The new Australian film Kid Snow begins with a boxing match that will echo through time. A loss for the titular character Kid Snow (Billy Howle) results in a crash on his way home from the fight that kills their father and cripples his boxing brother Rory (Tom Bateman).

Ten years later, it’s 1971 and the Irish brothers are working in a tent boxing troupe, Rory runs it and Kid fights in it, and they both seem to have given up. 

“When we meet Kid he has kind of given up on life and he’s almost become like a performing animal,” says director Paul Goldman. “He is just trotted out to a tent boxing ring to punch and be punched. It’s pretty self destructive.”

For those that don’t know, tent boxing was an Australian tradition going back as far as the late 19th Century up until 1971 when it was banned (although there is one still going). 

Tent boxing involves what the title refers to: a tent and a boxing match. Tent boxing troupes would follow agricultural shows, set up a tent and then allow any strangers to come up and challenge them to a fight - the winner taking the money.

“I always wondered why no one had ever made a film about tent boxing in Australia given the enormous rich vein of folklore and mythology that surrounds it,” says Goldman.

Set in the Australian Outback, one night the same man who Kid fought ten years earlier challenges him to a rematch for a large sum of money - all Kid has to do is fight and last at least three rounds. The only problem is, Kid is out of shape and his opponent is now the Commonwealth champion. The second only problem is, Rory has already accepted the fight for Kid.

“He throws his brother into the lion's den, into a fight that he knows could well and truly destroy his brother’s physical life because he has to take on the Commonwealth champion. And he knows his brother is overweight and out of shape and has given up,” says Goldman.

The two brothers have a very interesting relationship, it is clear that there is an intense love between them but, at the same time, also an intense hatred. Rory blames Kid for killing their father and crippling him, and Kid blames himself which means they have some sort of severed line in their relationship that never heals.

This also leads to the third thread of the film which is led by the introduction of the female character Sunny played by Hollywood star Phoebe Tonkin. Sunny is a fierce character who has taken on the responsibility of caring for her young son on her own. She is hired by Rory as another attraction for the show, to dance. And she also begins a relationship with Kid.

She comes between the two brothers and becomes a beacon of light for Kid, showing him a way out of the life he seems to be trapped in. The film smartly allows her her own character arc as well. She becomes a leg dancer for the troupe, but she does it on her own terms and Gladman says this was a huge focus for them as they made the film.

“I’m sure for some people the scenes of her dancing will be provocative, the fact is that leg shows did exist and if you went to show alleys any time before the 80’s there were leg shows. She’s not stripping, there’s colour and movement. And I wanted her to have some sort of agency and we did a lot of work on that character to give her agency,” says Goldman.

This definitely translates to the screen, and there’s a great moment where she tells a story of her step mother stripping for an audience in Sydney where a fight breaks out - and her stepmother is able to control the room with her power. 

Dancing is also such a great contrast to boxing. They are both ways for people to be physical and vulnerable, but also powerful. And this story about her stepmother is a great indicator for Sunny’s character - she may have to do things that she doesn’t want to to survive in this world but she is going to do these things her way, and use them to her advantage. 

The most interesting part of the film is the actual boxing. The interplay between the story and the sport of boxing is fascinating and impactful. It analyses the way boxers use their fights as ways of punishing themselves and this was a big theme for Goldman.

“There’s moments I think in the final fight where it looks like Kid is almost willing to be punched. We know that's the history of boxing. Why does someone climb into the ring? Well it’s not simply to punish someone else, it’s actually to be punished. It’s a very very complex relationship that people have with that sport,” says Goldman.

“I spent many many months, when I was living in Sydney, going to the Redfern gym watching Tony Mundine prepare for a fight - I just remember how often I would see him sitting in the corner after sparring for an hour and wondering to myself - why would you do this to yourself? What is it in your heart and soul that allows yourself to be punished like that? 

“And I think in the film Kid is self-destructive and he’s just lacerating himself until this woman walks in and says, You don’t even know what you're fighting for or what’s worth fighting for.”

Kid Snow is ultimately a movie about family, relationships, the debts that we feel we owe people, and the complex ways in which we deal with these debts. The performances are great, the photography of the Australian outback in the 70’s is crisp and beautiful, and the film has a great energy to it. 

It is playing at Event Cinemas Shellharbour, Hoyts Cinemas Warrawong and the Gala cinemas also in Warrawong from Thursday, September 12. Go and watch it on the big screen.

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