Head On (1998)

This is kinda xenophobic, right?

Okay, I get it: some people don't like when multiply-oppressed main characters end on top and expose the prejudices of society? I, and most people, loved them some "Color Purple," but others would just dismiss it as "PC." Here, an immigrant and a gay man is the main character. This work spends much more time showing him doing drugs, being racist, activing violent, etc., than it does exposing homophobia and xenophobia in Australia.

This work never suggests that Australia is homophobic. The English-derived gay guy is portrayed as good and wonderful. The fact that he beats the main character up for a fight that the main character stupidly started is a sign that this English guy is meant to be seen as better than the Greek immigrant. So my spidey sense says this work is xenophobic. There's no true look into how English-derived Australians may treat recent immigrants in nasty fashion. This film is much more about present a Greek immigrant young man as violent, hedonistic, selfish, disrespectful, and just evil.

It's funny to me how in the US, "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" was a hit and was designed to portray Greek immigrants in a positive, though silly, light. This work had the opposite effect and purpose. I wonder if this shows an angst about Greek immigrants in Australia that the US hasn't really had in more than a century. Politics aside, this movie was slow and overly long at times. I have no idea how the director thought the production of this film would make the world a better place. July 13, 2008

Lost and Hidden Youth

"Head On"

Lost and Hidden Youth

Amos Lassen

"Head On" is not a happy film but it is an amazing and beautiful look at the jaded 1990's and shows the painful truth which other gay films have avoided doing. For those of you that remember the 90's, you will no doubt remember a decade that seemed a void. Nothing much happened unlike the 80's when the world wallowed in high paced materialism. The 90's represent conservatism and caution and as a whole might be regarded as the ten years in which the world went to sleep. It was a time when everything that was happening had already been done before. It was characterized by grunge and remakes. The answers and ideas were here but there were no questions and retro ruled and the world exploited all. Cynicism and sarcasm were ways of life and a sense of ennui prevailed.
Ari (Alex Dimitriades) represents that ennui to a tee. He wants to feel something but is not able and this causes him to go to extremes. He tries to escape the world in any way he can--through drugs, sex, music and people. He wants to isolate himself in his own little mind and he races toward that goal. He is gay but has no feeling about it. He cannot imagine love because he does not know who he is and even though he does not trust reality yet he wants it. The film is about his quest, his journey as he passes through a world built on charades and chaos. He thirsts blindly and feels nothing.
Ari carries destructive energy with him wherever he goes. His journey is one of self-expression and there are no rules. He wants to identify with his own Greek heritage but wants no repression. He wants to identify with his past but only with his own sense of passion. He says he is not proud to be Greek that he just is.
"Head On" deals with the alienation of youth and the generation gap and several other modern urban issues. We see that Ari is happy when he is stoned and has sex and this is what was so sad and true of so many in the 90's. The film is disturbing and powerful and it is its honesty that is responsible for this. Dimitriades gives quite a performance as the nihilistic Ari and he carries and owns this film and I am not sure whether he is a revelation or just repulsive. But the movie is a small masterpiece that looks deeply at where many will not dare to go.
April 19, 2008

Very Disappointing!

This was definitely not entertaining in any sense of the word. So negative, in fact, that I wondered what it was trying to achieve. The premise of a 19 year old dealing with his sexuality, family culture, and resulting self-destructive behavior seemed like an interesting start. From there, the movie drags us through the character's unbelievable encounters with grungy men, an equally unbelievable encounter with police, other idiotic misdeeds, boozing, drugs, and violence. In the end, we are left with a repulsively pathetic loser. This seems to do little more than promote a dissuading stereotype. February 7, 2008

Not very enjoyable

Not something to watch if you're looking for fun or entertainment. It's a dark story about family rejection that takes itself a bit too seriously. A few scenes (especially the police scene) are so over the top that it's difficult to take the film seriously. Skip it. February 3, 2008

I finally received

I finally received this dvd last wenesday. I watched this film and it's really good.
Thank you for attention!
Andre Luiz January 24, 2008

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