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Sweet Country – 2017 Warwick Thornton
- An impressive Western- violent, stark
- There’s a real evil here—both the character and setting—brutal and uncivilized
- Thornton has a talent for making you feel the open space of Australia—lots of wide shots
- Reminds me of The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada from 2005—Tommy Lee Jones’ film
- The white-out sand desert—like Leone and Lean
- Stoic lead
- No score
- A gorgeous shot of the lead Hamilton Morris and wife sitting in the road surrendering — blocked by doors— Thornton shows both sides of the street as if to say he knows how beautiful this shot is so he’s going to stay on it twice
- The pink skyline- gorgeous—luxuriates in the location with that minimal script letting many shots linger
- The scene of him in court (foreshadowed with the strong opening)—“can’t have kids” is heartbreaking
- An ugly finale—fitting and sad
- Recommend
Drake2020-07-03T10:29:06+00:00
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Have you seen Samson and Delilah by Warwick Thornton? It was his biggest film before Sweet Country. Very heavy stuff, more influenced by neorealism than westerns like we see here. But its form is pretty impressive, and much of is completely silent since neither of the leads talk that much.
@Declan- I have not seen Samson and Delilah by Warwick Thornton yet. Interesting. Thanks for sharing.
Warwick Thornton’s new film The New Boy comes out on Thursday here in Australia, starring Cate Blanchett and with music by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis. An impressive collaboration there, and the trailer makes it look promising: https://youtu.be/hZ15NBAVOt0
@DeclanG- Thank you- I’ll keep a look out for it
I caught The New Boy today and believe it’s a very solid Recommend. Some truly stunning photography of outback Australia that may even outdo what we see in Sweet Country, and some incredibly inspired use of natural light. It is a very different tone as well – much more like a magical realist allegory of colonialism sapping the Indigenous people of their spiritual connection to the land, and Warwick Thornton proves he has a very skilled hand with surreal imagery and theological symbolism.
Impressive editing with a very heavy use of long dissolves, and wonderful visual storytelling especially in the second half of the film that seems to go for long stretches without dialogue. Solid work from Nick Cave and Warren Ellis in the score, and Cate Blanchett has a fascinating arc of a nun who goes from being awed by displays of divine miracles to being fearful and suspicious of them. I hope this gets a wider distribution soon so that you can have a look at it yourself.
@DeclanG- thanks for sharing