Summary
Australia’s anarchistic sons get an ambitious tale of power and betrayal in this stylishly-shot debut.
The mythos around motorcycle gangs sometimes looms as large as the western frontier. From The Wild One through Easy Rider, cinema has depicted bikers as the last of the free citizens. Stephen McCallum’s 1% lands at the Sons of Anarchy end of the scale, where even lawlessness comes with strict codes and Shakespearean consequences.
Written by star Matt Nable, the film takes on the fictional Copperheads Motorcycle Club. President Knuck (Nable) has been in jail for years, with trusted right-hand man Paddo (Ryan Corr) running the organisation at its peak in his absence. However, when Knuck wants to take back control of the club, Paddo’s ambitious girlfriend Katrina (Abbey Lee) starts urging him to stake his claim.
There’s a lot going on in 1%, with almost a television season’s worth of story threads squeezed into a feature film. Kunck’s wife Hayley (Simone Kessell) wants a child, while Knuck is preferring same-sex relationships post-prison. A rival gang led by Sugar (the always terrific Aaron Pedersen) offers legitimacy, but becomes a sticking point between Knuck’s old world and Paddo’s new one. It’s familiar territory, but punching above its weight in terms of scale.
Nable, known recently for his tough guy roles on shows such as Arrow, is a straight-up beast as Knuck. Oozing sinister charm at every turn, it’s a shame he felt that his character also needed to commit random acts of rape against male accountants in order to make him ‘tougher’ somehow. The real hero of casting is Kessell, a truly tough cookie in a world of chest-puffing men. Paddo’s brother Skink (Josh McConville) is cast as the Shakespearean fool, seeing more than his intellect would suggest, but inadvertently bringing about tragedy.
Shelley Farthing-Dawe (Pawno, That’s Not Me) fills every frame with beautiful and gritty photography. At some moments, you can almost feel the sweat and grease dripping off the warehouses and clubs the characters inhabit. At other times, the entire screen is lit up with the pink neon glow of sex and strippers. Awesome music choices range from Swans to The Birthday Party, which is pretty much what we imagine our personal soundtrack would be in a biker wasteland.
1% is an ambitious genre film, one that is indicative of the places Australian cinema could go on the international cult stage. Culminating in a massive shootout, and a couple of twists you may not see coming, it’s a successor to Animal Kingdom in Australia’s pantheon of crime families.
2018 | Australia | DIRECTOR: Stephen McCallum | WRITERS: Matt Nable | CAST: Matt Nable, Ryan Corr, Abbey Lee, Simone Kessell, Aaron Pedersen, Josh McConville | DISTRIBUTOR: Sydney Film Festival, Icon Film Distribution (AUS) | RUNNING TIME: 92 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 9 June 2018 (SFF), 11 October 2018 (AUS)
