The Hunter. Daniel Nettheim. Porchlight Films, 2011 A guilty confession. I hadn't heard of or read Julia's Leigh's apparently highly acclaimed novel, The Hunter, before this recent Australian movie was made. I'm not quite sure why that is. Maybe it was just child-rearing busy-ness at the time of its publication. Anyhow, the film is now … Continue reading The Hunter (movie)
Australian film
Red Dog (Movie and Book)
First, the disclaimer: I'm a dog person and am therefore a sucker for stories about dogs and their loyalty. I know, I know, it's their nature, but that doesn't stop me crying over doggie devotion stories. Red Dog is one of these! If dogs don't move you, you may not want to see this film, … Continue reading Red Dog (Movie and Book)
Writer-Artist Shaun Tan wins an Oscar
Shaun Tan, whose Eric (an excerpt from Tales from Outer Suburbia) I reviewed here a few months ago, won the Oscar this week for Best Animated Short Film. (Tan shared the prize with British producer, Andrew Ruhemann). This is the third time, I believe, an Australian film has won this category, the previous ones being … Continue reading Writer-Artist Shaun Tan wins an Oscar
Animal Kingdom scoops the 2010 AFI Awards
Australia's version of the Oscars - the AFI (Australian Film Institute) Awards - was held last night and, as my post title announces, Animal Kingdom (which I reviewed a few months ago) won, deservedly I think, almost every major category . The major awards were as follows: BEST FILM: Animal Kingdom BEST DIRECTION: David Michôd, Animal Kingdom … Continue reading Animal Kingdom scoops the 2010 AFI Awards
South Solitary (Movie)
What is it about lighthouses? They conjure up such a romantic notion of life in the wild, of communing with and/or battling the elements. They excite us with their extremes of remoteness and loneliness which can push people to their limits. And they paradoxically symbolise both life (light) and danger (warning). All of these are … Continue reading South Solitary (Movie)
Indigenous Australian stories – and digital technologies
In my recent on the literary road post, I referred briefly to Indigenous Australian stories. Rather coincidentally, I have just spent three days at a conference titled Information Technology and Indigenous Communities, hosted, primarily, by the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) with the aim of exploring "the ever-increasing use of … Continue reading Indigenous Australian stories – and digital technologies
On the literary (cultural) road, in the Top End
Last month, Mr Gums and I holidayed in the Top End (of Downunder). I'm not quite sure where the Top End ends as it is a loose description for the northern part of Australia's Northern Territory, but I believe it encompasses all the areas we visited. For ten days, we explored Katherine and Nitmiluk National Park … Continue reading On the literary (cultural) road, in the Top End
Animal Kingdom (Movie)
If you thought No Country for Old Men was grim, take a look at the new Australian movie Animal Kingdom which won the World Cinema Jury Prize at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. While No Country for Old Men was chilling in its portrayal of – there’s no other way to say it – evil, Animal … Continue reading Animal Kingdom (Movie)
Bran Nue Dae
You could hardly get two more different films than Warwick Thornton's Samson and Delilah and Rachel Perkins' Bran Nue Dae. Both are directed by indigenous Australians and both address indigenous Australian issues but, wow, how differently they do it. While Samson and Delilah is spare and almost without dialogue, Bran Nue Dae is exuberant and … Continue reading Bran Nue Dae
Bright star, or a thing of beauty?
What can ail thee knight at arms, Alone and palely loitering? The sedge has wither'd from the lake, And no birds sing. I have always loved these opening lines of John Keats' "La Belle Dame Sans Merci". The first two lines with their mystical, but also traditionally Romantic, melancholy, just roll off the tongue. You … Continue reading Bright star, or a thing of beauty?
Whispering Gums 