All this mayhem, all that mayhem, all every kind of mayhem. When a film begins with its narrator wistfully describing the family violence and strife of his youth, you know all hell is going to be depicted … and Eddie Martin’s film does not disappoint on this count, leaving no stone of anarchy unturned.
The film follows the meteoric rise, and even more meteoric fall of the Pappas brothers, all-star Aussie pro-skateboarders of the early 90’s. Tas and Ben grew up on the hard streets of Melbourne, spending their days skating and their nights smashing cars and lighting firecrackers. A fierce rivalry and competitiveness brought them to the top of Australia and then over to the US, rivalling and defeating the great Tony Hawk in the 1996 world final. However, as partying and drugs led to more partying and drugs, the wheels fell off the proverbial skateboard. First losing their sponsorship deals then sentenced for various crimes, the duo’s fortune’s quickly plummeted to dramatic depths that are almost impossible to anticipate, even for these two hellraisers.
Everything that is both good and bad about ALL THIS MAYHEM derives from its constructed nature. Eddie Martin’s skillful delay, or witholding, of information about the narrators and their current situation gives the film a neat arch, both nostalgic in the young brothers’ early success and traumatising in their demise – all caught on excellent contemporary footage. The giddiness of skater rock and ‘vert’ action is equally intoxicating in its allure as the chaotic fall from grace is sobering and heartbreaking, if only because of its ridiculous scale. The narrative perspective firmly places the audience in the heart of the emotion, riding the half-pipe up and way, way down.
Everything that is both good and bad about ALL THIS MAYHEM derives from its constructed nature.
The problem with the drama is that this perspective of events is at times a conspicuously blinkered view. All documentaries, and historical writing for that matter, are constructions by their author. The ‘truth’, despite the films claims, is unobtainable. The best a film-maker can do is hide the hands that mould the clay. The trouble with ALL THIS MAYHEM is that the thumb-prints and shaping of the drama are so evident, bordering on manipulative. All manner of methods from childhood trauma to capitalist conspiracy are employed to create sympathy for the Aussie pair, who were most likely insufferable at 16 and demonic at 24. It’s hard to get too behind anyone who is convicted of marital abuse, and the undercurrent of chauvinism is hard to mask … although the film gives it a good go. The story is emotional but is undermined by its alignment. There is a great documentary about success, family and the chaos of drug-taking in these events; but a change of tack in perspective and proportion may have led to even ‘gnarrlier’ tricks.
httpvh://youtu.be/8wDiszmA2o8