Bum

Last night I went to Revolver for the premiere of 'Bum', a feature length documentary by two guys I go to uni with, Callum Padgham and Tavis Urquhart. Such an impressive effort, to make a feature film in first year uni.

Anyway, it was a really good night, there was a big crowd and a bunch of Swinburne folks to catch up with. I got in there early, armed myself with a pint and scored one of the few seats in a prime position.

I thought the film itself was excellent. The gist of the doco was that Callum spent 7 nights living on the streets of Melbourne, essentially walking a mile in the shoes of the city's homeless. And by the end of the week, those shoes were looking pretty holey. I must admit, when I first heard the premise of the film, I was a little apprehensive. For one, the idea has been played out before, most recently an episode of 'Dave in the Life' on SBS focused on this very concept. Also, the concept certainly raises the issue of just how close can someone really get to being truly homeless? There are a number of issues associated with homelessness, such as mental illness, physical disability and abuse that are difficult to examine within this film's framework. However, I reckon the film dealt with these intrinsic problems quite well. The main thing was that it remained consistent in asserting that it was presenting a specific individual's experience of homelessness and that this was not at all representative of homelessness as a whole. This was an important point that was reiterated throughout the film and especially at it's conclusion. The point was made that Callum's experience was a particularly lucky and unique one. His was almost the best possible scenario and it was still pretty bad, raising the idea of how bad things could really be for those in less fortunate circumstances.

The key to the film's success was definitely Callum himself. Essentially the viewer is being asked to spend 90 minutes or so with him non-stop so it's important that he remains an entertaining but also sympathetic character. Fortunately, he manages to be charismatic and funny throughout, while also not strictly playing everything for laughs. There is a point quite early on in the film where he risks losing the audience (I won't reveal the moment here cos it will spoil it). However, rather than lose the audience, this moment provoked a roar of laughter at the screening last night. It's a point in the film that shows that Callum is willing to push things to the limit and I reckon it's the point that actually won the audience over. It's an important moment in the film as it sets the uncompromising tone of the whole thing. It's probably for this reason that the film works a lot better than the episode of 'Dave in the Life'. In that show, there is always the sense that Dave is living the experience through the people he meets rather than totally immersing himself in the situation. In 'Bum' however, Callum appears to totally immerse himself in this 7 days and in turn, it immerses the viewer in the film.

Overall it's a bloody good effort, this film. The film certainly raises a number of ethical issues throughout, and it's definitely thought provoking. It really stands on the line between hilarious hi-jinks and serious issues but somehow it retains a sense of balance. The film is very funny, highlights include Callum going to bed on the casino floor, taking an unauthorised dip in a hotel pool and also giving new meaning to the "all you can eat" buffet. These more comedic scenes are used to good effect and are interwoven with other moments that present some really interesting truths about homelessness. In particular, the scene at the end of the film where Callum helps a homeless man in need is very poignant. It's quite a complex multi-layered film really, but then, so are the issues that it's addressing. There's a lot going on here and there's a lot to take in and it doesn't offer any simple answers. It's damn entertaining though and I'm still thinking about it.