The "Wilderpeople" in this quirky comedy are two lost souls: a wayward youth from the city (Ricky Baker –Julian Dennison) and his grouchy foster uncle (Hector – Sam Neill) with a past he can't forget. This odd couple find themselves on the run and dependent on each other in the New Zealand wilderness. I must admit I am a sucker for quirky unpretentious New Zealand comedies that are warm-hearted but resist the Hollywood schmaltzy formula. The humor in this film is typically Kiwi – dry, offbeat and irreverent. Julian Dennison is great as the rotund teenager with a sense of fun and adventure. As the escapade moves to its climax, the plot becomes more and more farcical. While some of the scenes are funny, our empathy for Ricky and Hector fades. Empathy and farce do not mix well. And the ending is hurried and not completely satisfying. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the movie and the Aussie audience came away wearing a smile.
Reviews
8 Reviews
Last Cab to Darwin
(2015)
Last Cab to Redemption
17 August 2015
Warning: Spoilers
In 1997, Michael Caton endeared himself to movie audiences as the Aussie battler who took on and beat the system in the comedy, "The Castle". Fans of Caton expecting another laugh-a-minute performance will be disappointed at first. Caton plays Rex a cabbie in Broken Hill, a mining town on the edge of the outback. His life is mundane: driving locals around town, drinking with his mates at the local pub and squabbling with his feisty aboriginal neighbour (Polly – Ningali Lawford). When Rex is diagnosed with terminal cancer he declines treatment and decides to make the long drive to Darwin where euthanasia has recently been legalised. The pace picks up when Rex takes to the road. He does not travel via the logical bitumen route to Darwin but instead takes to the dirt via the Oodnadatta track. This is undoubtedly a ploy for the director to showcase some classic outback scenery and characters. On the road, he meets up with a young aborigine running away from responsibility and a nurse escaping the London rat race. With time they begin to care for each other. Racism and euthanasia are sub-themes, but in the end it is romance that steals the show as Rex finds the courage to show his true colours. Once again Caton gives a memorable performance and Lawford is great as his unlikely salvation.
The Help
(2011)
Revenge never tasted so sweet
25 August 2011
In 1963, a young journalist and aspiring novelist returns to her hometown, Jackson, Mississippi, at a time when the civil rights movement is gaining momentum. Her job on the Jackson Journal – writing a column on house cleaning tips – leads her into contact with the experts: black women who are the nannies, cooks and housekeepers for rich white folk. Thus begins an unlikely alliance that exposes the indignities suffered by black maids at the hands of Southern belles who ironically spend their idle moments raising money for African charities. The ultimate revenge of the maids is both funny and gross. The movie evokes many emotions; laughter, tears, anger and perhaps even shame. There are wonderful performances by the maids, Octavia Spencer and Viola Davis, who surely must be in the running for Oscar nominations.
The book on which the movie is based is pure fiction but the interspersing of historical facts – the murder of a civil rights campaigner and the assassination of President Kennedy – create the feel of a true story. The excesses of the era, from Ford Thunderbirds to the women's dresses and hairstyles, are authentically depicted. And there are real parallels between the fictional novelist (Skeeter Phelan – played by Emma Stone) and the book's author, Kathryn Stockett, who was born in Jackson, raised by a black nanny, and who struggled to get her first novel published.
The movie can also be viewed as a social commentary on the times. As such, it has been criticized for its stereotypes, caricatures, hyperbole, even racism. Such a criticism would be valid for a documentary but not for a work of fiction. Perhaps the criticism is an indication that the topic can still hit a raw nerve.
The book on which the movie is based is pure fiction but the interspersing of historical facts – the murder of a civil rights campaigner and the assassination of President Kennedy – create the feel of a true story. The excesses of the era, from Ford Thunderbirds to the women's dresses and hairstyles, are authentically depicted. And there are real parallels between the fictional novelist (Skeeter Phelan – played by Emma Stone) and the book's author, Kathryn Stockett, who was born in Jackson, raised by a black nanny, and who struggled to get her first novel published.
The movie can also be viewed as a social commentary on the times. As such, it has been criticized for its stereotypes, caricatures, hyperbole, even racism. Such a criticism would be valid for a documentary but not for a work of fiction. Perhaps the criticism is an indication that the topic can still hit a raw nerve.
Oranges and Sunshine
(2010)
Britain's Stolen Children
10 June 2011
Australians have all heard of the "stolen generation'; aboriginal children taken from their families for their own good. "Oranges and Sunshine" tells a less familiar story of underprivileged British children exported to Australia to give them a better life. The truth is otherwise. A British social worker, Margaret Humphries (Emily Watson), exposes the truth and sets about to help the traumatised children, now middle-aged adults, find their families and their true identities.
The cast is excellent; Hugo Weaving is exceptional as a simple man cowed by his experiences, while David Wenham injects some dry humour as a smart aleck, who initially blames his mother for his deportation, and showers gifts on his former tormentors, the Christian Brothers. The movie is an engrossing and emotional experience with touches of dry humour from Wenham's character.
As with all movies that depict real events, we wonder to what extent the story has been "enhanced" for dramatic effect. Certainly there are scenes that stretch the truth. The most poignant one is where Humphries confronts the Christian Brothers at Bindoon Boys' Town. In the movie, Bindoon is portrayed as a colossus built by child labour in a bizarre Outback setting (which looks like the Flinders Ranges), whereas the real Bindoon is a stately school on Perth's outskirts. Still the basic story rings true. History tells us that, if you give anyone absolute control over the lives of others, they will behave abominably. Present company excepted, of course.
The cast is excellent; Hugo Weaving is exceptional as a simple man cowed by his experiences, while David Wenham injects some dry humour as a smart aleck, who initially blames his mother for his deportation, and showers gifts on his former tormentors, the Christian Brothers. The movie is an engrossing and emotional experience with touches of dry humour from Wenham's character.
As with all movies that depict real events, we wonder to what extent the story has been "enhanced" for dramatic effect. Certainly there are scenes that stretch the truth. The most poignant one is where Humphries confronts the Christian Brothers at Bindoon Boys' Town. In the movie, Bindoon is portrayed as a colossus built by child labour in a bizarre Outback setting (which looks like the Flinders Ranges), whereas the real Bindoon is a stately school on Perth's outskirts. Still the basic story rings true. History tells us that, if you give anyone absolute control over the lives of others, they will behave abominably. Present company excepted, of course.
Bran Nue Dae
(2009)
Aboriginal musical romp - Great cast, catchy tunes, good fun
7 January 2010
BRAN NUE DAE (aboriginal speak for "Brand New Day") is a joyous musical romp which celebrates Australia's indigenous culture. The movie tells the story - in song, dance and dialogue - of an aboriginal boy's escape from a Catholic boarding school in Perth in the 1960s and misadventures with hippies (Missy Higgins and Tom Budge) and Uncle Tadpole (Ernie Dingo) in a "Kombi" Campervan on his journey back to his sweetheart in hometown, Broome, pursued by the relentless Father Benedictus (Geoffrey Rush).
In the 1990s, I had enjoyed the stage musical written by Broome musician/playwright, Jimmy Chi, but was intrigued as to how it might be adapted to the big screen. I was not disappointed. Director Rachel Perkins does a fine job of retaining the exuberance of the stage production while incorporating new elements that only cinema can provide. Like most road comedies, BRAN NUE DAE revolves around a series of skits, most of which are very funny. The cast are excellent, especially Ernie Dingo and Jessica Mauboy, with suitably over-the-top performances by Geoffrey Rush, Deborah Mailman and Magda Szubanski. The tunes are catchy and infectious.
BRAN NUE DAE touches lightly upon aboriginal rights issues, but mostly it is good old fashioned vaudevillian fun. Go see it!
In the 1990s, I had enjoyed the stage musical written by Broome musician/playwright, Jimmy Chi, but was intrigued as to how it might be adapted to the big screen. I was not disappointed. Director Rachel Perkins does a fine job of retaining the exuberance of the stage production while incorporating new elements that only cinema can provide. Like most road comedies, BRAN NUE DAE revolves around a series of skits, most of which are very funny. The cast are excellent, especially Ernie Dingo and Jessica Mauboy, with suitably over-the-top performances by Geoffrey Rush, Deborah Mailman and Magda Szubanski. The tunes are catchy and infectious.
BRAN NUE DAE touches lightly upon aboriginal rights issues, but mostly it is good old fashioned vaudevillian fun. Go see it!
Samson & Delilah
(II) (2009)
An Original and Honest Depiction of Aboriginal Life in Outback Australia
17 June 2009
Those of us who have travelled the Australian Outback will recognise the backdrop to "Samson and Delilah" – aboriginals living in squalid housing amidst household garbage, derelict cars and ubiquitous dust. Warwick Thornton sets himself the difficult task of depicting the monotony, hopelessness and despair of this existence without boring and depressing the audience. To a large measure he succeeds, although this film will not appeal to those you go to the cinema to escape the real world. Thornton's great skill is to convey the developing relationship between the star-crossed lovers via body language rather than dialogue. The performances by untrained actors, especially Marissa Gibson (Delilah), are exceptional. Your view of this film is likely to be determined by whether you can empathise with the main characters and their inevitable misadventures. I certainly did, although I concede Samson's character was underdeveloped and very hard to like. Appropriately, the movie ends with a glimmer of hope based on the resilience and determination of aboriginal women.
Jindabyne
(2006)
Promising story but ultimately unsatisfying
28 July 2006
There are similarities between Ray Lawrence's "Jindabyne" and his last movie "Lantana" a dead body and its repercussions for already dysfunctional lives. But whereas "Lantana" offered some hope and resolution, "Jindabyne" leaves everything unresolved in a bleak way that will leave most viewers unsatisfied, perhaps even cheated.
The storyline - the aftermath of a fisherman's discovery of a corpse floating in a remote river - is based on a short story by Raymond Carver. It became an element in Robert Altman's classic 1993 ensemble "Short Cuts". Lawrence uses this theme for an exploration and exposition of relationships within a small Australian community under stress. The movie poses some moral questions "Would you let the discovery of a dead body ruin your good weekend?" and more poignantly for Australians "Would it make any difference if the dead person was an aboriginal?" The acting, especially by Gabriel Byrne and Laura Linney, is commendable. And there are elements of mysticism reinforced by haunting music, not unlike "Picnic at Hanging Rock".
If all this sounds like the basis for a great movie - be prepared for a let down, the pace is very slow and the murder is shown near the beginning, thereby eliminating the element of mystery. And so we are left with these desolate lives and a blank finale.
The storyline - the aftermath of a fisherman's discovery of a corpse floating in a remote river - is based on a short story by Raymond Carver. It became an element in Robert Altman's classic 1993 ensemble "Short Cuts". Lawrence uses this theme for an exploration and exposition of relationships within a small Australian community under stress. The movie poses some moral questions "Would you let the discovery of a dead body ruin your good weekend?" and more poignantly for Australians "Would it make any difference if the dead person was an aboriginal?" The acting, especially by Gabriel Byrne and Laura Linney, is commendable. And there are elements of mysticism reinforced by haunting music, not unlike "Picnic at Hanging Rock".
If all this sounds like the basis for a great movie - be prepared for a let down, the pace is very slow and the murder is shown near the beginning, thereby eliminating the element of mystery. And so we are left with these desolate lives and a blank finale.
Fahrenheit 9/11
(2004)
The view from Down Under
22 July 2004
I saw this polemic (not documentary) at a house full preview in Sydney. The movie is particularly interesting to Australians because we were foundation members of the 'coalition of the willing' and our elections are also due in a few months.
The first half of Fahrenheit 9/11 is a mixed bag: some worrying but unproven insinuations of inappropriate liaisons in high places, a few laughs and even some boring moments. Hardly deserving of the Palme d'Or. But the final 30 minutes are a powerful indictment of war, not just the war in Iraq. There are scenes of mangled bodies (too graphic for TV) and the wailing of mothers on both sides of the conflict. I found the scene where recruiting officers chatted up unemployed youths in malls of poor neighborhoods particularly poignant (Does this really happen?). Moore uses these scenes and, most tellingly, the words of George Orwell (from the novel, 1984) to expound his thesis the victims of war are largely the patriotic poor who fight to preserve the privileges of the rich and powerful. This is a powerful and disturbing message that is hard to refute. 9/10.
The first half of Fahrenheit 9/11 is a mixed bag: some worrying but unproven insinuations of inappropriate liaisons in high places, a few laughs and even some boring moments. Hardly deserving of the Palme d'Or. But the final 30 minutes are a powerful indictment of war, not just the war in Iraq. There are scenes of mangled bodies (too graphic for TV) and the wailing of mothers on both sides of the conflict. I found the scene where recruiting officers chatted up unemployed youths in malls of poor neighborhoods particularly poignant (Does this really happen?). Moore uses these scenes and, most tellingly, the words of George Orwell (from the novel, 1984) to expound his thesis the victims of war are largely the patriotic poor who fight to preserve the privileges of the rich and powerful. This is a powerful and disturbing message that is hard to refute. 9/10.
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