The
Greek immigrant experience in Australia is at the center of
Head On, directed by Ana Kokkinos and based
on the novel Loaded by Christos Tsiolkas. Parents try to force
children to behave as if they were still in Greece rather
than the freer environment of Melbourne, Australia. Nineteen-year-old
Ari (played by Alex Dimitriades), whose acting role model
seems to be early Marlon Brando, has little sense of self-worth,
since he has no job, and his parents still treat him like
a child. What's left for him to do? Have sex and make money
from selling drugs-and plenty of both during the day in his
life featured in the film. The sexually explicit encounters
mostly involve other men (blond Australian, Greek, Vietnamese),
though he proves his bisexuality, too. His friends are mostly
Greeks, including a drag queen Johnny (played by Paul Capsis),
several straight women, and several gays. The best part of
the film is the vitality of the Greek music and dancing, but
the sex scenes are never boring, showing that the pursuit
is for ecstasy, not love. When the film ends, Ari presents
an autobiographical voice-over that explains that he will
just keep on trying to do his best. The title, thus, is a
double entendre referring to his sexual proclivities as well
as to his desire to go forward with his life. MH
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want to comment on this film
