Heavy hitter: Powerhouse Perth drama makes strong claim for title of best-ever WA movie

When Perth writer-director David Vincent Smith was awarded $750,000 through ScreenWest’s West Coast Visions initiative to upscale short film I’m Not Hurting You into a feature, the news filled me with a mix of admiration — he’s a terrific filmmaker and thoroughly deserved the award — and, to be honest, dread.

Drawing on his own traumatic family history, Smith’s award-winning short tells the story of a young woman so physically and emotionally exhausted by having to care for her drug-addicted younger brother she hatches a plot to lock him up and force him to go cold turkey.

It’s an important topic — Perth recently reclaimed the unwelcome crown of “meth capital of Australia” and many families are going through the hell of addiction — but did I really want to endure 1½ hours of a young man going through the agony of detoxification while long-suffering family struggle to stay the course?

My fear for a depressing, self-satisfied drama that wallows in misery was completely unfounded as Smith’s first full-length film is a sensational, an immaculately crafted, beautifully balanced family drama that wonders if it is possible to love someone too much, that sometimes it might be better for everyone involved to let go.

I was so taken by the filmmaking skill on display and the wonderfully nuanced performances of Leila George and her real-life mother Greta Scacchi, who play the frazzled Jade and her equally exhausted mum Bev, and Sam Corlett as the once-beautiful young man whose addiction has reduced him to terrorising his own family.

While He Ain’t Heavy is inspired by his personal struggle with a family member caught up in the vicious cycle of addiction — “It got so bad I fantasised about doing exactly what Jade does in the movie,” he says — Smith wanted to tell a universal story of a people whose ability to think clearly in a desperate situation is clouded by love.

“I didn’t want He Ain’t Heavy to feel like an addiction film. We’ve seen that before and it would be a waste of time. We know what people are like when they are taking drugs,” the East Victoria Park filmmaker tells me in an Albany Highway cafe.

“This is a film about family, about empathy, about the relationship between a brother and a sister. It is more a film about a sister detoxing from her brother.

“There is no sense in going dark for the sake of going dark. You have to validate why you are doing it and it never felt necessary.

“It would have hijacked the film and taken it another direction. Films that have done that in this territory have been just about that.”

While Smith doesn’t want the discussion of He Ain’t Heavy to be derailed by the traumatic family history that inspired the movie there’s no getting away from the fact that this is a deeply personal story, which accounts for its realism, its truth and its nuanced treatment of potentially despairing material. You feel the hurt in every frame.

“My career as a filmmaker was going well, but I had to sacrifice my own mental health and my relationships to help this family member who I love. I was caught between two worlds,” Smith says.

One of Smith’s coups was securing the Perth-born, UK-based Golden Globe-nominated Scacchi and her daughter George, who at the time she was cast was married to American star Sean Penn.

“To be honest they were not on my radar,” says Smith.

“I was making a small film. It was Sam’s agent who suggested Greta and Leila [all three are handled by the same agent].

“The idea of a real-life mother and daughter seemed really interesting. And it would be the first time either worked together on film. Fortunately, they loved the script, which is always the lynchpin for getting good actors.”

Smith says the chemistry between Scacchi and George was palpable from their very first scene together, despite the younger actor’s qualms working with the person who knows her best.

“Leila said to me, ‘It was like having your mum in your classroom’,” Smith says.

“But that is not how they worked together. They totally opened themselves up and used their history and their relationship to incredible effect.”

The presence of Scacchi and George along with the Brad Pitt-like Corlett, who captured global attention for his role in the series Viking, brought a touch of Hollywood glamour to Gosnells, where the film was mostly shot in a breathtakingly quick three weeks, a feat that requires rigorous preparation.

“I tend to over-prepare,” laughs Smith.

“I created a 400-page bible in which I map out what I want to do with every scene. What am I trying to do visually? What am I trying to communicate thematically? This preparation allowed me to totally focus on the performances.”

Smith is unusual among his generation of filmmakers because of his passion for international art cinema. While his contemporaries were mainlining on horror and fantasy Smith came of age watching European masters such as Krzysztof Kieslowski and Robert Bresson.

“You know you’ve made something special when it creates conversation and provokes discussion”

David Vincent Smith

This passion for subtleties of cinematic storytelling is evident in He Ain’t Heavy, which keeps much of the grisly stuff off-screen as he grapples with the psychological and emotional fallout.

“These films feel much more sophisticated than what was on at the multiplexes. They force you to question what the characters are doing,” Smith says.

“They are full of ellipses that demand you to fill in the gaps and think about what you’re watching. I respect their intelligence and open-endedness.”

He Ain’t Heavy was unveiled at the Sydney Film Festival followed by an appearance at the Melbourne Film Festival.

It did not make the shortlist for the CinefestOz $100,000 film prize, depriving the judges of the opportunity to anoint what could be the best film to come out of the booming West Australian film industry (an oversight that will surely be rued by organisers).

Smith says he was overwhelmed by the reception it has received, auguring well for the Australian cinema release week.

“A lot of people approached me after the screening to tell me their own story,” he says.

“We seem to have unlocked a door to their own pain and suffering that they had been too ashamed to talk about.

“You know you’ve made something special when it creates conversation and provokes discussion.”

He Ain’t Heavy opens nationally on Thursday.