Jeanskynebu the audience applauded

AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

BroadcastChic Excellent, a Must See

Breakinger A Brilliant Conflict

nicofieu It's been a while since I have been watching such a slow movie... nothing really happens. Pictures are great but it looks so great and hot that I was suffocating by the lack of rythm. I could not go any further than 30 minutes.

glenaobrien The Australian western is a genre all its own and Sweet Country is the finest example of its type. Warwick Thornton's direction and the cinematography (credited to Dylan Rivers and Thornton) are outstanding, as are all of the lead acting performances. The influence of John Ford can be seen in the foregrounded figures silhouetted in doorways against the harsh sunlit landscape but this is a country all its own. Shot in both Central and South Australia, the sweeping outback landscapes rival anything shot in a Monument Valley western. The Western genre may have originated in America but here it transcends those origins to tell us a quintessentially Australian story. And it's a bloody, brutal, and tragic one. Hamilton Morris plays Sam Kelly, an Aboriginal man charged with murdering a white man, who goes on the run from the authorities. The fact that his name is Kelly and that one of the white character is a Fitzpatrick (one of Ned Kelly's adversaries) seems hardly coincidental. When the locals gather in the street for a screening of The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906), Sergeant Fletcher (Bryan Brown) puts an end to the proceedings, angered that they can enjoy a film that glorifies an outlaw. The casting of Brown as Fletcher is perfect and his experience on the hunt for the fugitive Kelly is a highlight of the film. When he recites the Anzac pledge 'we will remember them' over the body of the sadistic rapist Harry March a chilling comment on Australian nationalism is made. The white man's rituals must trample over the black man's rituals. Never mind his brutality, March was an Anzac and is eulogised as such while the constant dehumanising of the Indigenous characters in the film offers not the slightest degree of respect or even basic decency. The exception is the missionary Fred Smith (Sam Neil), for once a minister who is portrayed not as a figure of ridicule or a symbol of colonisation but as a very human and compassionate figure. His rendition of 'Jesus Loves Me' during the hunt for Kelly is the only light moment in an otherwise bleak and harrowing tale of dispossession, hatred, and violence. The Aboriginal people living on the traditional lands into which Kelly and the search party must go are a threat both to the white men and to those Aborigines who have lost touch with their traditional way of life. These are no cliched 'noble savages' either as they are also capable of rape and murder. Matt Day as Judge Taylor tries to bring white man's law to bear on the situation and, though sympathetic, shows little understanding of the cultural gap involved in putting Indigenous people who have lost touch with their own ceremonies into the dock and compelling them to answer questions from a person invested with the authority of the crown. With little understanding of either 'lore' or 'law' such witnesses can offer little even in their own defence. Unsurprisingly, the film has a tragic ending and the Rev Smith's final question 'what hope does this country have?' is one we still find ourselves asking a century later.

Hellmant 'SWEET COUNTRY': Four and a Half Stars (Out of Five)An Australian western set in the 1929 outback. It tells the story of an Aboriginal farmhand, who goes on the run, with his wife, when he shoots a white man in self defense. The film stars Hamilton Morris, Sam Neill, Bryan Brown, Ewen Leslie, Matt Day, Anni Finsterer and Thomas M. Wright. It was directed by Warwick Thornton, and it was written by David Tranter and Steven McGregor. The movie has received nearly unanimous positive reviews from critics, and it's also won multiple prestigious awards as well. I was surprisingly captivated by it.The story is set in 1929, in the outback of Australia's Northern Territory. Sam Kelly (Morris) is an aboriginal farmhand there, working for a preacher named Fred Smith (Neill). When an alcoholic and very bitter war vet, named Harry March (Leslie), arrives in town, Fred sends Sam to help him renovate some cattle yards. Harry is extremely racist and abusive towards Sam, and his family, and it eventually leads to Sam killing Harry in self defense. This results in Sam going on the run, with his wife, across the outback, while the law chases him down. The movie is beautifully shot, and masterfully edited. It's always very subtle, but extremely effective. The dialogue is short and to the point, and I always felt like I was completely involved in every scene in the film (just about). The acting is also really well done as well, especially Morris (who I hadn't heard of before this movie). I walked into it not knowing much about it (because I had planned on seeing something else), and I was really pleasantly surprised by it!

tm-sheehan When Australian cinema is good ,its usually really good and this one can hold its head high in any cinema in the world. Director Warwick Thornton who also made Samson and Delilah has excelled again with this Aussie period Western set in 1929 in the Northern Territory. It has the feel and ingredients of a Western , the Lawman, the fugitive, the posse, even the Saloon gal and the town vigilantes but Its much more than an action Western and even reminded me at times of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird set in the Australian outback. The stars are Hamilton Morris as Sam the hunted fugitive Aboriginal stockman and Bryan Brown as Sergeant Fletcher the hunter . Sam Neill as the minister, is also terrific in his role , showing the only compassion and acceptance to the indigenous population in the entire movie and Matt Day as the judge is also impressive. The cinematography is superb and at times resembles an Albert Namatjira landscape, which is understandable but it takes great skill to capture the light and timelessness of the outback landscape, it should wow overseas audiences . After the dismal film we saw yesterday this was a joy to watch and what good cinema is all about.