to that is the fact that Jimmy Conway is of aboriginal descent and, as the film progresses, there is a sense that Cooper and Conway come to understand one another as the latter’s tortured past is revealed. It seems one of the ultimate goals of the film is to show the harmony of aboriginal and white cultures working in the same landscape, but this landscape is never shown in a light that gives it any meaning beyond its aesthetic qualities. It is a shame because with such a strong message the film could have been so much more. If there had been an attempt to move away from standard genre conventions and clichés then perhaps Red Hill could have been more than the sum of its parts.
There are good points. The central theme of old and new can only be expressed clearly by the contrast between the two leads (Cooper and Old Bill) and both are played well by Ryan Kwanten and Steve Bisley. The former does fresh-faced innocence and promise, the latter does menacing and old-fashioned. Both are great choices and acquit themselves superbly. The supporting cast are also above average.
Praise should also be given to Tommy Lewis for his portrayal of the scarred and vengeful Jimmy Conway. His silent but deadly antagonist is menacing enough to sustain tension at key moments, and there are times when his dead-eyed stare and icy cool are chilling.
Unfortunately, it isn’t enough, as Red Hill is nowhere near as clever as it thinks it is and ends up being an average genre piece. It is not a bad film by any means, but it could have been so much more.
Despite competent direction and good performances, Red Hill doesn’t stand out as anything special in the western genre. However, there are enough moments of promise that director Patrick Hughes could well be one to watch in the future. Until someone else has a go, The Proposition remains the benchmark for the Australian western. RM
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