tedg In the last year, I saw a film ("In My Father's Den") with much the same themes. In that New Zealand film, a man, a celebrated war correspondent returns to his rural home on the death of his father. There are significant unresolved frictions between father and son. The returning man had sex with a girl when a boy, had left immediately thereafter, and that drives the tension. People are unhappy (the man burns his dad's stuff) but some unknown facts about the youthful relationship (there is a brother who hid something) are revealed and the man is freed of his ghosts.The similarity with this story is so striking that it distracted me. That film managed to mix the emotions of rambling in inner hurt with the curiosity of a detective far better than this, and was thus more engaging. This is adapted for the screen and directed by an actress for her husband, who plays the dying father. So it is no wonder that the structure of the long form is sacrificed for the power of certain scenes with the old man. And it is no wonder that unduly long episodes are included to establish character, for instance, we have a quarter of the film between our returning fellow and the dopey girl he brings with him. As far as we can tell, this is to show how messed up he is with women. Meanwhile, we get nothing about his life as a writer other than he is successful and writes autobiographically inspired pieces. Wouldn't this have been important, since the implication in all such situations is that we are reading his work in seeing the story?The scenery is compelling but not folded into the story. While others may find the acting adequate or better, the only role that seemed real to me was the girl of the title. She plays a maturing Lolita temptress, and the cinematic handing of her is really quite superb. She flits in and out of the story for the first two thirds in such a way that we know she is the ghost. But then again, I just saw a similar character in "Carried Away" that was so much better integrated between the dramatic unfolding and the camera eye.So put this one down as appealing scenery, and another entry in the directors who direct their lovers database.Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.

5beauties No one involved in this production has put a single foot wrong in bringing this profoundly moving and overwhelmingly beautiful film to the screen. It is as fine a film as has ever been made.Don't be put off by any comments claiming it is a dark or depressing film. It is not. Rather, it is poignant, tender and uplifting. At its heart it is illuminated by love and forgiveness. Do not miss this haunting and rewarding cinema experience.Twenty years after his sister's death and his brother's suicide, a man returns to his childhood home in the remote Australian outback. He has come to see his dying father who is being cared for by his remaining sister. He brings his much younger fiancé with him. The visit brings back memories of long ago and for the first time the man fully comprehends the key tragedy in the lives of himself and his family.After the early death of their mother, a father, who is ill equipped to show his love and affection, has raised four children in the remote and demanding outback. It is a tough life that lost its emotional anchor with the loss of the mother. Educated at home via the school of the air the children, and their father, are truly isolated from the wider world and from other human contact. Elder son Cliff has been subjected to "toughening up" treatment, younger sister Sally, though only a child, is aware of the currents within the household, while middle children, Ned and Kate have the deep and interdependent connection often observed in twins.Within this isolated, oppressive and emotionally constrained environment, the children's need for love, affection, and for models for their developing sexuality and for human relationships goes unmet. Normal adolescent confusion and uncertainty mutates with tragic consequences when Kate's fear of growing into womanhood, with its concomitant morbid fear of her mother's breast cancer, finds resonances with Ned's primary emotional connection to her and his emerging sexuality.Kate's fear of loosing her twin by them both growing up and by Ned finding a girlfriend is compounded by Ned's recognition also that the love between the twins is the single most important thing in each other's life. Love, fear, confusion and the desire for a physical manifestation of love propel their relationship into sibling incest. Ned's rejection of this results in the tragedy at the core of the film, when Kate seeks to both punish Ned for his rejection and to bind herself to her other brother Cliff in an escalation of emotional turmoil that was bound to be destructive. The effect is immediate and by night's end two of the siblings are dead.This film is about love, and by the end, it is love that triumphs for the man, his sister and their father who dies surrounded by it.The South Australian Flinders Ranges location for the film is absolutely stunning. Every frame of this film is perfect. Every performance is rich with understated nuances of character and emotional depth. Intelligence, understanding, compassion and empathy shine from this film and it is just a pity that these qualities are lost on some of the audience.

andrea so many great actors that played their parts wonderfully, but at the end of the day, there is not one bit of originality. The film is trying to be a mixture between America, Sam Shepard, fools for love and the typical Australian movie, small community, smelly pub, indigenous people, broken cars, isolation, loneliness, etc... same same same, including soundtrack (including red mullet actor!). well-acted and that's it. are we ever going to see a movie about the REAL Australia, where actually people live? Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane.... why always in the surreal empty landscape with the small good (or ill) willing community? when you strip the film bare, there is not much there, lots of empty scenes to fill up the nothingness of the events. events that are so predictable, that there is not one aspect left to the imagination. Is that going to happen? yes it is. no element of surprise, no enlightenment. OK, good thing, apart from the acting, it's shot very well, but is that enough to produce another Australian movie?

Replicant_76 I found this film started out as an "Australiana-ploitation" however, once through the awkward opening 10 minutes, opened up into a fascinating yet challenging film. The production values are amazing, especially the cinematography, editing and score (Tex Perkins Et el).Ben Mendelson and Brian Brown are excellent as the bitter and twisted Son/Father. The film reveals itself through a series of memory flashbacks juxtaposed against the present day and works really well.The film will challenge you and may repulse viewers to the point of disengaging from the film. Doing this would really be a disservice, as untimely it subtly deals with the secrets and lies around dysfunctional family units with themes of denial, guilt and absolution.Like any great film, you'll be thinking about this one long after the credits role. Recommended, especially for lovers of raw Australian cinema.