HAIL

Danny (Daniel P. Jones) gets out of prison and returns to Leanne (Leanne Letch). The two try to lead an ordinary life: looking for work, getting through the day, not letting the old crowd catch up with them. It is a fragile happiness, and when Leanne dies, it tips into grief and then into violence – Danny goes after those he holds responsible, and between the outbursts Leanne returns in dream sequences, suspended between the living and the dead. “Hail” by Amiel Courtin-Wilson, Australia 2011: Jones and Letch play versions of themselves, and Jones’s own history of imprisonment has gone into the film.

Courtin-Wilson, who had previously made documentaries and knew Jones from his short film “Cicada”, pitches his feature debut between document and fiction: nervous handheld camera in the fight scenes, then aerial shots and long close-ups in which time stands still. The premiere took place in the Orizzonti competition at Venice in 2011 – the first Australian feature in ten years to be selected there. The Guardian later placed it third on its list of the best Australian films of the decade. The film was shown at Around the World in 14 Films in Berlin in 2012.

Shown at the 2012 edition of Around the World in 14 Films.

All films 2012 · Film Archive