
The unique scrimshaw of David Vincent Smith in his directorial offerings entitled `He Ain’t Heavy’ is bindingly poignant and awe-inspiring. The film ‘He Ain’t Heavy’ tells the tale of one single-family confronted by the aftermath of mental sickness and substance abuse and the degree to which the afflicted individual can be assisted by them. There is some hello-good-bye in the life of Jade (Leila George); Max( Sam Corlett) is some sort of an evil demon who comes as a wrong move. She has been in a ‘hang in the balance’ state as she has failed in her efforts to ward off the unduly violent gaffes of Max (Riley Voelkel). Initially, she has this wild idea about his using some fibbing to move along with the detoxing center, the programs that he has undergone so far have failed, so why not?
In the more rural parts of Perth, a heated debate has ensued over Jade’s efforts to help rehabilitate Max in her grandparents’ house to turn it into sick quarters. To jade Max’s fun-loving side as a source of stress and added pressure to her Mother Bev, when holding on to old memories turned the house into a storage space. However, for Bev, the house turned into a semi-vacation home alongside her kids. Time and again, Jade is reminded by her mother that Max is not only her son but he is also young and vulnerable, from the family’s standpoint I can understand why they would lash out on jade. Though for jade I understand why she is no longer willing to be romantized by the anger coming from the family.
Though it has affected her marriage, Valerie is ready to admit she loves him. Now Jade is 30 years old, and she finds herself going through serious changes as she watches her peers reach more advanced stages of life, such as marriage, beginning their careers, and then starting a family. But the addiction has turned Max into what she now refers to as “Not Max,” as her younger brother who used to excitedly learn how to play their first guitar or pass notes to her is now gone. Yes, Max is incredibly strong, yet intense and dangerously volatile. Apart from Bev, Jade wishes to see that young man who had great promise and real potential, but who was subsequently transformed into a beast by mental illness and addiction. In her opinion, the only thing that could restore Max is to shut him up and make him stop. There has to be a battering stage though—Max has to be jammed down in a temper and flinging things about or shouting insults to get to that point.
David Vincent Smith is a talented film director who ensures to balance the diverging opinions in He Ain’t Heavy. While best friends Beverly and Jade are at loggerheads as to what to do about their son Max. To Bev, it is obvious that the boy is beyond repair due to drugs baby finds him always in the emergency ward after any of his drug-fueled tantrums but she never wants to set the boundary that according to Jade again she is supposed to set. But he is still that little child who has to be cared for, whom she has not lost yet. One of the most heartrending moments of the film is when Max’s mother holds him in the center of the Pietà while rubbing off the scars from Max’s self-wounds, like Mary. To Jade, Max’s hands striking against the wall in an attempt to get through were able to punch a hole in it. She could have killed him or he could have been about to kill her. Max’s good moods are often followed by reminiscing, smoking, and singing sessions with Jade.
Most significantly, Smith never loses sight of Max’s humanity. In one of the flashbacks, Jade and her friends are seen taking Max up to a doctor’s office in the emergency ward of a hospital because he is having a full-blown panic attack. Max and his friends have to wait for a long time in a space made of glaring lights accompanied by a cacophony of sounds as they are forced to do so by the circumstances. The setting has its issues and does not have any contingency to stay in place to ensure Max does not fall from a height. What began in self-medication of trauma and other mental health conditions graduated into the notorious self-medication of homelessness coupled with drug and alcohol abuse a pattern which is all too much the norm.
He Ain’t Heavy is as moving as it is the depiction of humanity. In real life, Sam Corlett, Leila Georg,e and her mother Greta Scacchi assist them and give them layered nuanced performances as Koreans under the direction of Smith. Quite simply, the film is unvarnished and the execution of it is uncomplicated. Quite a remarkable first feature by an Australian director who obviously knows her work very well.
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