CULT DVD Review

“Australia” mutters British officer Captain Stanley (Ray Winstone). “What fresh hell is this?” So here we are in 1880 Australian outback as Stanley is attempting to bring law and order to the small town he resides in as head sheriff. After the capture of savage outlaw Charlie Burns (Guy Pearce) and his younger brother, Mikey, Stanley offers an odd proposition: find and kill his older brother, Arthur (Danny Huston) or his younger brother will be sacrificed.

If it sounds grim then it is. Director John Hillcoat majestically shoots the Aussie outback in a terrifyingly bleak landscape and it perfectly complements the darkness of the story. The cast are all excellent and there’s some good supporting roles for the likes of Emily Watson and John Hurt (who gets the best role in the film as a shaggy old dog bounty hunter). However the film struggles to find any glimpses of humanity in the story, these are gruesome people living in gruesome times and despite the beauty of the film, Nick Cave’s script is so resolutely downbeat that it becomes very hard going. The final half hour I found particularly hard to sit through.

Cave also composes the soundtrack alongside a strange whispering vocal which adds to the dreamlike quality of the film . There will be many fans of the film I can imagine ,so don’t let this review put you off seeing the film but if like me, you find it very hard going, then you’ll probably not be revisiting this again soon.

EXTRAS:

Making of:

A very good making of documentary with interviews with Hillcoat, Cave and all the actors. Winstone is funny and down-to-earth. Depictions of some of the tortuous shooting conditions appear.

Trailer

FEATURE: 53%

EXTRAS: 22%

OVERALL: 43%

A very dark, bleak film despite the beautiful landscapes. One good doc is not enough either extras wise.

Stewart McLaren