Image: Steve Le Marquand in Broke photograph courtesy Vision Splendid Outback Film Festival.
As much as familiarity can breed contempt, it can also evoke comfort, allow catharsis and offer a challenge. As it charts an ostensibly standard redemption arc, they’re the paths Broke endeavours to follow, turning well-worn beats into a sensitive portrait of failing to live up to expectations and then trying not to repeat the same mistakes over and over again. The feature’s tone isn’t quite hopeful but it’s not willing to wholly submit to solemnity or tragedy either. Indeed, there’s a reason it is coloured in blues and greys but slowly starts to allow sunnier shades to creep into the frame – and a reason that it rarely tears itself away from the barely flickering yet never quite extinguished spark in its protagonist’s eyes.
Broke opens with the downtrodden BK (Steve Le Marquand, One Eyed Girl) pleading for change on the streets of his hometown but finding the majority of his fellow locals unmoved by his predicament. Their disdain comes with baggage, as does the kindness offered by the ageing Cecil (Max Cullen, Goldstone). Cecil first offers him something to eat and then a place to sleep for the night. The elation that spreads across his adult daughter Terri’s (Claire van der Boom, Chronic) face upon seeing their new houseguest and the sporting memorabilia littered across their living room helps explain the multitude of mixed reactions BK inspires. Also known as Ben Kelly, he was once a champion rugby league player beloved by his community, until a raft of bad decisions stripped him of his fame and fortune leaving him homeless, alone, and desperate to feed his crippling gambling habit.
While exploring an attempt to right, avoid, and overcome past wrongs may be commonplace, first-time feature writer/director Heath Davis also intertwines his tale with a ripped-from-the-headlines scenario (albeit more in a general rather than a specific sense).
As Broke follows the often self-sabotaging BK’s efforts to get his life back on track with Cecil’s encouragement, Terri’s romantic interest, and the somewhat tentative support of his former teammate turned cop Sherro (Steve Bastoni, Truth), it also dissects the other side of life in the spotlight: the indulgence that springs from too much readily available cash and spare time; the ease in which a privileged existence can plunge into darkness; the emptiness that can accompany the end of on-field achievements and the fickle nature of infamy and adulation among them. Further, the movie contemplates the complicated ties between heroes and fans, as well as the one-way impression of connection that thrives with success and turns bitter with failure.
As a result, the part of BK proves more complex than it might initially might seem, as does the surrounding feature. After a career largely playing thug-like characters in everything from Two Hands to Last Train to Freo, Le Marquand brings an air of presumed shadiness to the role and then works hard subvert it. His is a committed, stripped-bare portrayal that rallies against the seeming obviousness of his casting and the inevitability of the story, giving what might’ve otherwise seemed clichéd the weight of authenticity. While not every narrative turn Davis takes is quite as nuanced – particularly the appearance of Terri’s ex (Damian Hill, Pawno), the machinations of a ruthless pawnshop owner (Justin Rosniak, Down Under), and an angry tirade launched by a former supporter turned addicted gambler (Brendan Cowell, Last Cab to Darwin) –his script is boosted by its compelling lead performance.
Cullen is so rarely seen given such significant screen time in recent years. And van der Boom, who makes her adoring single mother a source of both solace and drama, also help give the film a lived-in feel. Apart from its leading man, however, Broke‘s most influential figure is its cinematographer. In only his second full-length feature credit following 2015’s Bedlam, Chris Bland gives the insular, introverted tale the expressive touch it needs. There may be little that’s overwhelmingly surprising in his choices, and yet neither the imagery nor the feature it furnishes buckles under the weight of convention; instead, both bring the fresh perspectives and sentiments required to turn a recognisable effort into a thoughtful character study.
Rating: 3 stars out of 5
Broke
Director: Heath Davis
Australia 2016 106 mins
Vision Splendid Outback Film Festival
24 June – 2 July 2016
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