Musings on The Jammed
Last week I went to the cinema with a friend from university and saw The Jammed. I have found myself pondering the film since. It has not left my memory quickly like most American film, which usually takes only a couple of days for me to forget most of the details. I would suggest that as a film The Jammed will burn itself onto a person's memory. It is an incredible, fascinating and brutal story.
My impulse to immediately write something about what is an amazing film, which I believe all Australians should see, was tempered by a hesitance as to what I could meaningfully say as a man about a film that negotiates men's sexual violence against women.
The Jammed is about a group of three women who are trafficked for prostitution. It is set in Australia and in a number of scenes the streets of Melbourne are clearly recognizable. Each of the three women has a quite different story, a story of that tells how they were not just coerced into prostitution, but enslaved and forced to work as sex workers. There is nothing that is romanticized about prostitution in this film. In a sense perhaps the three women's stories are the stories of all women who are trafficked in such a manner, as there seemed to be something universal about the characterization of these three very different women.
The Jammed was written and directed by Dee McLachlan, who has been interviewed by Jim Schembri here. Emma Lung plays Crystal, a woman who is brought to Australia, who first believed that she was going to work as a stripper, then becomes enslaved and forced to work in prostitution. The film starts with her in Maribyrnong detention centre where she is about to be deported as an illegal immigrant, despite the violence she has experienced. Saskia Burmeister plays Vanya, a Russian woman, whose origins are less clear than the other two trafficked women. Sun Park plays Rubi, whose mother is desperately searching for her. The film also is about a white Australian woman, Ashley Hudson, played by Veronica Sywak, who finds herself helping one of the trafficked women's mother try to find her daughter. Overall the acting is brilliant throughout the film. But in terms of accents, I noticed at moments the characterization of "Asian" accents was a bit off, but I suppose I am used to Chinese and Cambodian accents, due to my research work, and perhaps many Australians will not pick up on this.
While The Jammed details the lives of the women trafficked for illegal prostitution - sex slavery - in Australia, it is also as much about Australia's inability to see this story, or to help women who find themselves entrapped. The scenes set in Melbourne, which are instantly recognizable, and the Australian accents and characters serve to bring this home. Most Australian people cannot see this happening in front of them. The film allows us to see this, and see it from the perspective of the women who are trafficked. But it also asks us to look at ourselves, as a society, in a way that many Australians and particularly Australian men will likely feel uncomfortable with. Perhaps as it asks 'Now that you know this, what are you going to do about it?'
I would recommend to see this film before it leaves cinemas. However, I would also state that the film contains a rape scene. The Jammed is a serious story has been described by some as 'a thriller', and while one aspect of cinema is there to entertain us or let us escape our lives, stories like The Jammed are also there to inform film goers as a public. Such stories allow us to identify with people often in very different situations to ourselves. If you are in the mood for light cinema, puppy dogs and sunshine, then I would probably not see The Jammed. But if you are in the mood for discovery and to be confronted with a darker side of Australian life, then you must see this film. 4/5 stars if you are in the mood for serious film.
My impulse to immediately write something about what is an amazing film, which I believe all Australians should see, was tempered by a hesitance as to what I could meaningfully say as a man about a film that negotiates men's sexual violence against women.
The Jammed is about a group of three women who are trafficked for prostitution. It is set in Australia and in a number of scenes the streets of Melbourne are clearly recognizable. Each of the three women has a quite different story, a story of that tells how they were not just coerced into prostitution, but enslaved and forced to work as sex workers. There is nothing that is romanticized about prostitution in this film. In a sense perhaps the three women's stories are the stories of all women who are trafficked in such a manner, as there seemed to be something universal about the characterization of these three very different women.
The Jammed was written and directed by Dee McLachlan, who has been interviewed by Jim Schembri here. Emma Lung plays Crystal, a woman who is brought to Australia, who first believed that she was going to work as a stripper, then becomes enslaved and forced to work in prostitution. The film starts with her in Maribyrnong detention centre where she is about to be deported as an illegal immigrant, despite the violence she has experienced. Saskia Burmeister plays Vanya, a Russian woman, whose origins are less clear than the other two trafficked women. Sun Park plays Rubi, whose mother is desperately searching for her. The film also is about a white Australian woman, Ashley Hudson, played by Veronica Sywak, who finds herself helping one of the trafficked women's mother try to find her daughter. Overall the acting is brilliant throughout the film. But in terms of accents, I noticed at moments the characterization of "Asian" accents was a bit off, but I suppose I am used to Chinese and Cambodian accents, due to my research work, and perhaps many Australians will not pick up on this.
While The Jammed details the lives of the women trafficked for illegal prostitution - sex slavery - in Australia, it is also as much about Australia's inability to see this story, or to help women who find themselves entrapped. The scenes set in Melbourne, which are instantly recognizable, and the Australian accents and characters serve to bring this home. Most Australian people cannot see this happening in front of them. The film allows us to see this, and see it from the perspective of the women who are trafficked. But it also asks us to look at ourselves, as a society, in a way that many Australians and particularly Australian men will likely feel uncomfortable with. Perhaps as it asks 'Now that you know this, what are you going to do about it?'
I would recommend to see this film before it leaves cinemas. However, I would also state that the film contains a rape scene. The Jammed is a serious story has been described by some as 'a thriller', and while one aspect of cinema is there to entertain us or let us escape our lives, stories like The Jammed are also there to inform film goers as a public. Such stories allow us to identify with people often in very different situations to ourselves. If you are in the mood for light cinema, puppy dogs and sunshine, then I would probably not see The Jammed. But if you are in the mood for discovery and to be confronted with a darker side of Australian life, then you must see this film. 4/5 stars if you are in the mood for serious film.
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