Spit | Dir: Jonathan Teplitzky | ★ ★ ★ ★
Twenty-three years after the release of the cult classic Australian film, Gettin’ Square, that film’s iconic character Johnny Spitieri (aka Johnny Spit) returns to the screen, played once again by David Wenham.
Johnny Spit was a small-time criminal and after more than two decades overseas, he attempts to slip back into Australia on a false passport. The first the audience sees are the iconic thongs of this consummate Bogan as he unselfconsciously clip-clops through the airport terminal.
Although Spit steals a new pair of thongs along the way, he is not arrested for any crime, but for a visa irregularity. He is locked up in a detention centre with a massive target on his back from old enemies who had thought he had died.
Spit is depicted as a quintessential Australian loser, but it is difficult to know whether he is the smartest or the dumbest guy in the room. He seems genuinely caring and unjudgmental, befriending a group of refugees in the detention centre and trying to teach them how to be good Australians – in a totally hilarious and inappropriate way.
Even though David Wenham’s character’s explanation on the meaning of the word “fuck” is the stuff legends are made of, this reformed junkie is more than just a source of laughter. The film gives Spit’s back story and his reconnection to a long-lost sister, who is deaf and has a son.
The film gives some insight into the lives of refugees. Jihad (Arol Green whose mother fled from Iraq) becomes Spit’s best mate and several other detainee characters and extras in the film are also played by people who themselves were refugees and immigrants to Australia.
As David Wenham says, “there are heaps of laughs in Spit. But it’s also a film that will leave the audience exiting the cinema just feeling good. It’s an uplifting film. There are moments of pathos through the film but, ultimately, it’s a celebration of life.”
David Wenham will be in Perth for a live-in-cinema Q&A on Wednesday 5 March at Luna Leederville.
Lezly Herbert
