Dead Europe by Louise Fox

JUDGES' COMMENTS

Labelled as ‘un-adaptable’ when first published, Louise Fox has done a masterful job distilling the essence of Christos Tsiolkas’ long and complex third novel, Dead Europe, into a trancelike and disturbing mystery while still remaining faithful to the original source material. By condensing two separate narratives, Fox has created a haunting tale of an unsuspecting, Greek-Australian man on a collision course with the past. While the reader of the book is told upfront about the family’s wartime secret, Fox hides this revelation, from the protagonist and the viewer, in a shadowy underworld of drug addicts, pimps, people smugglers and prostitutes in modern-day Europe. This infuses the screenplay with a creeping dread. When the full horror of the past is revealed, it delivers a sickening punch.

More than a mystery, Dead Europe has an ambition and boldness of reach that is groundbreaking for Australian cinematic writing. By paralleling the horrific plight of Jews during World War II with the exploitation of Europe’s refugees today, the screenplay takes a timely look at how the echoes of the continent’s brutal past still shape its troubled present. It leaves a searing, uncomfortable and indelible portrait of a soulless and decaying continent.

As an indelible portrait of a deeply troubled history, Dead Europe stands apart. A film adaptation is not just the book in pictures, it is the creation of a totally new work, relying on visuals and action as opposed to figurative language and inner thoughts, that has to stand on its own in a new medium. Louise Fox has created a compelling and psychologically thrilling screenplay from Tsiolkas’ novel that is still faithful to the ‘spirit’ of the book, yet commanding in its own right. This is testament to her unique vision and to a deep understanding of form. This is a script that reveals a profound connection to the unsettling horror and wonder of what it is to be human.