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The Gods of Wheat Street

ABC1 sprinkles a little magic realism over an Indigenous family trying to hold together, in this upcoming drama.

2014-03-29_2259In the rural town of Casino, northern New South Wales, Odin Freeburn (Kelton Pell) is staring at an old Datsun car that has seen better days.

20 years ago his mother died in the vehicle after a road accident, but he and his brothers and sister survived. Now as the car returns to him for repair at the garage where he works, he is reminded of a promise he made to her to look after his young siblings.

Odin grew up fast across those two subsequent decades and the Freeburn clan has managed to stay together, save for his brother Ares (Bruce Carter) who is now locked up in prison.

Here in Casino, the families are largely working class, but held together with a tenacity and spirit that rises above circumstance.

When The Gods of Wheat Street opens, Odin has just attended the funeral of his employer, and the garage where he works is about to be sold from underneath him.

His sister Isolde (Shari Sebbens) dreams of a fashion course in Sydney. Younger brother Tristan (Mark Coles Smith) has a crush on the daughter of a family enemy (David Field). Odin had two young daughters (Rarriwuy Hick, Miah Madden) to take care of after his wife left him, while sister-in-law Libby (Lisa Flanagan) who has her own romantic designs on him.

As if that’s not enough on his plate, the spirit of his mother Eden (Ursula Yovich) regularly visits him to offer her own opinions on his dilemmas. Yes, there is a touch of the fantasy element in this drama.

The Freeburns are also an Indigenous family which, as television, makes this piece all the more significant. But while it includes some of the creatives from Redfern Now both behind and in front of the camera, Wheat Street has a lighter touch.

For starters it plays with some magic realism, woven into its naturalistic drama. There’s a high use of colour, snapshots of regional landscape, some deadpan humour and a bluegrass soundtrack. There are references to ‘the Gods’ instead of the Dreamtime.

Collectively, it makes the most of the bush while Redfern Now is invested in the stress and ghetto of urban Sydney.

Kelton Pell strives as the rock of the family, depicted as the strong, silent type with a good heart. Lisa Flanagan also impresses as his sister-in-law who speaks her mind on everything but her true feelings for Odin. Mark Coles Smith is one to watch as a young actor who lights up the screen.

The inclusion of Eden’s spirit is a curious storytelling device. Ursula Yovich is seen as tangibly as our other characters, but visible only to Odin, and performs the role with the same realism as the ‘living’ members of the clan. She talks to her son, and he responds in kind, as if she were alive. The execution is a little confusing, and might have benefited from a more-heightened portrayal.

Indeed, The Gods of Wheat Street is a little bit of everything: sometimes light, sometimes menacing, part-drama, part-fantasy, part-romance, part-spiritual -I’m not entirely convinced it all gels together in this Casino melting pot. But I am encouraged that the mood manages to infuse some optimism and even whimsy into its tale.

Creator and writer Jon Bell shows us his vision of family, and finds heart in the Indigenous community against the odds.

And that’s a positive no matter how you look at it.

The Gods of Wheat Street premieres 8:30pm Saturday April 12 on ABC1.

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