When I was in Oz recently, I did everything I planned to do except for two things - see "The Last Ride" and "Beautiful Kate". Two Aussie movies that were screening at the time. Trips downunder always include at least one Australian flick - I actually saw three in one day a few years back!
That I didn't see the two films in question was certainly disappointing, but even more so when I read Rachel Ward's commentary in the Sydney Morning Herald today.
Now, I'm not a filmmaker, so I can't speak directly to Rachel's perspective, but as an audience member, I feel her pain, albeit for a different reason.
I love Australian films, but one of the drawbacks of living in central Canada is the minimal access to them. Some make their way into independent cinemas, others turn up as DVDs, but that only accounts for a small percentage of the ones that are out there. Maybe it's the fact that I'm so far from home, but Aussie films make me feel proud and connected, and I will jump at any opportunity to see one - here or there.
So, if someone is "dumping doom and gloom and threatening to squash" any productions before I get a chance to see them, well, that's just not on. I happen to think that, in one way or another, there is something to be gained from every film, which, in my book, makes them all "enlightening, redemptive, inspiring, compassionate, beautiful, transformative, intelligent, human, engrossing, tender, confronting and, yes, entertaining", even the "'dark' and 'bleak'" ones. And if you don't mind, I'd like to see everything on offer and make up my own mind, instead of someone else trying to do it for me.
Like Rachel, I, too, am "calling a penalty kick for the niche product", especially because they "demand and confront and haunt an audience", and stay with me long after the final credits have rolled.
I just hope that "Beautiful Kate" and any others that want to come with 'her' make their way to central Canada soon so I don't have to wait until my next trip downunder to see them.
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