Reviews

Kate Grenville's novel Lilian's Story is an Australian masterpiece. The film had the potential to be brilliant, with the talents of Ruth Cracknell and Barry Otto, but instead of portraying the story of Lilian's life, an overly pretentious director turned a potential masterpiece into a vague montage-like kaleidoscope of confusing images that rendered the whole story incoherent. I was deeply disappointed, and refused to waste any more of my life watching this rubbish after it failed to deliver anything resembling the book (except one image, that of Lilian's mother timing the ferries)half an hour into the film. Incidentally, the character of Lillian is meant to be really plump as a child and later as a woman.......if the main character doesn't even resemble a novel's description, what chance does the film have? You might just as well cast Tori Spelling to play the Queen Mother...or even worse, Mick Jagger as Ned Kelly :)

The cinematography in this movie is breathtaking. The contrast between the natural beauty of Papua New Guinea, with waving, sighing grasses, fragile wildlife, and uplifting songs of villagers; and the brutal World War 11 combat in often futile battles illustrates perfectly the film's "message" - War is the blind pursuit of territory and property, ignoring everything that is pure in nature and spirit, at huge cost of life and sanity to individuals that amount gradually to a cumulative effect on the entire human race. Superbly acted, exquisitely shot, I find the images from this film returning to my mind and imagination over and over again.

Yep, this film is bad. Really bad. But it's worth watching just so the next time you watch Gavin Wood on the Lotto draw on Saturday nights, you can laugh at the memory of his acting performance. Incidentally, this film is so bad it was featured by D-Generation members on The Late Show back in the 90s, in a "Is this the worst film ever made?" type review. Although a possible runner-up in the Worst Australian Film category could be the Day/Strike of the Panther, two appalling martial arts films shot in Perth. I have no idea how they got the funding for the second effort!

Yep, this film is bad. Really bad. But it's worth watching just so the next time you watch Gavin Wood on the Lotto draw on Saturday nights, you can laugh at the memory of his acting performance. Incidentally, this film is so bad it was featured by D-Generation members on The Late Show back in the 90s, in a "Is this the worst film ever made?" type review. Although a possible runner-up in the Worst Australian Film category could be the Day/Strike of the Panther, two appalling martial arts films shot in Perth. I have no idea how they got the funding for the second effort!