He Ain’t Heavy

He-Ain't-Heavy
He Ain’t Heavy

David Vincent Smith’s debut film ‘He Ain’t Heavy’ is a remarkable work of art. The story explores the challenges faced by one family in the aftermath of mental illness and addiction and the extent to which they are able to assist the individual affected by the illness. In the life of Jade (Leila George), Max (Sam Corlett) moves in as an almost sadistic demon who wreaks havoc. She has been living in limbo because her attempts to defend herself and her mom Bev (Greta Scacchi) against Max’s rages have been futile. Out of desperation, she recruits Max in order to get him through detox, because all the programs he has gone through up to now have not worked.

In a Perth suburb that is partly rural, Jade controversially converts her grandparents’ house which is now vacant into a self-contained sick quarters and attempts to rehabilitate Max. The structure is a storage facility for the past and is somewhere the siblings long shared vacations. It was a second home for the children and their mother Bev during more peaceful moments. Max has since been a source of stress to Bev and he is so fun-loving she has cut him off from a lot of the sad reality surrounding addiction. Time and again, Jade is reminded by her mother that Max is not only her son but he is also young and vulnerable. Jade, however, is no stranger to such remarks. She has been the target of the family\’s anger and has always taken it in stride, so she no longer feels pity for the family.

Despite driving a wedge between her and her husband, Valerie can’t help but love the man. Now 30, Jade is in the middle of significant shifts as she sees her peers achieving milestones such as getting married, growing professionally and even choosing to start a family. The addiction, however, has turned Max into what she calls “Not Max” Gone is her little brother who passionately strummed their first guitar or passed notes to her. It’s true that Max is strong, unpredictable, and symbolically dangerous. Other than Bev, Jade longs for that handsome young man who had charm and potential before the combination of mental illness and addiction turned him into a monster. In Jade’s eyes, the only way to bring Max back is to lock him away and force him to quit. But in order for things to reach that stage, Max has to be dealt with when he is in a violent rage mood and is throwing things around or engaging in arguments.

David Vincent Smith is a skilled film director who carefully balances the viewpoints in He Ain’t Heavy. Beverly and Jade disagree on how to handle their son Max. Bev admits finding him shattered beyond recovery due to drugs, which is why he is in the emergency ward after one of his many drug-driven rampages. But she simply doesn’t draw the line that, according to Jade, she should. Max is still that little child who has to be cared for, whom she has not lost yet. It’s one of the most heartbreaking scenes in the film when Max’s mother carefully cleans his self-inflicted injuries, like Mary in the Pieta. Jade witnessed how Max’s hands were able to inflict such damage to the walls as he struck them trying to get through. He could have been the one to kill her or vice versa. On other occasions when Max is in good spirits he and Jade reminisce, smoke, and sing together.

More importantly, Smith is always cognizant of Max’s humanity. In a flashback scene, Jade and her friends rush Max, who is experiencing a severe panic attack, to a doctor’s office at a busy hospital’s emergency ward. Because of these circumstances, they have to spend hours in the waiting area composed of blaring lights and other blaring sounds. The structure has shortcomings and does not have any contingency plan to ensure that Max does not free fall. What started as self-medication with trauma and mental health issues ended up as homelessness and drug and alcohol abuse a scenario which is all too frequent indeed.

He Ain\’t Heavy is as tragic as it is the portrayal of humanness. Sam Corlett, Leila George, and her mother Greta Scacchi get help from their real lives and give layered nuanced performances under the direction of Smith. The production and the direction of the film are raw and straightforward. An impressive first feature from an Australian filmmaker who clearly understands the themes and the challenges it presents.

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