He Ain't Heavy

He Ain't Heavy is the debut feature from Perth writer/director, David Vincent Smith. It's a very prosaic look at addiction and what it can do to the family unit. In this case, the addicted person is Max, played by Sam Corlett. His mum, Bev, is played by Aussie/Italian/British (in that order) screen legend, Greta Scacchi. But the lead, and heart of the film, is Jade, a fantastic Leila George. She's the strung-out, desperate sister of Max, who hits upon a slightly controversial way of trying to get her brother clean.

The confronting opening scene sets up the rest of the film - Jade arrives at a house where a ruckus is occurring, namely Max trying to violently force his way into his mum's house. Eventually, he succeeds and buggers off in Bev's car, only to smash it a few metres down the road. Max scarpers quick smart, mum collapses and is briefly taken to hospital. Jade is at the end of her tether and the chance to clear out her recently passed away Grandma's house gives her and recovering Bev something to do. But this house on the outskirts of the city offers another opportunity.

This is pretty harrowing at times but it's underscored by a warmth, a familial closeness - to begin with between Jade and Bev, but later between all three of the main players. It helps that Scacchi is George's mum in real life (my actual comment to Roly after the film, "They've nailed the casting, George really looks like she could be Scacchi's daughter." Idiot, me). The whole cast is great, though the only other character with more than a few lines is Jade's mate, Tegan (Alexandra Nell), ostensibly making the film a three-hander.

From a Perth perspective, it's interesting to see familiar streets and buildings, but it doesn't have any truck with 'tourism' cinematography - it probably could have been any city in Australia. To Smith's credit, he avoids the provincial look of many Aussie first features, presumably on a tiny budget as well. One minor issue I had was the title. Sure, a certain vintage of folk will understand the reference, but probably not the majority of viewers, and aside from the obvious lyrical connection, it doesn't have much to do with a song from the 70s (or the earlier religious background of the phrase).

While not a particularly original premise, this is a confident, assured film, lifted immeasurably by the performances of George, Corlett and Scacchi. A tight piece of urban Aussie cinema.

He Ain't Heavy opens at the Luna cinema on Oct 16th.

See also:

Another Perth writer/director, Ben Young made his feature debut with the excellent Hounds of Love (2016). Scacchi was in Robert Altman's The Player (1992), with George's father, Vincent D'Onofrio.