Ghosts... of the Civil Dead - 1988 - 93 minutes - Directed by John HillcoatStarring David Field, Mike Bishop, Chris DeRose, Kevin Mackey, Dave Mason, Nick Cave
Ghosts... of the Civil Dead is a dark, harrowing pre-cursor to Hillcoat's later work, utilizing documentary style techniques to illustrate the devastation wrought by and against prisoners in an Australian maximum security prison. The film is unwavering in its depiction of such brutal events that the audience is stunned by both Hillcoat's willingness to bring us into this filthy, unsympathetic world of disgust and exploitation, as well as his ability to bring beauty to its cold and menacing exteriors. The prison itself is a monument to progress, at least to the 1980's idea of progress, the only thing more commonly shown than clunky digital read outs is the rampant pornography, the constant need for sexual release abated by continuous stimulation. The prisoners are drunk on what is one of their few remaining outlets, and as the powers that be remove their possessions, their access to media, and their drugs, they become startlingly sober and aware of a world that has been crafted specifically against their better interests.
The system's intentions have been corroded so deeply and so thoroughly that it now instigates violence through a combination of deprivation and aggravation, mixing the general population of the prison with the psychotics, no better exemplified than by Nick Cave's Maynard, a sickening racist psychopath whose singular trait is an abrasive need for attention, exercised so repeatedly that he drives other inmates into a frantic state of paranoia. While the film has no traditional protagonist, we can feel Hillcoat's sympathy is blatantly on the side of the prisoners and the guards, the pawns in a power struggle occurring far from the film's setting. Manipulation is evident in every frame of the film, from the system's outrageous demands which applies enough pressure as to force the general population to fragment, forming assassination squads and carrying out various misdeeds.Hillcoat's take on the prison system is a remarkable one for its breadth, he (along with co-writers Cave, Gene Conkie, Evan English and Hugo Race) approaches the inherent corruption of authority with an understandably bleak perspective, one which refuses to allow any wiggle room for the difficulty of the prevailing political climate. In Ghosts... of the Civil Dead, he submits to the belief that the political machinations behind all systems of government are selfish, morally bankrupt institutions which are more malicious than the worst criminals Australian society has to offer (Australia here working quite well as a stand-in for every nation where justice is tied in with profit). As the film progresses this vision becomes increasingly harrowing and those elements which begin the film as untrustworthy or as unstable are soon out of control, chaotic representatives of a damaged whole.
The film's mise-en-scene is particularly striking, Hillcoat striving for singular images which stick out in the mind as opposed to completely naturalistic sequences. His usage of surveillance footage combined with documentary style close ups combine to advance his thematic concerns, and while this style can put quite a strain on the narrative, Hillcoat side-steps this obstacle by developing an almost intuitive rhythmic balance, alternating between the visibly artificial and the wholly realistic. Where the film fails, however, is in its approach to the more climactic sequences where tension is amplified considerably with the threat of violence, violence which largely appears explosive. Although we get a sense in at least two sequences of the kind of vulnerability those who are confined are subject to, this vulnerability is never combined with the more frantic scenes, nullifying what could've been a powerful effect on certain centerpiece action scenes.
For a first feature Ghosts... of the Civil Dead is exemplary of the kind of innovative cinema which I relish, the perfect usage of the kind of freedom few filmmakers have once establishing their reputation. While not as stunning or as cohesive as The Proposition, nor as relentless and eloquent as The Road, Ghosts... of the Civil Dead is powerful filmmaking from a very confident, sure-footed young director. At no point does the film seem indecisive, or even remotely cautious. Hillcoat refuses to play it safe, and when dealing with such a divisive issue this is often the best approach. Ghosts... of the Civil Dead works for several reasons, from Hillcoat's strong composition to the universally excellent acting (accentuated by the multitude of performances from real ex-convicts, prison guards and the like), from the exhaustive dialogue to the mish-mash of visual styles. An eclectic mix but one which is more than effective.———————————————————————————————-
Ghosts of the Civil Dead at Amazon.










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