Head On (1998)

Director:

Ana Kokkinos

Writers:

Andrew Bovell (written by)
Ana Kokkinos (writer)
Mira Robertson (writer)

Release Date:

13 August 1998 (Australia)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

full on - all night - come on

Plot:

A 19 year old Greek youth struggles with his sexual identity and has several homosexual and a clumsy heterosexual encounters.

Plot Keywords:

Greek | Sex | Dancing | Gay | Drugs

Awards:

9 wins & 15 nominations

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Alex Dimitriades	...	Ari
Paul Capsis	...	Johnny
Julian Garner	...	Sean
Elena Mandalis	...	Betty
Tony Nikolakopoulos	...	Dimitri
Damien Fotiou	...	Joe
Eugenia Fragos	...	Sophia
Dora Kaskanis	...	Dina
María Mercedes	...	Tasia
Alex Papps	...	Peter
Vassili Zappa	...	Vassili
Andrea Mandalis	...	Alex
Chris Kaglaros	...	Groom
Ourania Sideropoulos	...	Bride
Anthony Lyritzis	...	Boy in Car

Also Known As:

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

Australia

Language:

English | Greek

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

New Zealand:R18 | Argentina:18 | Australia:MA (Cable TV rating) | Australia:R | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:III | UK:18

Filming Locations:

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Company:

Australian Film Finance Corporation (AFFC)

Goofs:

Continuity: In a sex scene between Aria and Dina, the actress' sweater is buttoned closed but her body double's sweater is fully open.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Another Gay Movie (2006)

Soundtrack:

Freak

Sharp, excellent story-telling

Truly a great little movie! The story moved at a good pace through-out and kept me very interested to see what would happen next. With so many movies these days, I keep checking the time because they are so terribly uneven and my interest is not held. Not with this one--very riveting and moving story. It did an excellent job of "showing" what our young protagonist (someone used the term anti-hero for him--I like that) was going through. Really liked the way the drug highs were portrayed. The voice overs were sparse--this film did not talk me to death or insult my intelligence by explaining everything. How very refreshing! Visually you went with Ari where he was going whether you liked it or not. I also really liked it because it was at times raw and visceral--life is like that sometimes for us, and for others like Ari, it's like that most of the time.

Hurray for the male frontal nudity! It's not only women that have beautiful bodies. Johnny only had a couple scenes, but he upstaged Ari in every one. What a remarkable character to throw into the mix! I would be friends with him in a heartbeat.

If you like movies about real people trying to figure out their place in the world, do yourself a favor and see this film.