Drawing from his own experience growing up in Christchurch in the 1970s and ’80s, Jonathan Ogilvie’s warmly engaging film delves beneath the city’s prim and proper exterior to portray its nascent post-punk underground. A scene which would later birth the record label Flying Nun, that would go on take South Island music to the world.
Ed Oxenbould stars as teenaged Angus, who has been left alone for a fortnight with his old-school civil engineer father Gordon (Márton Csókás). It’s 1979 and long hair is out, spiky hair is in. While visiting the local record shop Angus’s mind and the film literally expands on first listening to Public Image Limited, Johnny Rotten’s post-Sex Pistols band. Soon enough, Angus has turned his flared trousers into stovepipes, repurposed Gordon’s wedding shoes as a pair of winklepickers and visits the hair salon to lay waste to his flowing locks.
Angus becomes drawn both to cool punk chick Holly (Roxie Mohebbi), who claims to be from London, and musically talented shopgirl Kristen, played by Stella Bennett, better known as homegrown popstar Benee. Convinced to attend a gig by popular local band The Cursed, Angus is bullied by the sneery lead singer and claims to have his own band, only to be put into a position to then have to back up this little white lie, when he’s asked to open The Cursed’s next show. He hasn't even learned how to play yet – can you get any more punk rock?
Oxenbould provides just the right dose of wide-eyed naïveté and schoolboy enthusiasm in the role of Angus, while Csókás, who also expertly portrays uptight fatherhood in Cuckoo, brings a real gravitas to the character of Gordon which belies his outwardly stiff and conservative nature. Bennett proves to be a natural on screen and gets ample opportunity to display both her dramatic and musical talent.
The film makes pointed use of an era-appropriate soundtrack including choice cuts from the fabled AK79 punk compilation and several new tracks from composer Shayne Carter (frontman of iconic Flying Nun band Straitjacket Fits). A fab cover of The Velvet Underground’s “Femme Fatale” by Carter and Bennett perfectly encapsulates the hazy, psych-influenced feel of the Christchurch scene as does the throbbing original title track which could be mistaken for a forgotten Flying Nun classic. Ogilvie, who got his start making music videos for that venerable Kiwi label, has really come full circle with Head South, crafting a coming-of-age film with a true heart that is an entertaining and loving tribute to his hometown. — Michael McDonnell
