Starring: Mark Leonard Winters, Sylvia Colloca, Robert Menzies, Fabio Motta, Minnie Liszukiewicz, Freddy Liszukiewicz and Julie McGregor
Distributor: Other
Runtime: 90 mins. Reviewed in May 2022
Reviewer: Peter W Sheehan
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On the banks of the Murray, a reserved man cares for his children after his wife abandons them. An Italian cook helps out and brings healing. This is a visit to 1971 and some quiet Australians dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the little tornadoes it brings.
This drama is a surprisingly quiet, almost intimate, visit to a small Murray River town called Tocumwal in the early 1970s. Novelist and commentator Christos Tsiolkos collaborated with the writer-director, Aaron Wilson, for the screenplay. It is local filmmaker Wilson’s second film in his PTSD trilogy and deals with dislocated identity and what it means to be a man. It has been released using the innovative platform Fanforce that uses crowd-funding to make screenings happen.
The film invites us to identify with the central character, Leo (played by the very versatile Mark Leonard Winters). This is not easy. He seems introverted, laconic. After his wife leaves suddenly, he is left as the sole carer for his young daughter, Maudie, and son, Jack. Leo works in a local machinery factory and has one friend, Tony. Leo keeps to himself, taking the children to school and reading to them. He is not very friendly, going to the pub only once in the film to play pool.
Radio play in the background gives an indication of the era, Billy McMahon is Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam is Leader of the Opposition. The Vietnam war rages. For those who lived through the time, this is a welcome reminder of how people were. For those too young to remember, this is an opportunity to look at the quiet Australians of the era.
The film has a voice-over narrative, in Italian and English, from Maria (the versatile Silvia Colloca, Cook like an Italian, ABC). She explains how she came from Italy to Australia and remembers her dead husband, Lorenzo. Her high hopes upon migrating dissolve as she finds herself alone in a country town. Tony suggests to Leo, who is not a good cook, that Maria might be able to look after the children in the afternoons and prepare the evening meal. The children are initially hostile to the idea, but in no time, Maria overcomes the barriers and has them enjoying her meals. Leo is grateful but reticent.
In comparison, we are privy to Leo’s memories of his mother’s death and the visits to her grave that Maria mistakenly thinks is neglected and in need of care. Other flashbacks pierce the narrative, encompassing his father (Robert Menzies), a Japanese attack in World War II and more.
We are also introduced to Leo’s father, who is taciturn and uncommunicative during visits with the children. There is a telling moment when Leo leaves a container with one of Maria’s meals and his father refuses to eat it. Eventually, though, he capitulates and devours the meal. This is a turning point for his character and he later turns up uncharacteristically to take the children to school.
These momentary glimpses of the little tornadoes that punctuate the film are symbolic of the little tornadoes that blow up in our lives, especially the flashbacks that burden those suffering PTSD.
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