PERTH

We first meet ex-Navy/Army man Harry Lee (Kay Tom Lim, DANCE OF THE DRAGON) when he boards a bus and is reprimanded by the driver for smoking. Throwing his cigarette on to the street, Harry's then berated further for littering. He shrugs, and assumes his seat on the bus quietly.

At the end of his journey, Harry leaves the empty bus, kicking the living shit out of the driver on his way. Or so he fantasises. Instead, he stares momentarily at the bemused youth, then skulks off.

Harry, we learn, is a security guard for a shipyard. He dreams of saving his pennies and one day immigrating to Perth. However, the first problem he encounters is when his young boss, the psychotic Lee (Sunny Pang, ONE LAST DANCE), tells him he must take early retirement due to company downsizing. No worries, thinks Harry, this will free him up to pursue his dream of moving on.

But six months later Harry is still stuck in Singapore, working the late shift as a taxi driver. The only friends he has in his lonely life are fellow cab driver Selvam (A Panneeirchelvam) and someone else's dog that he stole.

Part of Harry's problem is that he's suspicious of people. By his own admission, "If there's one thing I can't stand, it's a lack of loyalty". A flashback to a brutal, prolonged beating of an unfaithful partner is testament to just how much this means to Harry.

But it's Harry's loyalty that's at question when he accepts a job offer through former boss Lee, ferrying high-class call girls to-and-from their clients. The one rule his new mobster bosses impose upon Harry is never to disturb the girls. All seems well with the new job until Harry becomes attached to one girl that he believes should be back home in Vietnam with her family ...

Alienation, redemption, a violent climax as the loner antihero decides to be proactive in attempting to save the young whore ... it's all terribly reminiscent of Scorsese's TAXI DRIVER.

Which is PERTH's biggest flaw. The parallels between this film and Scorsese's are too blatant, and therefore it's impossible to disassociate yourself from the latter while watching writer-director Djinn's (RETURN TO PONTIANAK) otherwise enjoyable yarn.

On the plus side, the sets and colourful lighting are attractive, the acting is largely good (Lim is excellent), and the direction is mature enough to allow a slow start that builds quietly towards a devastating finale.

There's some weak moments of humour here and there, and the flashbacks run the risk at times of spoiling the otherwise unrelenting gritty atmosphere. But PERTH is a well-made character study, that allows the audience to feel empathy for Harry, despite us growing gradually aware of his serious anger management issues and love of the booze.

But, it's those TAXI DRIVER comparisons (and, to a lesser extent, Gaspar Noe's brilliant I STAND ALONE) that linger in the mind most afterwards.

As always with Tartan Asia Extreme discs these days, the film is given a very nice sharp anamorphic widescreen presentation. In this case, the aspect ratio is 1.85:1. Images are well-defined and colour balance is rich, although overall the film is naturally a little too dark.

Audio is available in 2.0, 5.1 and 5.1 DTS options. The film soundtrack is in various languages, but the main spoken one is English. There's also the option of English (and English Hard of Hearing) subtitles.

An attractive animated main menu includes access to a scene-selection menu offering 16 chapters, and some fairly worthy extras.

First up is an enlightening commentary track from Djinn. He speaks amiably in English and is mostly easy to understand, pointing out technical aspects of the film and discussing its concepts at length. He's full of praise for his lead actor too, and rightly so.

Speaking of which, there's a second commentary track, this time from Lim. Again in English, this is much easier to understand and comes across as a little more enthusiastic than Djinn's efforts. Both are interesting listens.

5-minutes of deleted scenes are presented in rough form, with commentary from Kim offering insight as to why they were excised.

Next up is a well-edited 11-minute featurette focusing on the movie's sharp set design. Djinn narrates through this piece, as a barrage of stills, movie clips and storyboards illustrate all that he has to say. Again, interesting stuff.

Finally we get a trailer for PERTH, plus one for THREE ... EXTREMES.

PERTH may wear its influences on its sleeve a little too brazenly for some, but if you look beyond them you'll find a quietly absorbing character study of one seriously flawed character, and a violent denouement well worth sticking around for.

Review by Stu Willis