TRANSFUSION

Australia, 2023, 106 minutes, Colour.

Sam Worthington, Edward Carmody, Phoebe Tonkin, Matt Nable, Susie Porter, Jessica Napier, Gilbert Bradman.

Directed by Matt Nable.

Matt Nable was a professional rugby league player for many years of his life, then moved into acting as well as writing. With this film he is writer, director, actor. He has made an interesting if rather unexpected in its development contemporary story. And, with a focus on father and son, it is a universal story.

The film is set in Sydney, sometimes photographed to great advantage, the city, the harbour, the beaches. But, it has an opening sequence in Iraq, Sam Worthington as Ryan, with Matt Nable as Johnny, a particular mission, the apprehension of a suspect in tunnels, some shooting, Ryan injured, needing a transfusion.

Transfusion is certainly an arresting title but sometimes we might be wondering why the film is called transfusion. Soon we will find that Ryan’s wife and young son, Logan, are injured in a car accident and each needs blood, but there is insufficient at hand for the necessary surgery. Ryan has to make a decision.

Which means that most of the action takes place after the engagement in Iraq. Ryan has left the Army, is devoted to wife and son, a young boy, with a gentle touch, his father taking him hunting, showing him how to shoot a deer with a rifle but the boy says no. Later, Ryan will affirm his son’s decision as an act of bravery and conviction. Then the accident happens. Johnny is very supportive at the hospital.

But, most of the action takes place eight years later. Ryan is much the same, trying to do sales work, being insulted by shop proprietors, and fighting back, taken to task when the proprietors complain, losing his job. And, it would seem that he has lost Logan as well, skipping school, running away, no friends. (The boy who acts Logan as a teenager, Edward Carmody, looks very much like the young actor who portrayed him at eight, Gilbert Bradman, excellent continuity.)

So, this very much becomes a film of tensions between father and son, visits to the principal of the private school, Logan promising his father to behave better, his being the butt of jokes from a group at the school but their leader befriending Logan, taking him on as part of the group despite the mockery of the others, inviting him to a party – and putting Logan behind the wheel of the leader’s father’s expensive car. And, we might expect what happens.

But, there is complexity and the consequent drama, Ryan speaking to the father, offering money in compensation for his car, to cover what actually happened. And then it gets more than tangled in Johnny’s escapades, including robbery, sniping, a gang, fighting for himself, fighting for his son, even confronting Johnny.

But, there is a humane touch throughout the film, Ryan’s wife continually appearing to him, his talking with her, her being a guide, a conscience.

An interesting local drama, unexpected in its crime aspects, important for relationships between father and son.

1. An Australian story, universal story?
2. The work of Matt Nable, writing, acting, directing, his football background, military background?
3. The opening, the war in Iraq, the soldiers, the mission, the dangers, confrontations, ambush, partnerships, Ryan being wounded, needing a transfusion?
4. Ryan, after the war, relationship with his wife, devotion to his son? The son’s age? The hunting sequence, the rifle, the deer, Logan refusing, his father praising him for his conviction? The nature of bravery? The picture of the happy family?
5. The accident, the drunken driver, hospital, the need for blood transfusions for wife and son, not enough blood, with his wife, Johnny and his visits, support? The decision, the death of his wife, the survival of his son? His son and the scars on his face, and his feeling that his father resented his survival because of his wife’s death?
6. The significance of Ryan talking with his wife, her appearances, Logan hearing this and questioning his father? The appearances of his wife as guide and conscience?
7. Logan, a teenager, skipping school, running away, the visit with the principal, the fee for the private school, Logan and his being ridiculed by the group? His returning to school, promise to his father? Standing up to the group, the leader supporting him, the others and their mockery? Talk about his father? The invitation to the party, asking his father, permission, going to the party, drinking, enjoying the friendship, going for the drive, the father’s lavish car, forcing Logan to drive, the crash, the car overturned? His phoning his father, his father coming, the confrontation with the boys, moving the car to the beach, burning it?
8. Ryan, trying to do the honourable thing, always polite, going to visit the boy’s father, solicitor, his car, the plea to take the payoff, the arrangement for the meeting, Ryan paying the man?
9. Johnny, his reappearance, his character, military, wounds during the war, eye and face? The business tangles, the group, dealing, the cash, doublecrossing them? Appealing to Ryan, the robbery, the safe, the shooting and the death? The consequences for Ryan?
10. Appealing to Johnny for the cash for the payment of the car? Johnnie and the revenge on the drunken driver who killed Ryan’s wife.
11. Logan, continued exasperation, but relating with his father?
12. The buildup to the confrontation between Johnny and Ryan, his wife’s presence, the right thing, being persuaded to act as the sniper, shooting the thugs? The pursuit of Johnny, of Ryan?
13. The fight between the two friends, disillusionment, Ryan standing up for what was right? The issue of the money, rugged and stolen money?
14. Rescuing his son, their quietly drinking together at the end, the future?