Date: 05 July 2008 13:46:57
A new Australian film which I saw today. And a truly superb movie I thought: particularly given the often lacklustre quality of many Aussie films [in my view].
The story begins with Tahmeena (superbly played by Monic Hendrickx, who also played the Polish immigrant in the Dutch film on which this film was based) stumbles, literally!, onto John's (William McInnes) farm in an outback Queensland town. He, despite initial misgivings and a life lived alone, apart from his dog Elvis, takes her in. She speaks no English and he no Dari, and so begins an adventure of mutual discovery, and on the way delving deeply into themes of love and loss. You can probably guess the ending, but I found it a fascinating journey nevertheless.
There is a thriller element in this film which I frankly found hard to believe at times and a bit over-the-top: while it was plausible at the beginning, to me it rapidly developed into something unbelievable. However, despite this, I did love the film: the issues of love, loss and communication, while obviou, are brought out in such a understated and quiet manner, and the two leads are simply superb in their acting: I truly felt as if I was part of their lives and understood them.
The soundtrack was rather intrusive, but perhaps it provided an interesting counterpoint to the lack of verbal communication: however it was obvious when something was about to happen as the stock music ramped up. But that is a minor niggle.
A great film, and one I can recommend. I will have to try and hunt down the Dutch original.
I also saw another film, by accident, this week: I had intended to rent, via a home-delivery DVD service, Russian Dolls [Les poupées russes], a film I enjoyed when I saw it at the cinema, but I entered Russian Doll, dropping the plural, and received an Australian comedy instead. It was rather inoffensive, and not the worst way to spend 90 minutes, but I would've preferred Russian Dolls.