LAST TRAIN TO FREO
**** out of *****
Reviewed by Mandroid3000

Screening in the 2006 New Zealand International Film Festival
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Genres
Drama
Thriller

2006
Directed by
Jeremy Sims
Written by
Reg Cribb (based on his play)
Cast
Steve Le Marquand …. The Tall Thug
Gigi Edgley …. Lisa
Tom Budge …. Trev
Glenn Hazeldine …. Simon
Gillian Jones …. Maureen

Nearing midnight, a young law student, Lisa, gets on the last train to Freemantle. The only other passengers in the carriage are two unsavoury-looking characters, ‘The Tall Thug’ (as his character is named) and his somewhat manic companion, Trev. She sits down, tries to ignore them and hopes they ignore her. But they start an unwanted, at first one-sided, conversation which seem to veer between attempting to impress her and intimidate her. Soon a few more passengers get on, but rather than meaning safety, the two soon turn their attention to these passengers as well.

This is the set up of Last Train to Freo, and fortunately that’s not all there is to this excellent Australian drama/thriller. Rather than just being a straight up thriller (which still would have turned out well). the film touches on issues of unequal economic development, and the sense of isolation and irrelevance that can be felt by those stuck in the worst areas of large Western cities. The film plays on the uneasy feeling of people who may live in the same city but not in the same community being stuck face-to-face where social standing has no meaning. And it does this while maintaining tension, avoiding preachiness and not being a film about explaining why someone does bad things. And that is no mean feat.

Screenwriter Reg Cribb, who based the script on his stage play, has an excellent ear for dialogue. It sounds natural and captures the blokey Austrialian way of talking. Steve Le Marquand, who plays ‘The Tall Thug’, does an excellent job with it in the wide-ranging role; he moves comfortably from bullying to likeable to eloquent. His physical presence adds to the air of a dangerous criminal who you would lose a debate to and yet he’d still knife you before you finished your final argument. I would not be surprised if we see a lot more of Le Marquand in the future (as opposed to the past? –ed.).

Last Train To Freo works as both a drama and a thriller. The scenario doesn’t feel like a gimmick and despite originally being a stage play it doesn’t feel stagey. If they’d tried to expand the film to more locations it would have destroyed the tension (see Red Eye for a similar film that did do this). Director Jeremy Sims and his Director of Photography Toby Oliver do an excellent job of breaking up the train carriage and tightening the shots up as the tension mounts. And I didn’t even realise the film was shot in HD until looking over the press kit, which is testament to Oliver’s skill and the improving technology.

The resulting film captures the feeling of an unpleasant late night encounter which doesn’t just shake your feeling of safety, but your complacency as well. Last Train to Freo is having its World Premiere at the New Zealand Festival. Check it out and say you were one of the first to see the film and Steve Le Marquand before they both made it big.

This film will screen in Wellington on July 27th at 8:30pm and July 28th at 3:45pm at the Paramount Theatre. Refer to the Film Fest homepage for more information.

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