Head On (1998)

Director:

Ana Kokkinos

Writers:

Andrew Bovell (written by)
Ana Kokkinos (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 Family | Sexuality | Homosexual | Drugs | Gay Sex

Awards:

9 wins & 15 nominations

Cast

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

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: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:

Gonna See My Baby Tonight

Head On is Spot On

Head On is almost certainly the best film I'll see in 1998. I saw The Travelling Sydney Film Festival on the same weekend. So Head On is in exalted company indeed. And Head On is an Australian Film! Our strongest artistic expressions are cross cultural; those mergers and clashes that result from our second and third generation migrants growing up in Australia. Until the last few years we Aussies have tried to kid ourselves that we are exclusively Anglo Saxon people on the big screen, conveniently forgetting Eastern European and Asian migration, not to mention our Aboriginal brothers and sisters. So we've tended to wallow in vague Dad And Dave rural soapies, Horse Operas of the Phar Lap type or nostalgic, ANZAC and Breaker Morant homages to the mother country, ignoring the fact that we are one of the most urbanised countries on the planet, and that most of us have parents who weren't from within five hundred ks of London. Head On is about Ari (Alex Dimitriades), a 19 year old homosexual Greek Australian living in St Kilda Melbourne. He's a lost soul, enveloped in a broiling sea of parental conflict, drugs and sex. He's "not proud to be Greek. He just is." A myriad of urban dilemmas are raised in Head On, nearly all of which are profoundly realised, but only through the briefly attentive eyes of a spaced out malcontent like Ari. I was reminded of that masterful scene in that early Scorcese film called Mean Streets; a scene which has never been bettered at showing what it is like to be drunk. But Ari isn't only drunk, he's on a cocktail of speed, cocaine and God knows what else and he's full of resentment. There's a scene in Head On where he and another unhappy soul, his cousin Betty (Elena Mandalis), slump in a toilet together, sharing their unhappiness, in a brief interlude before the madness resumes. It's a poignant, sad scene, where we realise just how desperate and empty lust and drugs alone can be. But when Ari is offered love he rejects it, violently. And that's a pattern repeated in Head On. People lurch in and out of Head On who have yet to, or one suspects may never, achieve a viable feeling of self worth. They strike out against commitment and self worth, indulging in hedonism because they can. Their parents have made the sacrifices. That looks boring to the children. Materialism is as easy as the next drug deal. Love is as easy as the next screw. Head On (the alternative title Hard On is a particularly apt Freudian slip, one that I've been guilty of) is about the alienation of youth, particularly homosexual youth. It's also about the generation gap, magnified by Ari's Greek migrant parents. And Head On is about a dozen other, contemporary urban issues. Racism is addressed with some feeling, in the film's weakest segment, but Ari's not too concerned really. He's reasonably happy just if he gets stoned and laid; sad but true of so many. Writer/director Ana Kokkinos has masterfully introduced us to the Ari's turbulent St Kilda world. Her film is fascinating and world class. Alex Dimitriades (Heartbreak High) is fantastic. Head On is spot on.