Wednesday 10 June 2015

Sydney Film Festival 2015 - Film Review - Australian Premiere - Strangerland - Nicole Kidman

Nicole Kidman in Strangerland
Strangerland from Australian director, Kim Farrant, has a strong internationally rated cast with Nicole Kidman, Joseph Fiennes and Hugo Weaving and beautifully shot images of the vast Australian outback landscape around the remote desert town of Nathgari. These production elements should provide a concrete foundation for a memorable and impressive film, yet Strangerland descends into another melodrama of a dysfunctional family, the plotlines of which are similar to many other recent Australian films. The strongest aspect of this film is the performance of Nicole Kidman, who with minimal makeup or sets to support her, delivers her part with deep vulnerability and emotion.

The storyline is centred on the Parker family who have relocated from another country town due to a scandal involving their teenage daughter and an affair with a married school teacher. Catherine Parker (Nicole Kidman) and Mathew Parker (Joseph Fiennes), her husband and the town's pharmacist do not have a perfect relationship and they differ in their approach to raising their young son and their teenage daughter. When a massive dust storm shrouds their town in red dust and an eerie red  light, their two children disappear. Outback police detective David Rae (Hugo Weaving) conducts the search and during the course of his investigations uncovers many hidden family secrets.

Overall this is a depressing film with very flawed, unlikeable characters. The mystery of the disappearance of the children is only partially answered and the conclusion of the film has an unresolved atmosphere.

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