Hail

Fifty-year-old convict Dan is released from prison and returns to his partner Leanne. They were born on the same day, they are in love with each other, they live together, they steal together... Dan’s repeated re-assimilation into society, however, is threatened by his predilection for alcohol and the awakening of internal demons whose rampaging leads Dan to bouts of aggression. Australian filmmaker Amiel Courtin-Wilson turned to Danny Jones’s autobiography in order to shoot a raw experimental drama about the life of the former convict. Jones plays himself in the movie, as do his friends, including his partner Leanne Letch, as a means of faithfully reconstructing his actual life story. The harshness of living on the fringes of society is combined with flashes of tenderness and love – and with brutal violence as well. The often unfocused camerawork sometimes captures the protagonist in unpleasant close-ups; this, combined with the varied musical score, makes the movie an intense viewing experience. (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival)