| The Greek immigrant experience in Australia is at the center of Head On, directed by Ana Kokkinos and based on the novel Loaded by Christos Tsiolkas. Parents try to force children to behave as if they were still in Greece rather than the freer environment of Melbourne, Australia. Nineteen-year-old Ari (played by Alex Dimitriades), whose acting role model seems to be early Marlon Brando, has little sense of self-worth, since he has no job, and his parents still treat him like a child. What’s left for him to do? Have sex and make money from selling drugs-and plenty of both during the day in his life featured in the film. The sexually explicit encounters mostly involve other men (blond Australian, Greek, Vietnamese), though he proves his bisexuality, too. His friends are mostly Greeks, including a drag queen Johnny (played by Paul Capsis), several straight women, and several gays. The best part of the film is the vitality of the Greek music and dancing, but the sex scenes are never boring, showing that the pursuit is for ecstasy, not love. When the film ends, Ari presents an autobiographical voice-over that explains that he will just keep on trying to do his best. The title, thus, is a double entendre referring to his sexual |
proclivities as well as to his desire to go forward with his life. MH