Only the Brave: 'Everyone has to do it, Alex'

The Greek family scenes in Kokkinos’s early films – this one and Head On – have a continuity. Both of the young actors here appear in Head On, but so does the woman playing Vicki’s mother. Eugenia Fragos plays the mother of Ari, the young bisexual man played by Alex Dimitriades in Head On. Both families also have a domineering father, and a lot of family conflict. The menace of the father in Only the Brave is very clear in the way he speaks to Vicki and the way she reacts. We don’t know yet that he’s her abuser, but it’s less surprising when we find out. Kokkinos makes good use of unusual locations in the film, and some of the shots show a clear European influence. The scene of the two girls walking between trains evokes Italian and French cinema of the 1960s. Dora Kaskanis, who plays Vicki, has the sharp, sullen beauty of a young Anna Magnani in this scene.

Only the Brave Synopsis

Alex (Elena Mandalis) and Vicki (Dora Kaskanis) are best friends, growing up in the industrial suburbs of outer Melbourne. Vicki’s parents are Greek migrants. Alex’s parents were musicians, but her Greek mother left the family years earlier, and Alex longs to know where she is. In school, Alex is the favourite of English teacher Kate (Maud Davey) and Vicki is the rebel. Outside school, they both run wild, setting fires in abandoned houses, drinking and smoking, planning to run away to Sydney to find Alex’s mother. Vicki can’t understand Alex’s reluctance to sleep with a boy; Alex isn’t quite sure yet what her sexuality is. When Alex learns that her friend is being sexually abused, the world collapses for both girls

Only the Brave Curator's Notes

Ana Kokkinos worked for nine years as an industrial lawyer before deciding she wanted to be a filmmaker. Only the Brave was made soon after she finished the graduate film program at the Victorian College of the Arts (then known as Swinburne) and it was clear evidence that a major new voice had arrived in Australian film. Although made on a low budget, the film showed that Kokkinos had an uncompromising ambition to tell powerful and personal stories. The film’s shocking finale – in which Alex is powerless to stop her friend’s suicide by fire – is extremely provocative and disturbing. It was a sign of things to come. Head On, made four years later, was another shock for audiences, as was The Book of Revelation in 2006. Kokkinos has said she believes artists should provoke and question, and that cinema has the power to provoke a visceral response. 'It’s okay if it creates a fuss,’ she has said.

Notes by Paul Byrnes

Education notes

This clip shows the alienation and teenage angst of close friends Vicki (Dora Kaskanis) and Alex (Elena Mandalis). Arriving at Vicki’s house to collect her friend, Alex silently observes the oppressive family atmosphere. Later on, in an abandoned train, the friends discuss a party they have been to and Vicki’s busy social life. Vicki confronts Alex about the fact that she, Alex, is still a virgin. A carefully created colour palette and sound design contribute to the bleak atmosphere.

Educational value points

• The complexities of teenage friendship and sexuality, a key theme of the film, are highlighted by body language, choice of clothing and contrasting locations. In her strictly controlled home environment Vicki is agitated and submissive and movement is minimal but in the train yards she literally lets her hair down, confidently discussing sex and boyfriends. By contrast a sullen Alex, defensive about her status as ‘virgin’, retreats behind her dark glasses and large coat.
• The choice of colours in the clip contributes to its drama and tension. The muted browns and yellows in Vicki’s home are filmed in a naturalistic diegetic light. Following this scene, the use of stylised greys, blues and blacks in the dark shadow-filled netherworld of the train yards creates a jarring and ominous atmosphere. The obvious contrast between the two scenes builds tension by indicating that the different realms that Vicki inhabits are in conflict.
• The unmelodic industrial soundtrack and the tracking close-ups of Alex and Vicki as they move between the trains evoke a sense of alienation and claustrophobia. The tight tracking close-ups of Vicki and Alex limit light to a minimum and give the impression that the world – the sides of the trains – is closing in on them. This, combined with the blue lens filter and harsh music, suggests that Vicki and Alex are in an ominous suffocating tunnel.
• The psychological and physical dominance conveyed by Vicki’s father (George Harlem) is presented effectively. His threatening attitude is captured without resorting to overt verbal or physical violence. Rather, it can be found in the way he wields his keys, the sound they make in his hand and Harlem’s icy authoritative performance for which no subtitles are required. It is also seen in the manner with which he greets Alex compared with the way he addresses Vicki.
• The shot of the concrete silo filmed from the doorway of the train compartment represents Alex’s sense of dislocation within the wider world. The diagonally tilted camera creates a view of the silo from an unnatural angle. As it is the only external object clearly seen from Alex’s world, represented by the train compartment, the edifice is invested with a malice and coldness in contrast to its real-world function.
• Framing of shots to convey information about the characters is seen in two scenes. The close-up of Vicki’s mother (Eugenia Fragos), filmed through a row of glasses on a shelf, suggests her fearful imprisonment within the home. On the train, when Vicki enters the next compartment and is framed by an open wooden partition directly above Alex’s head, it seems as though Vicki has been captured in a comic-book thought bubble as she provokes Alex about her sexual life.

Education notes provided by The Learning Federation and Education Services Australia