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The film premiered in May 1998 at the [[Cannes Film Festival]], three months ahead of its Australian premiere.<ref name=kelly>McWilliam, Kelly. “Head On: Centring the Other.” Ana Kokkinos: An Oeuvre of Outsiders, Edinburgh University Press, 2020, pp. 47–63. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3366/jj.7358670.7. Accessed 13 July 2024.</ref>
The film premiered in May 1998 at the [[Cannes Film Festival]], three months ahead of its Australian premiere.<ref name=kelly>McWilliam, Kelly. “Head On: Centring the Other.” Ana Kokkinos: An Oeuvre of Outsiders, Edinburgh University Press, 2020, pp. 47–63. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3366/jj.7358670.7. Accessed 13 July 2024.</ref>


The film gained notoriety upon its release for its sexual explicitness, including a graphic masturbation scene performed by Dimitriades and numerous sex scenes. The film received was a commercial success and received mixed reviews from critics, with positive reviewers praising its stark realism, the lead performance by Dimitriades and the uncompromising subject matter.<ref name="tomatoes" /> It received nine nominations at the [[1998 Australian Film Institute Awards]] and won 29 awards and accolades in Australia and overseas.<ref name=kelly/>
The film gained notoriety upon its release for its sexual explicitness, including a graphic masturbation scene performed by Dimitriades and numerous sex scenes. The film was a commercial success in Australia and received mixed reviews from critics, with positive reviewers praising its stark realism, the lead performance by Dimitriades and the uncompromising subject matter.<ref name="tomatoes" /> It received nine nominations at the [[1998 Australian Film Institute Awards]] and won 29 awards and accolades in Australia and overseas.<ref name=kelly/>


Australia's [[National Film and Sound Archive]] curator recognises it as a pioneering project in Australian filmmaking: "‘In terms of iconoclast daring, ''Head On'' has no equal in Australian cinema." Continuing that it concludes with the "most beautiful and enigmatic endings of any Australian film."<ref name=nfsa/> It was Australia's first example of [[New queer cinema]] and is regarded as a "landmark piece of Australian queer cinema".<ref name=kelly/>
Australia's [[National Film and Sound Archive]] curator recognises it as a pioneering project in Australian filmmaking: "‘In terms of iconoclast daring, ''Head On'' has no equal in Australian cinema." Continuing that it concludes with the "most beautiful and enigmatic endings of any Australian film."<ref name=nfsa/> It was Australia's first example of [[New queer cinema]] and is regarded as a "landmark piece of Australian queer cinema".<ref name=kelly/>

Revision as of 01:08, 14 July 2024

Head On
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAna Kokkinos
Screenplay by
  • Andrew Bovell
  • Ana Kokkinos
  • Mira Robertson
Based onLoaded by
Christos Tsiolkas
Produced byJane Scott
Starring
Edited byJill Bilcock
Distributed byStrand Releasing
Umbrella Entertainment
Release date
  • 13 August 1998 (1998-08-13) (Australia)
Running time
104 minutes
CountryAustralia
LanguagesEnglish, Greek

Head On is a 1998 Australian LGBT-related drama film directed by Ana Kokkinos, who wrote the screenplay with Andrew Bovell and Mira Robertson. The film is based on the 1995 novel Loaded by Christos Tsiolkas. The film stars Alex Dimitriades, Paul Capsis, Julian Garner and Tony Nikolakopoulos. The film tells the story of Ari (Dimitriades), a dissolute 19-year-old second generation Greek-Australian in Melbourne. Ari is caught between his conservative Greek background and modern Australia, amid his homosexual desire.

The film premiered in May 1998 at the Cannes Film Festival, three months ahead of its Australian premiere.[1]

The film gained notoriety upon its release for its sexual explicitness, including a graphic masturbation scene performed by Dimitriades and numerous sex scenes. The film was a commercial success in Australia and received mixed reviews from critics, with positive reviewers praising its stark realism, the lead performance by Dimitriades and the uncompromising subject matter.[2] It received nine nominations at the 1998 Australian Film Institute Awards and won 29 awards and accolades in Australia and overseas.[1]

Australia's National Film and Sound Archive curator recognises it as a pioneering project in Australian filmmaking: "‘In terms of iconoclast daring, Head On has no equal in Australian cinema." Continuing that it concludes with the "most beautiful and enigmatic endings of any Australian film."[3] It was Australia's first example of New queer cinema and is regarded as a "landmark piece of Australian queer cinema".[1]

Plot

Over a 24-hour period, 19-year-old Ari confronts his sexuality and his Greek background. Ari is obsessed with sex and has sexual encounters with multiple people, most of them gay, and attempts to fulfill the sister of one of his best friends. At the same time, he is facing problems with his traditional Greek parents, who have no clue about his sexual and drug-related activities.

Cast

Production

Casting

Several Greek Australian actors from Kokkinos' previous film, Only the Brave appear in this film. Elena Mandalis and Dora Kaskanis, protagonists of the previous film, again took on Greek Australian roles as Betty and Dina.[4] Eugenia Fragos was also cast as the mother of Ari (Dimitriades). She had previously played Mrs Stefanou, mother of Vicki (Kaskanis) in Only the Brave.[5]

Changes from the novel

The "bashing" scene at the police station, where Ari and Toula are assaulted by cops, was written for the film and does not come from the novel.[6] Such incidents were not uncommon at the time in Australia. Kokkinos hired a cop for the rehearsals period and asked if the scene was overblown, he responded “No. Quite the contrary.”[6]

Release

The film premiered in May 1998 at the Cannes Film Festival, three months ahead of its Australian premiere at the Melbourne International Film Festival.[1]

It also received premieres and screenings at film festivals around the world, including: 1998 Cannes Film Festival, Jerusalem Film Festival, Frameline Film Festival, Seattle International Film Festival, New Zealand Film Festival, Edinburgh International Film Festival and Gothenburg Film Festival, among others.[7]

It returned to the Melbourne International Film Festival for a special screening at the 2022 festival.[8]

It also had theatrical distribution in fifteen countries outside Australia, and secured a limited theatrical release in the United States.[1]

Reception

Box Office

It was a commercial success in Australia, as the third highest-grossing Australian film in 1998.[1]

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 63% based on reviews from 24 critics.[2] Film critics Margaret Pomeranz and David Stratton both gave the film 4.5 out of 5 stars on SBS.[9] Stratton also published a review inVariety praising Dimitrirades for his "fine, brave work", adding "Onscreen in virtually every scene, the young thesp utterly convinces as a reckless, hedonistic seeker of instant gratification."[10]

The film critic, Paul Byrnes wrote about the film's importance for the National Film and Sound Archive: "In terms of iconoclastic daring, Head On has no equal in Australian cinema...Head On is not just about the state of denial within the Greek community in Melbourne. It’s a bomb aimed at the placid and polite styles of Australian film." Byrnes concluded "It is more like a Scorsese film, a descent into a form of hell, in which the main character must battle his demons or die. The extraordinary finale, in which Ari dances on the docks where so many migrant families arrived on Australian soil, coupled with a narration that remains defiant and unapologetic, is one of the most beautiful and enigmatic endings of any Australian film."[3]

Head On divided the Greek community in Australia, Kokkinos said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. Kokkinos said "what it did is that it opened up a dialogue between younger Greeks and their parents. What the film has done is that it has broken down barriers."[11]

The film received a retrospective review in The Guardian in 2014: "Head On is social realism crossed with a nightmare; kitchen sink drama that enters the realm of the senses...But viewed as a slow-burning portrait of an extended nightmare – of a coming of age gone brutally wrong – the film is painfully brilliant."[12]

Accolades

Australian Film Institute

L.A. Outfest

  • Grand Jury Award: Outstanding Foreign Narrative Feature (Ana Kokkinos, won)

San Francisco International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival

  • Best First Feature (Ana Kokkinos, won)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f McWilliam, Kelly. “Head On: Centring the Other.” Ana Kokkinos: An Oeuvre of Outsiders, Edinburgh University Press, 2020, pp. 47–63. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3366/jj.7358670.7. Accessed 13 July 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Head On (1999)". Rotten Tomatoes. 3 October 2000. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  3. ^ a b Head On: I love you Betty National Film and Sound Archive. Retrieved on 12 July 2024
  4. ^ Loud and proud: rainbow stories on Australian screens Screen Australia. 11 December 2019
  5. ^ Only the Brave: 'Everyone has to do it, Alex' National Film and Sound Archive of Australia. Retrieved on 14 July 2024
  6. ^ a b INTERVIEWS: “Head On” with Anna Kokkinos: On Greeks, Queers, and Aussies Indie Wire. 12 August 1999
  7. ^ Selected awards and festivals Screen Australia. Retrieved on 14 July 2024
  8. ^ Head On Melbourne International Film Festival. Retrieved on 14 July 2024
  9. ^ Head On review: Shocking, confronting and dazzling SBS. 11 August 1998
  10. ^ Head 21 May 1998
  11. ^ Thomas, Kevin (2 September 1999). "MOVIES : Collision with Life : Director looks at what it means to be Greek and Australian, gay and conflicted". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
  12. ^ Head On rewatched – hot-blooded and hyper-styled social realism The Guardian. 19 September 2014

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Head_On_(1998_film)&oldid=1234373023"