Flathead, MIFF review: a striking portrait of working class life

In Flathead, Cass Cumerford, an elderly and frail man, has returned to his trauma-laden hometown of Bundaberg to find salvation. But where can those seeking salvation find what they desire most? In the church? In nature? At the bottom of a beer glass, or perhaps in the eyes of others?

Meanwhile, Andrew Wong, a Chinese-Australian chip-shop owner, has a journey parallel to Cass’s. Desperate to hold onto the things in life that give him meaning, his purpose is slowly slipping away due to the natural progression of time. In their stories we find mirror reflections and shadows of each other’s grief. Cass was once a father – a lacking one, he admits. Andrew is the only son of a Chinese immigrant, holding up the family business while his father is dying. Both are searching for something no longer in reach.

Without any narration or talking heads to frame their story, Flathead instead treats us to a quietly revelatory work of observation and social realism. Its striking black and white colour grade is occasionally interwoven with Cass and Andrew’s own self-videos in full colour, giving us a tapestry of multiple points of view – a poetic work that’s framed by bookending titles about the cost of living crisis and work shortages in Bundaberg, Queensland.

Read: MIFF 2024: Australian films

Life in black and white

Lightly fictionalised – in the sense that some scenes are recreations where the subjects play themselves – and always non-judgemental in its presentation, Jaydon Martin’s directorial debut sits somewhere between the styles of Frederick Wiseman and Agnes Varda. Meaning, it’s a film that collects scenes in a structure with no distinct climax in mind, where real life is presented as a ‘stranger than fiction’ dream sequence, and real people play themselves without attempting to ‘act’ (or theatricalise the truth). It leads you along slowly, and as you surely grow closer to its subjects, the film gains more meaning in each scene.

The monochrome cinematography allows for some beautiful, memorable shots: meat being sliced and processed methodically in a butcher, a farmers paddock being ripped up by a man doing doughnuts in a white van, Cass’ brain scan in an MRI machine, and the daily goings on of the Wongs’ Busy Bee Fish and Chip Shop.

These images enrich the work as a whole, immersing the viewer in the intimate portrait that director Jaydon Martin paints one frame at a time – they also confront and challenge, at times making me so uncomfortable (for example, when Cass is shown naked and alone in his flat, or drinking too much at the pub) that I questioned whether I should be privy to everything being shown.

There’s also a very interesting subtext at play in Flathead. The focus on ritual and ceremony, whether that be picking and packing fruit and veg, opening and closing a chip shop every day, ‘shooting shit’ (figuratively and literally), lighting bonfires, or smoking a durry every hour, seems to suggest that these people who are so desperate to find spiritual meaning may be missing what’s been present in their lives the entire time.

While I think what audiences take away from this film will be completely subjective, I quite enjoyed my time spend with Cass and Andrew and the townsfolk of Bundaberg. There is a simple pleasure in sitting in on the routines and conversations of people you would not normally get to know so intimately. Some moments made me want to leap through the screen and offer my two cents, before being reminded that the point isn’t to weigh in, but to simply witness.

Named after an Australian fish that’s ‘not classically handsome,’ but is widely utilised in food consumption, Flathead is aptly named for a documentary that presents an unvarnished look at rural life in Bundaberg – one of the country’s most vital agricultural regions. The township, lifestyle, and real human beings on display in the film are not what you would call ‘beautiful’, but it’s all about how you slice it.

The necessity of food production in Bundaberg, shown in close up and juxtaposed in wide shots with Andrew and Cass’ search for spiritual enlightenment and community, reveals a beauty that was under the surface the whole time.

‘That’s real Australia,’ as Andrew says. None of the fake stuff.

Flathead is showing at the Melbourne International Film Festival from next week. For more information, head to the MIFF website.

Director Jaydon Martin is a guest of the festival and will be in attendance at the Sunday 11 and Tuesday 13 August sessions. He will also appear in Documenting Fact & Fiction: Trust Issues on Tuesday 20 August.