Western film star revisits region

Katanning-born actor Mitchell Page has reconnected with his outback roots after starring in WA’s biggest independent feature film, The Decadent and Depraved.

The gritty western, which premiered in Perth in December 2017, is the first of its kind to be made and filmed purely in WA.

The Tarantino-style film was produced by 21-year-old Jordon Prince-Wright, who co-directed the flick with Axel August.

For Page, whose first major role was in Lockie Leonard, the making of the film allowed him to revisit with his childhood in Katanning.

“The film really encapsulates the tone and atmosphere of the whole Australian outback,” Mr Page said.

“I grew up just out of town, we had horses and some sheep, so it wasn’t a huge jump for me in that sense, but it was great that there was something I could tap into from my childhood — being in the outback, rolling around in the dirt and it really took you to the moment and didn’t force you to act because you were there.”

Following his first feature film, which was a huge success for Prince-Wright productions, co-directors Prince-Wright and August wanted to make history in the WA film industry with their first western.

The Decadent and Depraved is being praised for its on-set locations, covering landscapes in Cue, Sandstone, Leonora, Kukerin, Mingenew and Yalgoo, and is now being dubbed the biggest independent production to come out of the State.

“A lot of the film is set up north and people are used to seeing the red dirt, blue skies and the big rocky features, so we wanted to show some other parts of Western Australia,” Prince-Wright said.

“We wanted to film down south to show the harshness and diversity of Western Australian outback, and the film shows WA in a very raw way.

“Two of the main scenes were shot in Kukerin and it was minus two degrees for six nights in a row, so we really wanted to capture the grittiness and brutality of the outback on screen.”

Page plays the role of Ellis, a loveable villain whose charisma makes the audience question who is good and who is bad.

The co-directors said Page was perfect for the role of Ellis.

“Mitch actually auditioned for a minor role, but we tried him out as Ellis and he was the only person we gave the role to straight away,” Prince-Wright said.

“Everyone would always be so fascinated watching him on screen and everyone in post-production has commented on his performance — he just had the perfect charisma to match the character.”

Page said it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience to work with such a dedicated young crew.

“There’s always a bit of stigma around youth and experience but these guys came prepared and all guns blazing — they absolutely hit it out of the park,” Mr Page said.

“One of the best moments was being able to go down to Kukerin and being so close to Katanning, Mum and Dad actually got to come visit on set, and they’ve never seen what I’ve done before, so for them being able to come and meet the crew was great.”