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Showing posts with label Spotlight on Australia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Spotlight on Australia. Show all posts
Mark Hartley’s 2008 documentary Not Quite Hollywood turned me on to a number of great Aussie exploitation (known as “ozploitation”) films, but over the years I’ve also discovered a handful of excellent period dramas that were produced "Down Under", including My Brilliant Career, The Getting of Wisdom, and Newsfront, just to name a few.
Now I can add director Carl Schultz’s exquisite 1983 movie Careful, He Might Hear You to that already impressive list.
Based on the autobiographical novel of the same name by Sumner Locke Elliott, Careful, He Might Hear You takes us back to the Great Depression. Two sisters: working-class Lila (Robyn Nevin) and socialite Vanessa (Wendy Hughes), are locked in a custody battle, each vying for the right to raise their young Nephew PS (Nicholas Gledhill). Lila and her husband George (Peter Whitford) have been PS’s legal guardians since he was an infant, while Vanessa, who only recently returned from England, was named co-guardian by their late sister, PS’s mother.
Believing it’s in the child’s best interest, Vanessa wants to bring PS to England with her, giving him a life of luxury and privilege, while Lila fights tooth and nail to ensure the boy remains with her in Sydney.
Both Hughes and Nevin are pitch-perfect as the feuding siblings, each with their own ideas regarding their nephew’s upbringing, and John Hargreaves (Long Weekend, Don’s Party) is superb in a brief appearance as Logan, PS’s absent father (the scene where Logan offers his son some practical advice is arguably the movie’s most poignant).
The performances, coupled with John Seale’s gorgeous cinematography (PS’s first glimpse of Vanessa is shot in such a way that she appears almost dreamlike), do their part to ensure this Australian melodrama is engaging from start to finish. Rating: 8.5 out of 10
Trivia:This film was one of many featured in the documentary Not Quite Hollywood where it was praised by Quentin Tarantino
A film that Quentin Tarantino once called “A horror movie unlike any other”, director Tony Williams’ 1982 Ozploitation horror/mystery Next of Kin is, indeed, an exceptionally unique motion picture.
After the death of her mother, a distraught Linda (Jackie Kerin) begrudgingly returns home to become the manager of Monteclare, a retirement community that has been owned and operated by her family for years.
After settling in, Linda reconnects with her old boyfriend Barney (John Jarratt) while also befriending Lance, an elderly resident played by Charles McCallum. But before long, her apprehension at taking over the family business will turn into an all-out paranoia!
It all begins when one of the home’s occupants is found dead in a bathtub. While trying to figure out what happened to this poor soul, Linda starts digging into Monteclare’s rather shady past, and because of this finds herself being tormented by an unknown person (or persons).
Linda is convinced that the local Doctor (played by Alex Scott) and the home’s longtime assistant manager Connie (Gerda Nicholson) are conspiring against her, attempting to drive her mad. But are they the true culprits, or is the turmoil at Monteclare being caused by someone else entirely?
First and foremost, Next of Kin is a beautifully shot motion picture. Director Williams set out to style the movie like a European film, drawing particular inspiration from Bernardo Bertolucci (a key sequence was clearly influenced by a late moment from Last Tango in Paris). In addition, the movie’s cinematographer, Gary Hanson, borrowed several techniques made popular decades earlier by Alfred Hitchcock and a handful of others (a dream sequence features an effect much like one found in 1958’s Vertigo).
Overhead tracking shots, Steadicams, and dolly shots pop up throughout Next of Kin, and often when you least expect them, adding to the overall experience.
Performance-wise, the cast is strong, especially a young-looking John Jarratt (Mick Taylor in Wolf Creek) and Jackie Kerin herself, who is not only likable as Linda but also plays her as an incredibly strong-willed heroine. Director Williams said one of the reasons he made Next of Kin was because he had no interest in copying the American slashers that were popular at the time, in which female characters served mostly as victims. In this film, Williams not only gives us a female lead but one who proves time and again to be the movie's toughest character. Even during those moments when Linda thinks she’s losing her mind, she remains resolute (one night, the lights inexplicably go out at Monteclare. To ensure the residents are ok, Linda searches the rooms, and while doing so encounters things that make the audience leap out of their seat. Yet she takes each new discovery perfectly in stride).
Linda does eventually lose her cool (when she is pushed to the brink of insanity), but even then proves that she’s not someone to be trifled with.
As for its story, Next of Kin starts off as a mystery: what exactly is happening at Monteclare and how does it tie into the past? We find ourselves caught up in Linda’s search for answers, and because of the film’s energetic style I was fully invested in these early sequences. The opening half is undoubtedly a slow burn; there are creepy scenes scattered throughout, but at this point the horror hasn’t yet kicked into high gear.
Our patience is rewarded, however, in the film's second half - particularly the last 30 minutes - when Next of Kin crosses into full-blown Ozploitation territory, and in a big, big way! The scares come fast and furious here, and things get absolutely crazy before the story reaches its climax.
I would love to talk more about what happens in these late scenes, but I don’t dare; Next of Kin earns its surprises, and I have no intention of spoiling a single one of them.
While I really enjoyed the opening mystery, I absolutely loved the end! I have a soft spot for movies that shock the hell out of me, and Next of Kin did so several times. It is a film I wholeheartedly recommend.
Starring:Wings Hauser, R. Lee Ermey, Robert Arevalo
Tag line:"Against all odds they went to hell and back"
Trivia:Writer William Nagle was an Australian S.A.S. soldier who served in Vietnam between 1965 and 1969
After directing some kick-ass exploitation films in the ‘80s (Turkey Shoot, BMX Bandits, Dead End Drive-In), Brian Trenchard-Smith closed out the decade with 1989’s The Siege of Firebase Gloria, a straightforward war flick that is as engaging as any movie he’s ever made.
The Tet Offensive is underway, and the U.S. Army’s upper echelon has ordered Sgt. Maj. Hafner (R. Lee Ermey) to lead his men to Firebase Gloria, an outpost that's in danger of falling into enemy hands.
After wrestling control of the firebase away from its drug-addicted commanding officer (John Calvin), Hafner, with the help of his subordinate, Cpl. Di Nardo (Wings Hauser) and the firebase’s 1st Sgt. Jones (Albert Popwell), prepares for an all-out attack by the Viet Cong, which is gathering en masse in the nearby forest.
Though his forces outnumber the Americans by five to one, the Viet Cong commander, Cao Van (Robert Arevalo), remains cautious, telling his troops that they must take Firebase Gloria before the U.S. can send in reinforcements.
As difficult as their task may seem, Hafner and his men vow to protect the firebase for as long as they can, knowing full well that doing so may ultimately cost them their lives.
Two years after his career-defining role as the Marine drill sergeant in Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket, R. Lee Ermey plays what is essentially the lead in The Siege of Firebase Gloria, and even doubles as the movie’s narrator. A former Marine himself as well as a veteran of the Vietnam War, Ermey delivers a strong, surprisingly heartfelt performance as the commander who knows the odds are stacked against him (according to Trenchard-Smith, Ermey also helped re-write portions of the script, to make them more realistic).
Wings Hauser is equally good as the unpredictable Di Nardo, and Robert Arevalo, who plays the enemy commander, even manages to get a few laughs along the way (when his artillery unit fails to prevent a U.S. helicopter from landing and taking off again, a frustrated Cao Van tells his subordinate that their mortar squad “couldn’t hit my old grandmother in the ass from two paces”).
Along with the fine performances turned in by its cast, The Siege of Firebase Gloria features some intense battle scenes, and the opening sequence - in which Hafner and his men stumble upon a Vietnamese village that’s been massacred by the enemy - gets the film off to a grim start. But it’s the siege itself, filling the movie's entire second half, that builds the tension to an almost unbearable level.
While it doesn’t shy away from offering an opinion or two about the conflict in Vietnam (Sgt. Maj. Hafner is especially critical of the Army’s top brass, who seem slow to act on the information provided by men in the field), The Siege of Firebase Gloria isn’t the kind of film that examines the effect that war has on the individual (a la Apocalypse Now or The Deer Hunter), nor does it question America’s involvement in Vietnam (as Oliver Stone did in both Platoon and Born on the Fourth of July). It is, from start to finish, a straight-up war movie, filled with action and drama, and on that level it is a resounding success.
Tag line:"A Love Caught In The Fire Of Revolution"
Trivia:Filming in Manila was halted after three weeks due to death threats to the production. Reportedly, these were directed to both actor Mel Gibson and director Peter Weir. The threats alleged that the film being made was intended to be anti-Islam
Jakarta, 1965. Sukarno, the President of Indonesia, was at odds with the country’s communist party (the PKI) as well as the conservative Muslim military, resulting in not one, but two revolutions in September of that year. As you'd expect, there was lots of bloodshed.
Yet as historically important as these events are, they're merely the backdrop for Peter Weir’s 1982 film The Year of Living Dangerously, a drama in which three westerners are caught up in the chaos and, to a lesser extent, a romance about the love that blossoms between two of them.
As the movie opens, Australian news reporter Guy Hamilton (Mel Gibson) is arriving in Indonesia for what will be his first overseas assignment. Highly motivated, Hamilton is anxious to break a big story right out of the gate. Unfortunately, the other western reporters, including American Pete Curtis (Michael Murphy) and fellow Australian Wally O’Sullivan (Noel Ferrier), have seniority over him, which means they land all the important interviews.
Guy's luck improves, however, when he forms a partnership with Billy Kwan (Linda Hunt), a Chinese-Australian photographer who seemingly knows everyone. It’s Billy who gets him an interview with the head of the country’s Communist Party, making Guy the envy of his peers. Before long, Guy is in the thick of things, rubbing elbows with Indonesia’s most powerful men.
It’s around this time that Billy also introduces Guy to Jill Bryant (Sigourney Weaver), who works at the British Embassy as an assistant to Colonel Henderson (Bill Kerr). Though she’s set to return to London in three weeks, Jill and Guy have a torrid affair, and are soon head-over-heels in love.
But when Jill warns Guy that a shipment of arms, sent by the Chinese to the PKI, will be arriving shortly, and that he should get out of Indonesia, Guy instead decides to stick around and break the story, alienating both Jill and Billy in the process. To determine when and where this shipment will land, Guy visits the docks and bribes potential sources, all the while realizing such an explosive story could very well cost him his life.
Based on a novel of the same name by Christopher Koch, The Year of Living Dangerously doesn’t completely ignore the political upheaval of that period. In one key sequence, Billy and Guy are tipped off that the PKI is about to march on the American Embassy. Joined by their valet, Kumar (Bambol Roco), the two make their way through the crowded streets, only to be attacked by an angry mob. Even more dramatic is a later scene in which Guy and Kumar witness a mass execution.
The movie’s main focus, however, is placed on the western reporters, most of whom experience the turmoil from a distance. As the ambitious Guy, Gibson delivers one of his finest early performances; and even though she often plays second fiddle to her male counterparts, Weaver is equally strong as Jill. She and Gibson generate some sparks in their scenes together.
But the heart and soul of The Year of Living Dangerously is the character of Billy Kwan, expertly portrayed by Linda Hunt (playing a man, and doing so wonderfully). Occasionally acting as the film’s narrator, Billy is a complex individual, a guy who is on a first-name basis with many of the country’s leaders, yet also visits the poorer sections of town, doing what he can to help a mother and her son, both of whom are slowly starving to death. When Guy tells Billy he should publish some of the photos he’s taken in these poverty-stricken areas, Billy says that it’s the content of the pictures, and not their commercial value, that interests him. Unlike Guy, Billy cannot ignore what’s happening in Indonesia, making him the film’s most fascinating character as well as it’s most sympathetic.
If you’re looking for a movie about the real-life horrors that rocked Indonesia during this tumultuous period, check out the recent documentary The Act of Killing, which focuses on the violence that erupted following the failed 1965 coup by the communist PKI. In the case of The Year of Living Dangerously, though, these events aren’t as important as the characters or their story, resulting in a motion picture that tells a smaller, more intimate tale which nonetheless resonates just as strongly as any Hollywood epic.
Tag line:"Sometimes it is the things that bind us, that truly set us free"
Trivia:This film's director, producers, scriptwriter, first billed actor, production designer, costume designer, production supervisor, bookkeeper and accountant were all women
Director Gillian Armstrong's 1979 drama / romance My Brilliant Career has a lot going for it. Based on a 1901 novel of the same name by Miles Franklin, it’s a beautifully-realized period piece with gorgeous cinematography and a top-notch supporting cast.
But forget all that, because what makes the film so damn appealing is the career-defining performance of its star Judy Davis, who, in every moment, conjures up an energy that practically leaps off the screen and into your lap.
It’s the kind of work that usually nets an actress gobs of year-end awards, a la Charlize Theron’s turn in 2003’s Monster (winner of 17 awards, including an Oscar and Golden Globe); or Helen Mirren in 2005’s The Queen (aside from walking off with the “Big 5”, i.e. Academy Award, Golden Globe, BAFTA, Critics Choice and Screen Actors Guild, Dame Mirren took home 24 other awards from film festivals and critic circles the world over). While I wouldn’t go so far as to compare Miss Davis’ work in My Brilliant Career with that of either Theron’s or Mirren’s, she is strong enough to warrant mention alongside them.
So, imagine my surprise when I learned that Judy Davis did not receive similar accolades for her portrayal of a headstrong Australian girl at the turn of the 20th century. In fact, she won only two awards for My Brilliant Career. Both were BAFTAs, for Best Lead Actress and Most Outstanding Newcomer. Yes, it was her first starring role in a motion picture, which makes her performance all the more impressive.
Most amazing of all, though, is that she was even snubbed in her own country! My Brilliant Career was the recipient of six Australian Film Institute Awards, including Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, and Cinematography, but the top actress nod went to someone else, specifically, Michele Fawdon for Cathy’s Child. It’s not uncommon for some year-end awards to miss the mark, but for everyone (except the British) to overlook Davis’ incredible contribution to this film is almost impossible to believe.
Precocious teenager Sybylla Melvyn (Davis) knows that her hometown, the little backwater village of Possum Gully, will never afford her the opportunity to become a famous writer, artist, or musician. So, after refusing to accept a servant’s position secured for her by her mother (Julia Blake), Sybylla is shipped off to stay with her high-society Grandmother, Miss Bossier (Aileen Britton), who lives in the prestigious town of Caddagat with Sybylla’s Aunt Helen (Wendy Hughes) and Uncle Julius (Peter Whitford).
Her grandmother and aunt keep trying to marry her off to the boorish Frank Hawden (Robert Grubb), but Sybylla is content in Caddagat, and is prepared to begin what she refers to as her “Brilliant Career”, whatever it may be. But a chance meeting with Harry Beecham (Sam Neill), a wealthy young entrepreneur who lives with his Aunt Gussie (Patricia Kennedy), throws a new wrinkle into the fabric of Sybylla’s life, one for which she is ill-prepared: Love.
Can Sybylla suppress these new feelings and launch her “career”, or will romance win out in the end?
It’s quite possible that Davis’s awards chances were undermined by her character’s plain, even homely, appearance. Unlike the actress playing her, Sybylla is considered an “ugly duckling” by those around her. In addition, the role itself - an independent woman who vows never to marry, then meets and falls in love with a handsome man - is nothing new.
Yet thanks to her charisma and vitality, which is on display throughout the movie, Judy Davis makes us forget that we’ve seen this story a thousand times before, and like Harry Beecham, we become absolutely smitten with her. Even in those sequences where her character is down in the dumps (at the evening ball, she sulks because Harry is spending all his time talking to another woman), we’re still drawn to her energy, and can’t take our eyes off of her. As for the story, hopeless romantics may have an issue with some of its twists and turns, but that shouldn’t prevent them (or anyone else) from ultimately admiring the hell out of this picture.
To be fair, I’ve never seen Cathy’s Child, so I’m in no position to judge who was the better Australian actress in 1979. What I will say, though, is that Miss Fawdon must have been Katherine Hepburn, Bette Davis, and Meryl Streep all rolled into one, because it would take a performance of that magnitude to convince me Judy Davis wasn’t robbed.
Starring:Charles McCallum, John Frawley, Arthur Dignam
Tag line:"Young men torn between physical desire and religious discipline"
Trivia:Seminary scenes were filmed at Werribee Park Mansion, which had served as a seminary (Corpus Christi Catholic College) for 50 years
Fred Schepisi’s directorial debut, 1976’s The Devil’s Playground, is a semi-autobiographical account of life in a 1950’s Catholic seminary. Starring young Simon Burke, it tells the story of a 13-year-old seminarian whose devotion to God and the church are put to the test by his budding sexuality.
Tom Allan (Burke) is one of the many boys at the seminary trying to come to terms with their libidos. Though teased by some of his fellow students (because he’s a bed-wetter), Tom maintains a close friendship with Fitz (John Diedrich), who, despite being several years older, shares Tom’s doubts and fears as to whether he is fit to become a man of the cloth. For guidance, Tom turns to his instructors, only to discover most of them are as confused as he is!
Though only a teenager at the time (around 14 or 15 when the film was shot), Simon Burke’s portrayal of Tom is nothing short of remarkable. Playing such a demanding role with the confidence of a seasoned professional, Burke ensures that we are always in tune with what his character is thinking and feeling, and because of this we feel sympathy for him. In one humorous (if uncomfortable) scene, Tom is in the confessional, where he admits to the acerbic Brother Hanrahan (Gerry Duggan) that he masturbates frequently (2-3 times a day).
Following a brief tirade, Brother Hanrahan absolves Tom of his sins, gives him his penance, and sends him on his way. To Tom’s horror, his classmates, many of whom were praying just outside the confessional, overheard the boisterous brother, and they begin to snicker amongst themselves. Though played primarily for laughs (Tom’s chronic masturbation is already well-known throughout the seminary), we can’t help but feel sorry for him in this scene, and Burke’s gentle, heartfelt performance is the reason why.
In addition to Simon Burke, I was impressed with how The Devil’s Playground handled its adult characters. Far from demonizing the seminary’s Brothers, Schepisi shows that they’re every bit as human, and prone to temptation, as Tom and his friends. During a weekend getaway, Brother Victor (Nick Tate) and Brother James (Peter Cox) take in a rugby match, then head to a nearby pub for a few beers. While there, Brother Victor spots a couple of pretty women sitting by themselves, and approaches them, causing a shocked (and incredibly nervous) Brother James to run for the door.
Not to be outdone, the senior Brother, Sebastian (Charles McCallum), believes masturbation is perfectly normal, and questions aloud whethe rofr not there’s a God in heaven. Even the stern disciplinarian, Brother Francine (Arthur Dignam), has his weaknesses. After catching a ride into town with Brothers Victor and James, Brother Francine says he’s going to visit a local museum, but instead hangs out at a public pool, gawking at women in various stages of undress. By spending as much time with its adult characters as its students, The Devil’s Playground is one of those rare coming-of-age films that isn’t a “kids only” affair.
Winner of 6 Australian Film Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Lead Actor (shared by both Simon Burke and Nick Tate), The Devil’s Playground is an impressive motion picture, and thanks to the work of its entire cast, coupled with Schepisi’s documentary-like approach to the material, it is as relevant today as it was in 1976.
Starring:John Hargreaves, Pat Bishop, Graham Kennedy
Tag line:"What a helluva night!"
Trivia:First major acting role in a feature film for Australian Television personality Graham Kennedy
October, 1969. A general election is underway in Australia. Anticipating a victory for the underdog Labour Party, school teacher Don Henderson (John Hargreaves) and his wife Kath (Jeanie Dryan) decide to throw a party. Among the attendees are John’s outspoken friend Mal (Ray Barrett) and his oft-depressed significant other, Jenny (Pat Bishop); Simon (Graeme Blundell), a meek accountant, and his pretty but naïve wife Jody (Veronica Lang); Mack (Graham Kennedy), a wannabe photographer whose wife just left him; Cooley (Harold Hopkins), a womanizing lawyer, and his curvaceous 19-year-old date, Susan (Claire Binney); and Kerry (Candy Raymond), a sultry artist whose dentist husband, Evan (Kit Taylor), is most definitely the jealous type.
As the alcohol flows and the election results roll in, gentle ribbing gives way to angry insults and innocent flirtations lead to adultery. Before the night is over, more than one marriage will be teetering on the brink of collapse.
Based on a 1971 play by David Williamson, Don’s Party is a very funny movie. After throwing back a few beers, Cooley confesses to Mack that he once slept with his now-estranged wife. Not missing a beat, a nonplussed Mack, in turn, admits that he knew all about the tryst because he was in the bedroom closet shooting photos of it, which he now sells for a profit.
Of course, with it dealing so openly with relationships, the film also has its share of drama. On more than one occasion, a couple will “air their dirty laundry”, often quite loudly. Toss in a moment or two of frontal nudity (both male and female) and plenty of sexual innuendo, and you have a smart satire that takes aim at politics, marriage, art, and the middle class; as well as a bawdy sex comedy that is as titillating as it is thought-provoking.
Like many movies based on a play, Don’s Party can be a bit too talky for its own good. What saves the film, though (apart from its clever screenplay, which Williamson himself penned), is the cast that director Beresford assembled. Graham Kennedy is especially good as the party’s lone single attendee, as is Pat Bishop, who, though stuck in the background for most of the movie, has one very poignant scene late in the film.
Thanks to them, and the rest of the cast, what could have been a stage-bound, dialogue heavy snooze fest is instead vibrant and fascinating.
Tag line:"She's back... Looking as gorgeous and outrageous as ever in a brand new frock"
Trivia:According to director Stephan Elliott, he took the three leads out in drag prior to the beginning of filming. None of them were recognized
On its most basic level, 1994's The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert is a movie about drag queens. Its three main characters are entertainers who dress up as women and lip-sync to songs such as "I Love the Nightlife" and "Can’t Help Lovin’ That Man". Their outfits are flamboyant (the movie won a well-deserved Academy Award for its Costume Design), and the stage performances are flashy and extravagant.
But to reduce The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert to a glorified drag act would be short-changing it. This is a lively, hilarious motion picture, with well-developed characters and some extremely clever sequences.
Tick (Hugo Weaving), a drag performer whose stage name is Mitzi, receives a call from his estranged wife, who operates a hotel / casino in the small desert town of Alice Springs. She’s in the market for a new stage show, so along with his two friends, fellow drag queens Adam / Felicia (Guy Pearce) and Bernadette (Terence Stamp), Tick boards a bus - nicknamed "Priscilla" - and sets off on what proves to be an eventful journey through the Australian outback.
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert features a number of entertaining scenes. So many, in fact, that I had a hard time keeping up with them all. Some of its best moments are when the three leads don their dresses and take the stage; along with their rendition of Gloria Gaynor’s "I Will Survive", which they perform for a group of aborigines in the middle of the outback, there's a scene in which Tick and his buddies stroll into a bar filled with ruffians, only to find the most intimidating patron is a portly, middle-aged woman (June Marie Bennett)!
While most of The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert is lighthearted in nature, there are times where things get a bit more serious. After spending the night in a small town, the three discover a homophobic threat has been spray-painted on the side of their bus. Yet even somber scenes such as these have their moments of frivolity (a flashback sequence, in which Adam recalls an encounter with a pedophile uncle, actually ends on a humorous note).
While the adventures themselves are a blast to watch, the movie’s real strength lies in its characters, all of whom are as colorful as their elaborate costumes. Terence Stamp delivers an understated performance as Bernadette, a transsexual whose best years are behind her, while Guy Pearce is perfectly over-the-top in his portrayal of Adam, an effeminate troublemaker who refuses to take life seriously.
Naturally, these two occasionally clash, which is where Hugo Weaving’s Mitzi comes into the picture. Often forced into the role of peacemaker, Mitzi is, at times, as boisterous as Adam (especially when on-stage), yet also as level-headed as Bernadette. All three actors deliver remarkable performances, and never once allow their characters to devolve into caricatures. Also good in a supporting role is Bill Hunter (Newsfront) as Bob, a mechanic who, after being dumped by his stripper wife (Julia Cortez), hitches a ride on the bus and falls in love with Bernadette.
Normally, I don't condone sequels, but in the case of The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, I’d love to see another movie featuring these characters. The 100+ minutes I spent in their company simply wasn’t enough!
Starring:Edward Woodward, Jack Thompson, John Waters
Tag line:"HERO OR VILLAIN ...his exploits shook an empire...and made him a legend"
Trivia:This was the first Australian film to win a major award at the Cannes Film Festival
Based on an actual court martial from 1902, Breaker Morant stars Edward Woodward as Lt. Harry “Breaker” Morant, an Australian officer in the Bushveldt Carbineers, stationed in South Africa to help the British in their fight against the Boers. Arrested by the high command and charged with the murders of several Boer prisoners as well as a German missionary (played by Bruno Knez), Morant and two of his fellow Carbineers, Lt. Peter Handcock (Bryan Brown) and Lt. George Witton (Lewis Fitz-Gerald), stood trial for their lives.
Due to the sensitive political nature of this case (the Germans protested the killing of their missionary, and could have used it as an excuse to assist the Boers), British authorities wanted to expedite the court martial. To this end, they assigned Maj. J.F. Thomas (Jack Thompson), a lawyer with no trial experience, to act as the attorney for the accused.
Despite being a novice in the courtroom, Thomas managed to stage an effective defense, arguing that Morant and the others were following orders issued by British Commander Lord Kitchener (Alan Cassell), which stated that all prisoners of war were to be immediately executed.
Were Morant, Handcock, and Witton loyal soldiers doing their duty, or cold-blooded killers acting contrary to military law?
Directed by Bruce Beresford, Breaker Morant features a handful of well-executed battle scenes, the most exciting of which cones late in the movie, when the Boers launch a surprise attack on the base where the court martial is being held (though still under arrest, Morant, Handcock, and Witton join in the fight, doing their part to keep the attackers at bay). That said, the film’s best skirmishes happen not on the battlefield, but in the courtroom.
Given a single day to prepare his case, Maj. Thomas seems a bit disorganized at first. He’s constantly fumbling through his notes, which are always a jumbled mess. Yet he is as ferocious as a rabid dog, and as sly as a fox, when it comes time to cross-examine witnesses. Thomas wins the respect of Morant and the others when he peppers Capt. Robertson (Rob Steele), the prosecution’s first witness, with one tough question after another. The entire cast does an exemplary job, especially Woodward as the title character, but for me, it’s Jack Thompson who delivers the film’s standout performance, portraying a man who believes his clients are innocent, and will do whatever he can to save them from the firing squad.
Winner of 10 Australian Film Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, Breaker Morant addresses the hypocrisy of accusing solders of murder during a time of war while also challenging the chain of command that encourages such actions in the first place. An anti-war film in the vein of Stanley Kubrick’s Paths of Glory (another movie about a trio of soldiers subjected to a sham trial), Breaker Morant is unforgettable.
Trivia:Executive producer Patricia Lovell admits to being genuinely afraid of Hanging Rock. In an interview she explained that she has only gone back to Hanging Rock once since the shooting
For years, I was a bit fuzzy as to whether or not Peter Weir’s 1975 film Picnic at Hanging Rock was based on an actual event (turns out it wasn’t; while Hanging Rock is a very real locale in Victoria, Australia, the story is a complete fabrication). But then, a picture as hauntingly enigmatic as this one practically invites ambiguity. As gorgeous as it is bewildering, Picnic at Hanging Rock is a movie you’ll think about for days afterwards.
Valentine’s Day, 1900. A group of young women from Appleyard College head to Hanging Rock, a geological formation situated near Victoria’s Mount Macedon, for a picnic. Chaperoned by two of their teachers, Miss McCraw (Vivean Gray) and Mademoiselle de Poitiers (Helen Morse), the girls enjoy what appears to be a peaceful day in the country.
Their quiet afternoon takes a dark turn, however, when three students, Miranda (Anne-Louise Lambert), Marion (Jane Vallis), and Irma (Karen Robson), as well as Miss McCraw, disappear without a trace.
As the police, led by Sgt. Bumpher (Wyn Roberts), carry out their investigation, the college’s headmistress, Mrs. Appleyard (Rachel Roberts), struggles to keep her school afloat amid all the bad publicity. The police fail to turn up any clues and eventually abandon their search, at which point young Michael Fitzhubert (Dominic Guard), who was picnicking in the area at the same time and was the last person to see the girls before their disappearance, feels compelled to take matters into his own hands.
With the help of his family’s servant Albert (John Jarratt), Michael tries to solve this puzzling case, and what he discovers during his time at Hanging Rock will shock not only the local authorities, but all of Australia as well.
Director Peter Weir weaves an aura of mystery throughout Picnic at Hanging Rock. Along with a few strange occurrences (during the picnic, both Miss McCraw and Mr. Hussey, who drove the cart that brought the girls to the area, notice their watches stopped at exactly noontime), Weir shoots the rock formation in such a way as to make it look incredibly foreboding. He keeps his camera down low, shooting upwards, giving the illusion that the rock is towering over his characters. And because of this, we feel a bit uneasy whenever the action switches back to this seemingly menacing locale. When Michael Fitzhubert,who is determined to find the girls, decides to spend the night at Hanging Rock, we fear for his safety, and wonder if we will ever see him again. Along with introducing a sense of dread into the proceedings, this adds a supernatural element to the movie that makes its central mystery all the more perplexing.
A beautiful motion picture that will have you turning its story over and over again in your head, Picnic at Hanging Rock is one of the seminal Australian films of the 1970's and, in my opinion, ranks among the greatest the continent ever produced.
And believe me when I tell you, his character in this film is as far from heroic as you can possibly get!
Hando and his gang of thugs, which includes his best friend Davey (Daniel Pollock), patrol the streets of Melbourne, harassing (and sometimes attacking) the city’s ever-growing Vietnamese population.
One day, as he and his cronies are hanging out at the local bar, Hando meets Gabrielle (Jacqueline McKenzie), a drug addict looking for a place to stay. It isn’t long before she and Hando are an item, much to the chagrin of Davey, who is himself falling in love with Gabrielle.
To make matters worse, the Vietnamese decide that enough is enough, and form a small army to stand against Hando and his gang. After a violent rumble, the skinheads are forced to find a new place to live, and once there dedicate most of their free time to planning their revenge.
Romper Stomper opens with a brutal scene in which three Vietnamese teens, who were simply riding their skateboards through a subway tunnel, are savagely beaten by Hando and the others. It’s the first of many sequences that take us deep inside the skinhead subculture; at one point, Hando, whose bedroom is decorated with swastikas and Nazi paraphernalia, tries to impress Gabrielle by reading her passages from Mein Kampf. This, along with a unique soundtrack (many tunes feature lyrics that attack minorities and promote white supremacy) and spirited fight sequences (including one big-ass rumble), gives the film’s entire first half an energy all its own.
Moments after Hando and his skinheads are driven out of the warehouse that they called home, Romper Stomper settles down a bit, allowing us to learn a few things about its main characters (including why Gabrielle has such a strained relationship with her father) while also permitting the various romantic subplots to play themselves out. It’s in these scenes that the movie’s young performers prove their worth, especially Crowe, who shines as the violently bigoted Hando, a character you love to hate.
An energetic and sometimes shocking exposé of racism at its worst, Romper Stomper also works as a drama, and while it certainly isn’t an easy film to watch, I’m betting you’ll be glad you did.
Starring:Nicholas Hope, Claire Benito, Ralph Cotterill
Tag line:"All he needs is love"
Trivia:Most of the sound was recorded by two binaural microphones hidden in actor Nicholas Hope's ears
Bad Boy Bubby is kind of a bizarre masterpiece.
Directed by Rolf de Heer, this 1993 film tells the story of Bubby (Nicholas Hope), a guy in his mid-‘30s who has never once in his life left the small apartment he shares with his mother (Claire Benito). To keep Bubby at bay, she tells him the air has been poisoned, and puts on a gas mask whenever she goes out. So Bubby spends his days playing with his pet cat, and his nights satisfying his mother’s lustful desires, He seems content.
That changes when his estranged father (Ralph Cotterill) re-enters the picture. All at once, Bubby is pushed to the side by his mom, and when a seemingly innocent act ends in tragedy, he leaves the apartment for the first time ever.
Bubby has difficulty adjusting to the ways of the world, but chance encounters with both a neighborhood garage band and a social worker he lovingly calls Angel (Carmel Johnson) allow him to finally experience the freedom he had been denied for so many years.
Bad Boy Bubby is, in many ways, an experimental film. All sound was recorded via two small mics hidden behind lead actor Nicholas Hope’s ears, allowing the audience to hear the world exactly as he does. In addition, director de Heer utilized the talents of over 30 cinematographers, the majority of whom shot only a single sequence. So the style of the picture changes from scene to scene (each cinematographer had full creative control, and was not permitted to view anyone else's footage). As you can imagine, this gives the film a somewhat frenzied look.
Its unique technical approaches aside, Bad Boy Bubby also has Nicholas Hope, whose portrayal of an innocent thrust into a world he cannot possibly understand gives the movie its center. With no idea how to communicate with those around him, he simply repeats whatever he hears, and while most of the comedy stems from Bubby’s interactions with others (a scene where he walks into a donut shop and orders exactly what the woman before him ordered, copying her voice and inflection as he does so, made me laugh out loud), it also results in some uncomfortable moments (because he doesn’t know what he’s saying, Bubby is often crude and profane).
Despite the occasional social faux pas, Bubby continues to view the world as a child would, gazing in wonder at anything and everything. It's this simplicity that catches the eye of “Angel”, the caretaker who will eventually fall in love with him.
Bad Boy Bubby can, at times, also be alarming. Aside from his incestuous relationship with his mother, Bubby inadvertently kills his pet cat when he wraps it in plastic (not wanting to leave it behind, he packs the dead carcass in his suitcase and carries it with him). But even during its most shocking scenes, the film exudes a charm that cannot be ignored.
Filled with humor and pathos, Bad Boy Bubby is a unique motion picture experience.
Starring:Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult
Tag line:"Only the Mad Survive"
Trivia:Over 80% of the effects seen in the film are practical effects, stunts, make-up and sets
It took 30 years for director George Miller to get around to the next installment in his Mad Max series, and believe me, it was worth the wait! 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road is more than a cinematic assault on the senses. It’s a goddamn blitzkrieg! This movie will leave you stunned, worn out, and thoroughly entertained.
The road warrior, aka Max (Tom Hardy), continues to roam the wastelands of Australia, doing whatever is necessary to survive. After a run-in with a group of heavily armed marauders known as the War Boys, Max is taken prisoner and forced to serve as a permanent blood donor for Nux (Nicholas Hoult), a sickly War Boy with a life-threatening illness.
The War Boys are the faithful servants of Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne), the tyrannical leader of a desert community. In an effort to obtain more fuel for his vast army of vehicles, Immortan Joe sends one of his most trusted lieutenants, Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron), to Gas Town, a nearby refinery. Driving a fuel tanker, Furiosa and her War Boy escorts head into the desert...
But Furiosa eventually changes course.
As it turns out, she had no intention of going to Gas Town, and is instead on a mission of mercy to deliver Immortan Joe’s five wives, Capable (Riley Keough), Cheedo (Courtney Eaton), the Dag (Abbey Lee), Toast the Knowing (Zoe Kravitz) and the very pregnant Angharad (Rosie Huntington-Whiteley), to the safety of the “Green Place”, an idyllic oasis where Immortan Joe cannot reach them.
The moment they realize what Furiosa is up to, Joe and his remaining War Boys climb into their vehicles and give chase, driving as fast as possible to overtake her and “rescue” the wives. Not wanting to miss out on such a glorious hunt, the weakened Nux hops into a car and, with his “blood bag” Max strapped to the hood, joins the others in their high-speed pursuit.
Tom Hardy steps nicely into the role of Max (previously portrayed by Mel Gibson), and plays the character with plenty of gusto. But what surprised me most about Mad Max: Fury Road is that Max himself was relegated to a supporting role... in his own film! For the first hour or so, Max is either in prison or chained to the front of a car doing well over 100 miles per hour. In his place, we have Charlize Theron as Furiosa, who, despite missing an arm, is every bit as tough as Max, and a lot smarter than the War Boys.
As for the film’s heavy, Hugh Keays-Byrne (who was Toecutter in the original Mad Max) reminded me of the Humongous from The Road Warrior: like that earlier character, his Immortan Joe is an imposing figure hidden behind a mask, and has an entire army at his disposal. The rest of the supporting roles are also well-cast, especially Nicholas Hoult as the maniacal Nux.
The film's wildest character, however, is one that never utters a word: The Doof Warrior (played by Australian singer / songwriter Iota), a War Boy who, as Immortan Joe is chasing Furiosa, stands perched on an over-sized vehicle, performing rock music as flames shoot from his guitar! The Doof Warrior steals damn near every scene, providing Joe and his troops with their own soundtrack as they speed through the desert. In a movie filled with awesome characters, the Doof Warrior is the most fascinating of them all.
As with the previous movies, George Miller and his team create a convincing post-apocalyptic world for Mad Max: Fury Road (Immortan Joe’s headquarters, with its poverty-stricken minions and man-made waterfall, is damn cool). More than anything, though, Mad Max: Fury Road is a high-octane action film, with one amazing sequence after another. As with Mad Max and its sequels, director Miller used practical effects - as opposed to CGI - for the majority of the chase scenes, giving them a realistic feel while at the same time ratcheting the tension up as high as it will go.
It’s damned difficult to pick a single moment from Mad Max: Fury Road that's my “favorite”, but if I had to choose one, it would be the sand storm. I was so wowed by this sequence that I had to immediately watch it again. As good as the action scenes are in the series’ other entries, Mad Max: Fury Road may actually have them beat.
Hands down, Mad Max: Fury Road is one of the decade's best action films. After nearly thirty years, “Mad” Max Rockatansky hasn’t lost his edge.
Starring:John Bluthal, John Holmes, Uschi Digard, Candy Samples
Tag line for U.S. DVD release:"The Sin-sational Cult Film Classic!"
Trivia:This movie was refused a UK cinema certificate in 1977 and only passed the following year after heavy BBFC cuts
In its opening scene, Fantasm, a 1976 Australian sex comedy directed by Richard Franklin (using the pseudonym Richard Bruce), lays its cards on the table. A naked woman, lying in bed, gently puts her finger in her mouth, then moistens her nipple (shown in close-up). Her self-exploration intensifies as the title screen and credits play; by the time we get to the writer and executive producers, her hand has moved further down her body.
More than a good way to grab an audience's attention, this intro features the first bit of nudity in a movie chock full of naked flesh - of both the male and female varieties - that stars some of the biggest names in ‘70s porn.
Hosted by Professor Jungenot A. Freud (John Bluthal), Fantasm plays out across ten segments, each focusing on the sexual fantasies of women. From the everyday to the taboo, each of these fantasies are acted out for us. Among the ladies whose innermost desires are revealed are Abigail (Dee Dee Levitt), a woman who longs to be pampered by the guys that work at her local hair boutique; Gabrielle (Gretchen Rudolph), a lonely housewife who longs to experience sex as a man; and Francine (Mara Lutra), a heterosexual who fantasizes about being seduced by a buxom brunette (Uschi Digard).
In between each segment, Professor Freud offers his personal insights, insisting at every turn that an active imagination is a vital component in developing a healthy sex life.
Despite a brief appearance by legendary porn star John Holmes (who, along with Maria Welton, takes part in a fruit fetish fantasy), Fantasm is a strictly soft-core affair. That said, it does cross into dark territory from time to time, with fantasies that include rape (titled Nightmare Alley, this sequence has Rene Bond being dragged into a gym and sexually assaulted by boxer Al Williams, at first forcibly, then as a willing participant), incest (a mother, played by Candy Samples, bathes her son whose just come home from war, then has him return the favor), and sex in a church (actress Serena is raped on an alter by Clement von Franckenstein, portraying a Satanic priest). But there's always John Bluthal’s Professor, with his philosophies and the odd pun, doing his best to keep the proceedings as lighthearted as possible.
More subdued than The ABC’s Of Love and Sex Australia Style, Fantasm is an entertaining '70s film that is of its era, and should be taken as such. Some modern-day viewers will undoubtedly be offended (the rape fantasy is especially troubling, and was difficult to sit through), but the film was meant to be provocative and, yes, shocking.
Tag line:"From Henry Handel Richardson's immortal best seller"
Trivia:Approximately six thousand girls were auditioned to play the parts of the turn-of-the-century college school girls in this film
Set in turn-of-the-century Australia, The Getting of Wisdom introduces us to 15-year-old Laura Tweedle Rambotham (Susanna Fowle), who, despite her rural upbringing, is sent to an upper-class boarding school just outside Melbourne.
Once there, the other girls, including Lilith (Kim Deacon), Kate (Kerry Armstrong), and Maria (Sigrid Thornton), tease Laura incessantly, making fun of both her name (they call her “Tweedledum”) and her dress, which her mother (Kay Eklund) made for her. At first, Laura doesn’t let their insults bother her. But before long she’s trying to impress her classmates by claiming that she and the handsome Rev. Shepherd (John Waters) are having an affair (which is a lie).
Still, despite her ups and downs, Laura always finds solace in her music (she’s a self-trained pianist), and strikes up a friendship with fellow musician Evelyn (Hilary Ryan), who teaches young Laura a good many things, including what it feels like to fall in love.
Based on a 1910 novel of the same name written by Henry Handel Richardson, The Getting of Wisdom relates the trials and tribulations of a country girl thrust into upper-class society. A free spirit who loves classic literature, Laura initially ignores the taunts of her classmates, but soon gives in to peer pressure, even going so far as join the others when they tease the school’s next-newest arrival, a girl they nickname “Chinky” (Alix Longman).
Interestingly enough, Laura’s self-confidence, which was formidable when she first arrived at the school, begins to wane once she is accepted into the fold.
Susanna Fowle excels as Laura, conveying the character’s strengths as well as her insecurities, and even though The Getting of Wisdom marked her screen debut, Ms. Fowle does more than hold her own with her more experienced cast mates; she outshines them at every turn.
A fan of the book (he supposedly read it when he was a teenager), director Bruce Beresford (Breaker Morant, Tender Mercies) does a fine job bringing this story to the screen, crafting a motion picture that is a beautiful period piece (the costumes and sets are top-notch) as well as an engaging coming of age tale, featuring a main character, and a young performer, you won’t soon forget.
Starring:John Hargreaves, Briony Behets, Mike McEwen
Tag line:"Their crime was against nature...Nature found them guilty"
Trivia:Not all the financing for this picture had been completed and finalized when principal photography started on this movie
From classics (Aguirre: The Wrath of God) to more recent offerings (All is Lost), the battle between Man and Nature has been explored on-screen in a variety of movies. Long Weekend, a 1977 Australian film directed by Colin Eggleston, takes things one step further by showing us what happens when nature gets pissed off.
In an effort to rejuvinate their crumbling marriage, Peter (John Hargreaves) and Marcia (Briony Behets) head to a secluded beach, where they will spend the holiday weekend camping and relaxing in the sun. Unfortunately, the two just don’t get along, and often take their frustrations out on the natural world, leaving their trash lying around and killing a number of woodland creatures.
And nature is about to fight back!
Peter's and Mary's ignorant behavior begins well before they arrive at the campsite. While driving, Peter tosses a cigarette out the window, inadvertently kicking off a small brush fire. Then, a few more miles down the road, he runs over a kangaroo. Things continue to go downhill once they reach their destination. After setting up their tent, Peter grabs an axe and starts cutting down a tree. When Marcia asks why he’s doing it, Peter replies “Why not?”
But nature isn’t about to take this lying down. Peter, at one point, is attacked by an eagle looking for its egg (Marcia had found it earlier), yet this pales in comparison to what happens when Peter shoots a sea cow, which had been swimming nearby (initially, he mistook it for a shark or some other predator. In a well-orchestrated, tense build-up, however, which stretches over a number of scenes, the sea cow proves plenty threatening enough!).
Playing a couple of jerks, both leads deliver exceptional performances. Behets' Marcia is downright belligerent through most of the film, shouting insults at her husband and complaining about having to spend the weekend in a tent, while Hargreaves' Peter, who claims to be an outdoorsman, has no respect for nature. Strolling along the beach, he tosses his empty beer bottles into the water, then shoots at them with his rifle. There wasn’t a single moment in Long Weekend where I was pulling for these two.
The closing scenes wrap the story up perfectly, and are disturbing, to say the least. A moment when Marcia drives off on her own is harrowing. But even at this late stage, we’re rooting for nature to win out in the end.
And it’s obvious the filmmakers felt the exact same way.
Trivia:To help raise finance for the production, a short film was shot of the opening scene. The short film went on to win Best Independent Drama (10-30mins) at the 2006 Queensland New Filmmaker Awards
When I first read the synopsis for The Horseman, it sounded a lot like the 1979 Paul Schrader-directed film Hardcore, in which a deeply religious Midwesterner (played by George C. Scott) receives a pornographic videotape starring his missing daughter, then travels to New York City to find her.
But after watching a few minutes of this 2008 Aussie film, I knew it was going to be a much different movie. Whereas Hardcore was ultimately about a father trying to bring his child home, The Horseman is a brutal motion picture featuring a grieving dad who, while searching for the truth, takes revenge on everyone responsible for his daughter’s demise.
After discovering that his runaway daughter Jesse (Hannah Levien) died of a drug overdose, Christian Forteski (Peter Marshall) receives an anonymous package in the mail, inside of which is a video containing a pornographic movie. To his horror, the “star” of the picture is Jesse, who, in an obvious drug-induced state, has sex with a trio of men.
Putting two and two together, Christian realizes Jesse died the very day she appeared in the film. In an effort to find out what happened, he hits the road, visiting those involved with the making of this video, and exacting his own brand of bloody justice on each and every one of them.
During his travels, he picks up a hitchhiker, an 18-year-old girl named Alice (Caroline Marohasy), who has also run away from home. Hoping to save her from a fate similar to Jesse’s, Christian offers Alice some fatherly advice, all the while making sure she has no idea what he’s up to.
Yet, despite his best intentions, Christian’s unednding thirst for vengeance eventually puts both he and Alice in harm’s way.
Peter Marshall delivers a searing performance as Christian, a man whose grief over his daughter’s death is matched only by his hatred for those who took advantage of her. In one key scene, he tracks down the video’s producer, Finn (Jack Henry), who he ties to a chair, demanding that he reveal the names of the actors in his movie. When Finn, who also works as a boxing promoter, refuses, Christian pulls the man’s pants down and, with the help of a bicycle pump, “convinces” him to start talking.
That is an uncomfortable scene, yet isn’t nearly as violent as some of Christian’s other encounters. One poor guy, who he had knocked out, wakes to find a few fishing hooks attached to a very tender part of his anatomy. In contrast, the sequences where he’s with Alice show us a different side of Christian, that of a father figure trying to help his young companion, and it’s to Marshall’s credit that he’s just as believable in these more tender scenes as when he’s beating the hell out of someone.
Apart from the strong performance turned in by its lead, The Horseman features a decent supporting cast and a wrinkle or two in its story that’s sure to take you by surprise. That said, I have to warn you that it is also an incredibly violent film. I cringed more than once watching Christian exact his revenge (though he himself is the victim of what, to me, is the movie’s single most upsetting moment of brutality).
I do recommend The Horseman. It’s a well-made, highly-engaging motion picture. But if torture and copious amounts of blood aren’t for you, you’ll be better off passing on it.
Starring:Angela Punch McGregor, Arthur Dignam, Martin Vaughan
UK Video Tag line:"She dared venture to where even men feared to tread"
Trivia:The film was originally to have been written by John Dingwall but he did not get along with Igor Auzins and was replaced by Peter Schreck
Angela Punch McGregor, who played the lead in 1982’s We of the Never Never, wasn’t too happy with how the movie turned out. Here’s what she had to say a few years later:
“A lot of good action scenes were cut because of the restrictions on time and budget, much to my disappointment and anger then. We ended up with a very slow-moving narrative and a more intellectual film than I had anticipated".
To be fair, I’m not familiar with the novel that inspired this movie (it was adapted from the autobiography of Jeannie Gunn, who left high society behind to join her new husband, a cattle rancher, in the Outback in turn-of-the-century Australia). So I have no idea what was dropped from the final cut. Yet based on what I have seen, We of the Never Never may be heavy on melodrama and a bit too talky, but it’s also stunningly beautiful, and that goes a long way.
It’s 1902, and Jeannie (McGregor) has just married Aeneas Gunn (Arthur Dignam), who recently purchased an interest in a 1-million-acre cattle station near Mataranka in the Northwest Territory. Leaving her friends and family in Melbourne, Jeannie travels to this remote area, ready to assist Aeneas any way she can.
But the drovers who have worked the station for years, including Dan (Martin Vaughan), Jack (Lewis Fitz-Gerald) and Dandy (Wolf Creek’s John Jarratt), resent the fact that a woman has been brought in, and threaten to quit if she interferes with the day-to-day operations.
So, to keep the peace, Jeannie tends to her housework, and spends time among the Aborigine laborers, whose camp is situated next door to her cabin. Some, including her husband, fear that Jeannie may be getting too close to the native population, and protest when she attempts to “adopt” Bett-Bett (Sibina Willy), an aborigine child whose mother lives very far away.
Angered by the shabby treatment they’ve been receiving, and resentful that she herself has been pushed into the background, Jeannie ignores Anenas’ pleas and continues to help the Aborigines. But when a deadly sickness makes its way through the camp, she finds herself playing nurse to blacks and whites alike.
It’s clear early on that We of the Never Never was intended to be a big film. With wide angles to show off the landscape and crane shots that carry us high above the action, the movie has an epic sensibility, similar in look and feel to Hollywood classics like Giant and How the West Was Won. As for the performances, all are solid, with McGregor doing a fine job as the dutiful wife who holds her tongue much longer than she would have under normal circumstances.
And while it's true there aren’t many action-packed moments, the ones we do get are well executed (including a cattle round-up that nearly ends in disaster when Jeannie wanders in too close).
Yet what truly impressed me as I watched We of the Never Never was its gorgeous cinematography, which, combined with the picturesque location (the movie was shot where the real Jeannie Gunn lived during her years in the Outback), made for some awesome visuals. The lone Australian Film Institute Award that We of the Never Never received went to cinematographer Gary Hensen, and rightly so.
Yes, We of the Never Never is a tad schmaltzy at times, and it’s “white woman helping the downtrodden blacks” subplot feels naïve nowadays (especially when you consider how Aborigines were treated in other parts of Australia during this same period). That said, it is an exquisite, well-acted motion picture, and this alone is reason enough to see it.
