DOWN UNDER THE RADAR 

                                                                   Part 2

Gallipoli (1971) is director Peter Weir's memorial to World War I from Down Under. Mel Gibson is one of the featured actors; this was before he came to America and became rich and famous. The youthful exuberance of the lads on their way to the front plays nicely against what we know waits for them there. For three-fourths of the film the war seems like a great adventure, a lark. We, and they, are jerked up short by the last reel. This is a splendid film.

An excellent young-woman-growing-up film is My Brilliant Career  (1979). It stars the wonderful Judy Davis as a spunky girl determined to be Somebody. Her treatment in turn-of-the-century Australia is harsh, but she refuses to buckle. We wince, and we cheer for her. 

     Phar Lap (1983) is about the great Australian racehorse of the same name. To Australians, he is a legend larger than Secretariat is to us. He died in a mysterious fire in the U.S. in 1933, after whipping all comers. This is a good story with very good racing shots.

    Tony Colette has a grand time as the title character in Muriel’s Wedding (1994). Muriel is a socially awkward young woman, ridiculed by her only friends. She dreams of a storybook wedding, which seems most unlikely to happen. Her trip from social hanger-on and wannabe to responsible woman is both humorous and touching. This is a most unusual movie with an unusual story.

    Look Both Ways (2005) features an ensemble cast you will not have heard of, with several divergent stories that nicely come together. A young man finds out he has a deadly cancer and on his way home meets a mentally fragile young woman who has just witnessed a train wreck. This accident is a central point of the film, as if affects every member of the cast in very different ways. Toward the end there is a scene where the engineer who was driving the train shows up at the home of the victim’s family, full of remorse for a terrible thing that is not his fault. He will break your heart. The 2022 American film with the same name is nothing like the Australian and not nearly as good. 

And for a good time, check out The Castle (1997) in which the Kerrigan family happily lives on the edge of Melbourne Airport. The airport wants to expand and take the Kerrigan home. They fight it in court, but their dreadful lawyer’s argument that the taking destroys “the vibe” of the constitution doesn’t work. When all seems lost, they’re befriended by a retired Queen’s Counsel attorney who represents them before the Australian High Court. 

    All of the movies in this article are available on DVD. All are for adults.

                                                       DOWN UNDER THE RADAR

For whatever reasons, Australian movies don’t do much business here. Our loss. Fortunately, lots of excellent Aussie flicks are available for home viewing. 

The Dry (2021) is a whip-smart Australian murder mystery. Eric Bana stars as Aaron Falk, a federal agent returning to his hometown for the funeral of a friend. The deceased friend is believed to have died in a murder-suicide action, killing his wife and  child and himself.  The friend’s parents believe their son was innocent and ask Aaron to stay in town and look into it. It turns out that Aaron had left town under a cloud. Most townspeople believe he was responsible for the death of his then-girlfriend Ellie. The word “Grant” turns out to be a major clue. That’s all I’ll give.

Walkabout (1971) is a weird, beautiful masterpiece. A teen-age girl (Jenny Agutter) and her younger brother are left on their own in the Outback by their demented father. They are saved by an aborigine boy who soon falls in love with the girl. The contrast between the two cultures is constant and holds our interest. There is danger and humor aplenty. When it is over none of them will ever be the same. We might not, either. In a real sense, this great movie is a capsule version of Australia. 

Breaker Morant (1980) introduced Aussie super-star Bryan Brown to Americans. It is based upon a true story of three soldiers in the Boer War accused of cowardice in a trumped-up charge to further Great Britain's political requirements. Remindful, and as good as, Paths of Glory.

Strictly Ballroom (1993) is a world of fun. It is the story of people who take ballroom dancing seriously. When the handsome lead loses his beautiful partner just before the big contest, he has to make do with a klutzy Plain Jane. Of course, we all madly pull for her. The swishy contest director is a hoot, and the dancing and the gags are a joy. 

        Proof (1992) is almost impossible to describe. I saw this when it came out and breathlessly waited 12 years for it to come out on DVD, eager to see if it’s as good as I remembered. It is. Hugo Weaving is a blind man who takes pictures, then asks others to verify what is in the picture. An incredibly young Russell Crowe becomes his friend and verifier. I can’t give away much more, but I assure you this is a really good one. 

They say the road to Hell is paved with good intentions, and Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002) is full of both good intentions and Hell. In the last century, the Australian government decided it would be a good idea to force Aboriginal children to go to state boarding schools. Actually, they were kidnaped by the police and shanghaied to the schools, hundreds of miles from their homes and families. This is the story of two little girls who wanted to go home. Kenneth Branagh is the only notable actor. You will never forget this incredible film.

All of the movies in this column are available on DVD. Strictly Ballroom is fine for 8 and up. The rest are for adults.

                                                            WOLFGANG PETERSEN 

Wolfgang Peteresen, who died recently at 81, was born and raised in Germany. His Dad was a naval officer and that influenced his interest in the sea and figures in several of his films The first bunch of films he directed are German. Frankly none are very memorable.. And then came Das Boot (1981). It got him noticed and an Oscar nomination. He lost to Richard Attenborough for Ghandi.  In 1987 he moved to California and for a while was an A-list director with a string of popular films. He very deliberately made movies people would want to see. And they did. 

Das Boot (1981) is a first-rate suspenser about a German submarine's war. In one unforgettable scene, the boat has to dive far below its limit to avoid detection. Rivets start popping like gunshots. We're chewing our nails, and suddenly realize we're pulling for the enemy. The essential humanity of these sailors, and the ironic ending, place Das Boot squarely in the forefront of war movies. Jurgen Prochnow is superb as the captain. The director's cut is available. I usually much prefer subtitles to dubbing, but the dubbing in this one is excellent.

The Never-Ending Story (1984) is a real charmer. A bookish preteen(Bastian) discovers a magic book that transports him to Fantasia, an idyllic place unfortunately being attacked by The Nothing. He is enlisted by the residents to help them and he does amid adventures galore. This is Petersen’s first film in English. 

A complete change of pace is the nail-biting In The Line Of Fire (1993) with Clint Eastwood as U.S. Secret Service agent Frank Horrigan, wracked with guilt by his failure to save John F. Kennedy from the assassin’s bullet in Dallas. He is assigned to help guard the current president who is running for re-election and touring the country. Horrigan’s identity and detail are hacked by the villainous Booth, who says he will kill the president. That’s all I’m telling. 

         The world was scared witless by Richard Preston’s The Hot Zone, crafted into an equally scary movie, Outbreak (1995), directed at fever pitch by Wolfgang Petersen. Dustin Hoffman and Rene Russo are physicians trying to curb the spread of mobata, which is thinly disguised ebola. There are good and bad guys galore as the couple races to save humanity. 

The special effects, even on a small screen, are alone worth the trip to see The Perfect Storm (2000). George Clooney is the captain of a commercial fishing boat caught at sea during a combined hurricane and nor’easter (hence the title). After a particularly bad streak of fishing, he decides to try once more though the storms are close at hand. Various rescue attempts fail and waves intensify. Then a rogue wave higher than a skyscraper rolls toward the little boat. 

Mr. Petersen’s directing skills are also on view in Shattered (1991), Enemy Mine (1985) and Air Force One (1997). 

His remake of The Poseidon Adventure (1972) was so awful it knocked him out of any meaningful work. You can see Poseidon (2006) and decide for yourself if it's really that bad. It is and He made one more film in Germany before his death.

All of the films in this article are available on DVD. All are for adults.