Sin City DIASPORA, DISPLACEMENT AND MATTHEW VICTOR PASTOR’S MELODRAMA / RANDOM / MELBOURNE!
Melodrama / Random / Melbourne! (2018) is an electrifyingly contemporary film. Its prolific director, Matthew Victor Pastor, has embraced the possibilities of digital filmmaking in a way that few young filmmakers dare to, having carved out a body of work that resembles little else currently being produced in Australian cinema. Here, the formally adventurous Pastor turns his screen sensibilities to nocturnal life on the streets of downtown Melbourne. An unabashedly low-budget film, Melodrama / Random / Melbourne! is brimming with ideas and unafraid to take its viewers to some ugly places as it unflinchingly surveys the underbelly of its titular city’s night-life and shines a light on contemporary race relations in Australia.
The film’s three-stroke title is reflected in its shifting structure and constant play with perspective. It begins with YouTube-style videos that introduce us to Tru Male Dynamics (stylised as ‘TMD’), a crew of so-called pick-up artists (PUAs). They are led by Garistar (Elliot Ng), who uses his various online platforms to chart his sexual conquests and dispenses advice to his viewership on how to ‘pick up’ women for casual sex. Garistar and his circle of TMD followers are also the subjects of a documentary being made by young filmmaker Aries Santos (Bridget O’Brien), who, alongside her collaborators, grapples with the ethics of depicting such odious subject matter.
