film criticism by maryann johanson | handcrafted since 1997
As harshly beautiful as its landscape, this is a stark corrective to the American western it echoes, and a pragmatic confrontation with the deep, tenacious roots of modern racism.
Nice looking film, and impressive cast: Bryan Brown, Rachel Griffiths. Pity it seems we won’t get this here in the U.S.; it’ll just get dumped on DVD without any to-do at all.
If director Baz Luhrmann had decided to shoot in black-and-white, you’d hardly be able to tell this wasn’t made around 1939 or so. Sure, all those gorgeous helicopter shots of the wild and dangerous and beautiful Outback would be a dead giveaway, so they’d have to go. But otherwise…
