I was instantly transported back 40 years in Richard Lowenstein’s chaotic love letter to 70s post-punk subculture.

Set in 1978 (although it feels very 80s), the tone is set immediately by a carful of hoons shouting abuse at the grungy bunch queuing overnight for Bowie tickets. In the grungy bunch is Sam (Michael Hutchence), his girlfriend and the only one with a job Anna (Saskia Post) and a pubescent Noah Taylor if you look really hard.

Sam and Anna live in a share house come squat in Richmond where they rehearse their band Dogs in Space, have parties, break stuff, set stuff on fire and never clean. The housemates are a mixed bag, from Luchio (Tony Helou), who is desperately trying to prepare for his engineering exams, to Tim (Nique Needles), who is in the band but can’t get his homemade synthesizer to work. Thrown into the mix is ‘the girl’ (Deanna Bond), a teenager who has turned up unannounced, escaping school and family and becomes something of an observer for us of this frenetic music and drug-fuelled lifestyle.

Based on Lowenstein’s life and friends (several who appear as extras), he has managed to capture a feel not only for the time but for that time in your life before adulthood really takes a grip. There is gentle humour around anyone who takes themselves too seriously, from an earnest activist trying to organise a benefit concert to ‘the chainsaw man’ (Chris Haywood) extolling the wonders of his latest model.

Hutchence was an interesting choice for Sam. He’s not a great actor, something that Lowenstein seems to have recognised by minimising his dialogue, but he is mesmerising to watch. With other great performances around him – Nique Needles is a stand out as forlorn Tim and Post steals every scene she is in – you don’t notice his lack of acting chops so much. His character is not particularly likeable – the scene with his mother! – but we understand how his charisma and arrogance draws people around him, including Anna who really could be making better choices.

Of course Hutchence comes alive when he performs, in a glorious blend of INXS Michael and punk shouting. The music is a character in itself and will stay with you, particularly that chilling cover by Marie Hoy of Shivers. A highlight for me is seeing my sister, who was living this lifestyle at the time, in various scenes as an extra, including in a gorgeous blue dress out the front (and then nonsensically up on the balcony) when the cops come to break up the party.

Some small things have not aged so well – ‘the girl’ we imagine is not an adult and might not be shown having the same experiences if the film was made today and sometimes the broad caricatures punch down. It has such a warmth about it though that it’s easy to forgive and overlook. And after feeling like a gentle comedy, you don’t quite expect the emotional turn the narrative takes.

I remember Dogs in Space not necessarily being critically acclaimed at the time with Hutchence as an actor and Lowenstein, who mainly directed music videos, not being taken seriously. I’m happy to see it hold its own now as a classic that captured the zeitgeist of a Melbourne sub-culture and helps us remember all that was good about Michael Hutchence.

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