Catching Milat (2015)

Review

"It's Ivan Milat" - Detective Paul Gordon

Two joggers out for a training run discover a decaying body in the Belanglo State Forest on the New South Wales Central Highlands. The next day Police discover a second body nearby which leads to a full scale search of the Forest. Eventually seven bodies are discovered, with the possibility of more out there, and the Police set up Task Force Air to try and apprehend a serial killer preying on backpackers south of Sydney.

With thousands of leads and 100s of suspects the Task Force is soon overwhelmed though Superintendent Clive Small, who heads up the task force, demands everything is done by the book in order to not jeopardise the eventual court case. With the investigation stalling, even the new computer system is more hindrance than help, the task force needs something. Detective Senior Constable Paul Gordon has a gut feeling that one of the Milat clan are involved in the murders, but needs to convince his superiors that he has found their guy. Strap on the lie detector, its Police procedure time.

Catching Milat is a two part mini-series that initially ran over two weeks (17 and 24 May 2015) on channel Seven in Australia. The series has been criticised for a liberal interpretation of the investigation and especially the role Paul Gordon played in uncovering Milat. In some quarters the concept of a "dramatic enactment" seems to have escaped the attention of commentators. Interestingly, for those following ratings, Catching Milat has been the most successful drama of the year with the second instalment capturing 2.24 million viewers across the nation. In comparison SBS's coverage of the Eurovision Song Contest, featuring Australian safe choice Guy Sebastian who wasn't first pick of the populace, could only manage 592k viewers. Clearly punters were much more interested in Australia's most notorious serial killer than some Muppet doing lounge room music. Catching Milat is now available on disc for those wanting to catch a viewing, as yet the Eurovision thing remains a disturbing memory that to be honest most folk have already forgotten. Okay back to the actual review and no further mention of SBS's foray into absurdity.

First up gore hounds are going to be extremely disappointed, Catching Milat focuses more on the Police investigation of the "backpacker murders" and less on the actual murders themselves. So no this isn't your typical Psycho killer romp, think more of a drama that brings multi levels of conflict to the screen rather than a typical Hannibal Lector slice of the knife. We still get to meet Ivan Milat and assorted family members, and yes there is a mesmerising performance by Malcolm Kennard as Ivan, but this remains secondary to the main narrative. We do get to see Ivan in action, and the dude is seriously spooky, but all murders remain resolutely off screen and not much of the aftermath is depicted besides Ivan Milat wanting to keep a lot of the gear various victims were in possession of at the time they meet their demise. So if after some slice and dice you are in the wrong show, this is dramatic friends, nothing more.

The series focuses more on the Police procedure during the investigation than anything else, and I have to say I would be completely lost in the deluge of information they received from the public after asking for help. Central to this, and because I guess the two part series needed some drama, is the continued escalation of hostilities between task force head Superintendent Clive Small and junior task force member Paul Gordon. Small wants it done by the book to ensure when they eventually do "get their man" the Police case will be water tight, with no avenue for opposing council to venture down. By contrast Gordon is working on gut instinct, believes the Milats are involved and wants to go after them before another body is added to the tally. Things become even tenser when Gordon narrows his suspects down to Ivan Milat and believes the task force is wasting it's time following any other leads. Small wants to eliminate the suspects one by one, and there are over a 100, while Gordon is focused on the single person he believes committed the murders. Yes the idea of there being more than one killer is explored, but not in any serious fashion. I could see both Small and Gordon's points of view and the eventual clash was in train from almost the first scene of the original task force being assembled.

A secondary level of conflict is introduced when Police are forced to deal with an aggressive news media after a story. On a number of occasions Small attempts to manipulate the media, but fails as various details are leaked either purposely or by mistake to the fourth estate. The hounds of the media in typical fashion are not presented in a positive light in any shape or form.

A lot of pathos are added to Catching Milat via scenes of the various victims on the road to their eventual fates and their families having to deal with the aftermath of their being reported missing and eventually with their bodies being discovered. Particular noteworthy here are some of the voice overs used in various parts of the series. There were also a couple of survivors who got away before Ivan could go psycho, and in at least one survivor's case the viewer is left wondering how absolutely inept the regional NSW police force were as they failed to act on a report of an attempt abduction with shots being fired! This is compounded by the fact that both the escapee, Paul Onions, and another member of the public reported the incident. Onions takes some convincing to journey back to Australia from his native England in order to help with investigations, and is surprised that his early contacts with police were not followed up on. Onions was one lucky pommie bastard, as Gordon put it, and you are left wondering how he felt after the full atrocities of Ivan Milat came to light. Haunting part of Catching Milat that for mine was well played.

On the other side of the coin Catching Milat doesn't shy away from exploring the Milat family dynamic. Talk about your dysfunctional unit, as portrayed here, no idea if based onreal life. Ivan is aloof, quiet, and venomous, there's something disquieting about the dude that should have sent alarm bells ringing in the local neighbourhood. The other Milat dudes are portrayed as slightly retarded, or at best of limited intelligence. Sister Shirley shows an unhealthy interest in Ivan, though she does hook him up with future girlfriend Chalinda. The Milat family friends are equally shown as slightly backward, and definitely from working class backgrounds. Whether or not the portrayal of the family matches the reality isn't my job to comment on, though a bit of poetic licence has no doubt been taken.

Perhaps the only downside of the show was the final resolution, yes we all know where this is headed - Ivan caught with a tonne of evidence, but the final countdown was at best anti-climactic. I was somewhat disappointed that we didn't perhaps get a third episode dealing with the court case as for sure Ivan wasn't allowing Police an open ended case. Things sort of peter out in Catching Milat with a final forlorn appearance by Paul Gordon and some title cards pointing out what become of the principle characters. Okay it's a show that is never going to have a happy ending, but some sort of ending would have been appreciated. And I just have to ask, what the hell was the purpose of a bunch of slow motion scenes? They weren't action and the slo-mo added nothing to the dramatic intent!

I was intrigued by Catching Milat when the two part mini-series was announced, but since I don't watch commercial television I had to wait on the disc release, which not surprisingly quickly followed the broadcast. Overall I had a good time with the three hours the show runs for but had the impression it was slightly schizophrenic, it bounced between the Milats and the Police a few times too many to keep narrative flow happening. Not entirely sure you could call this one happy viewing, there's something disturbing about coming face to face with a real life serial killer, albeit via an Actor on the screen, but it remains intensely interesting. Two thumbs up for the Police investigation, poetic licence and all, and for a truly disturbing portrayal of Ivan Milat. Even Mick Taylor would run a mile if confronted by Ivan in a dark alley one evening. Are there more subscripts to be added to the Milat story, Catching Milat hints at further dark secrets waiting to be uncovered. Full recommendation for readers more interested in drama than blood soaked scenes of mayhem.