| Reference Type |
The Age
newspaper
|
| Title |
South Solitary |
| Chapter/Web article title |
South Solitary |
| Author(s) | Phillipa Hawker |
| State |
Unknown |
| Country |
Australia |
| Publication Date |
29-07-2010 |
| Citation Date |
02-05-2012 |
| Site URL |
http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/movies/south-solitary-20100728-10vz1.html |
| Comments |
This article is a pleasure to read it is light and confident; it is clearly intended for any reader of the Age newspaper. It is witty and intelligent, and surprisingly the information is accurate. The document is descriptive and I think this is the most drawing factor. It undoubtedly describes the characters perfectly with very few words. The information in the article could simply be used to determine all the hidden undertones of the film and make metaphors that are easy for viewers to understand. This article is of the best I have read as it has the unique ability to draw the reader in without giving away all the aspects of the film and uses language that Australiaâs can relate to. It makes viewers want to watch the film as it seems to hint on the unique comically aspects of it. Although the article doesnât pose an argument or try to persuade you either way on the film it does elude to the unfinished mystery that the film may behold which captures the readerâs attention and subsequently making them want to watch the film. The descriptions although sparse on words are descriptive and exceptionally clear. The Age as a news report service is highly regarded and very clever in its wordings with audiences being usually more intelligent individuals and this is a typical comic article. For a review type piece it is thankfully lacking the bias and influence of personal opinion making the article sit well amongst readers. The article assumes that all ages will enjoy this film and hints ever so slightly that women around the 30's would understand this film and the emotions that are connected. What a wonderful resource and excellent for a descriptive yet entertaining outlook on the film. |
| Synopsis |
SOUTH Solitary is a lovely, awkward film, an exploration of characters mired in isolation; it's a slow-moving work with a deceptively gentle surface, an unpredictable comic touch and a dark, melancholy aspect. But writer-director Shirley Barrett (Love Serenade, Walk the Talk) also supplies an appropriately hesitant thread of optimism, a willingness to contemplate the possibilities that might lie beyond isolation and emotional numbness. It is set in 1927, in a location whose weather and topography Barrett uses to evocative, sometimes dramatic effect. Miranda Otto plays Meredith, a young woman who accompanies her uncle George (Barry Otto) to an isolated island off the coast of Tasmania, where he is to take charge of the lighthouse. The previous lighthouse keeper committed suicide; an assistant, Harry (Rohan Nichol) - a bluff and assertively cheery figure - has been overlooked for promotion. The other inhabitant is Fleet (Marton Csokas), a withdrawn, fragile World War I veteran who also tends the lighthouse. Harry's wife, Alma (Essie Davis), seems to have had enough of the island life, and simmers with resentment and impatience. She regards Meredith with all the warmth of a boa constrictor, but is sharp enough to prise out, efficiently and without a vestige of sympathy, the melancholy story of Meredith's past. And, in a parallel fashion, it is from one of Harry and Alma's children that Meredith hears a derisory version of the story of Fleet's life, related with a cheerful lack of concern. This is the world into which Meredith enters, resolved to make the best of the situation, however meagre and inhospitable. Her uncle is a martinet, and he's furious at the ramshackle management of the lighthouse. That's his prevailing obsession. He has a sense of responsibility for his niece, but little else to offer. She is there as his housekeeper, cooking and cleaning. The island is an isolated place, where supplies are irregular, visitors intermittent, and the carrier pigeons a comically unreliable form of communication. South Solitary's performances are finely observed, and Otto is terrific as Meredith, stubborn and plucky, but not always able to make the best decisions, no matter how well she thinks she knows herself. Eventually, she will reach out to Fleet, but in ways that aren't entirely predictable and don't take the course that might be expected. Barrett's work also respects the reticence of the era in which the film is set, without being undermined by its circumscribed nature. The film's restraint and its embrace of uncomfortable, spiky characters are deceptive elements; there is a quiet audacity about South Solitary that's an unexpected pleasure. |
tags: Communication Environment Isolation
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