West Of Sunshine

Synopsis:  Western suburbs courier Jim (Damian Hill) has until close of business to pay back a gambling debt while at the same time looking after his young son, Alex (Ty Perham).

To an Australian audience a “Western suburbs” film means crime, drugs and dirty deeds done dirt cheap, be it in Idiot Box (1996) or Animal Kingdom (2011). Although writer-director Jason Raftopoulos’s feature debut certainly has these elements, as its title suggests, West of Sunshine (“Sunshine” refers to the suburb at the epicentre of Melbourne’s Western sprawl) is a kind of poetic realist portrait set during one day in the life of its principal character, Jim.

JIm’s basically a good bloke. He’s a driver for a courier service for which his best mate (Arthur Angel) also drives, and he wants to get back with his estranged wife (Faye Smythe) and son (Ty Perham). As signified by the early ’70s V8 Ford Fairlane that he inherited from his father, Alex has one foot squarely planted in the Aussie working class ethos of the Western suburbs. But he has also drifted into the lure of easy money and so to a gambling debt of $15,000 he can’t pay to his thuggish one-time boss (Tony Nikolakopoulos). After winning the money at the races then losing it all he tries running drugs for a former girlfriend (Kat Stewart) but he proves to be not very good at it.

To its credit the main focus of the film is not on these familiar plot elements but on Jim’s relationship with his early-teenage son, Alex, as the two trundle around Melbourne in Jim’s car making deliveries (for which Raftopoulos uses real locations and non-professional actors) but also sharing vital quality time together. Alex is a sensitive boy who has been hurt by his parents‘ separation and he is at times truculent with his Dad. The latter, deeply stressed-out by the approaching deadline is at times short-tempered with his son. Tempers flare but what is important for both of them is the rare opportunity to spend time together. The rewards gained are beautifully portrayed in a late scene set around Port Melbourne at early twilight as father and son cut each other’s hair.  Damian Hill is completely convincing as Jim whilst debut performer Perham interacts with him with winning naturalism (it no doubt helped that in real life he is Hill’s stepson).

The film has some tonal inconsistencies, notably a couple of scenes from which nothing really develops in which Jim visits an attractive female friend (Eliza D'Souza) and a resolution which would have benefited from a considerably lighter touch. Also at times Thom Neal’s photography which tends to vary between close quarter interiors and long shot exteriors (Melbourne audiences will enjoy identifying the many recognizable sights) seen from the car’s point of view can feel a little wearing, particularly when shot at 90 degrees through the moving passenger window. But for the most part West of Sunshine is a well-judged, economical film that makes excellent use of its limited resources.

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