| Reference Type |
web
|
| Title |
At the Movies: South Solitary |
| Author(s) | ABC ,David Stratton |
| State |
Unknown |
| Country |
Australia |
| Publication Date |
|
| Citation Date |
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| Site URL |
http://www.abc.net.au/atthemovies/txt/s2946032.htm |
| Comments |
This website is a very useful reference material; it provides all the information about the film from two of the most renowned film reviewers. The website provides a synopsis as per below and information regarding the general running of the film. This is then followed by a discussion about it. The text here is provided in simple English language and therefore is aimed at any audience; they cover films as they are released. The information could be used by any person who is wishing to find out more about a movie prior to watching, to perhaps prompt a person to watch the film. This is important to give the general public information about the film and as a consequence attract viewers to Australian films. The article could be considered intelligent as David and Margaret have been in TV for 25 years. There information seems well researched and logical however it is purely rated on personal opinion; therefore the article is influenced by their own perspectives and tastes in films, even though they seem to be fair and logical within their reasoningâs and provides positive and negative aspects, it is opinion based. Overall a good website for all movie watchers, reviews, bloggers etc to gain an understanding of a filmâs plot without a complex detailed overview and discussion of the undertones and reflections within the film; that is only understandable to those qualified in the Media and Communication field. I found that it provided me with the initial information to get me started in order to know what to research, who to research and possibly where to look. |
| Synopsis |
In 1927, following an unhappy liaison with a married man, Meredith Appleton, MIRANDA OTTO, accompanies her uncle, George Wadsworth, BARRY OTTO, who has been appointed lighthouse keeper on the isolated island of South Solitary. The previous lighthouse keeper had committed suicide, and the assistant keeper, Harry, ROHAN NICHOL, is resentful he was passed over for the job; Meredith tries to befriend Harry's wife, Alma, ESSIE DAVIS, and their 9-year-old daughter, Nettie, ANNIE MARTIN.
Also on the island is another assistant keeper, Jack Fleet, MARTON CSOKAS, a Welshman still suffering from his wartime experiences.
Shirley Barrett is a remarkable film-maker who has only made three features in the last 15 years; her first, LOVE SERENADE, which also starred Mirana Otto, won the Camera D'Or for Best First Film at Cannes, but her second, WALK THE TALK, made in 2000, was underrated and has been little seen. SOUTH SOLITARY is a rather more serious variation on LOVE SERENADE; like that film, it involves a triangular situation taking place in a remote setting, though in the earlier film the setting was a country town and the relationship involved two sisters and a man, while here it's an island and involves a lonely woman and two men. But Barrett's very particular vision is consistent; her characters are flawed, damaged, troubled - and yet they're basically optimistic and there's a good deal of incidental humour, with some very wry dialogue.
This has to be seen in the context of the lingering aftermath of the Great War, which decimated the male population. Performances are outstanding MIRANDA OTTO is particularly fine in the beautiful, touching scene in which Meredith talks to Alma about her wayward past and BARRY OTTO is splendid, too, as her fussy, prickly Uncle.
Stunningly photographed by Anna Howard, SOUTH SOLITARY is a very special film, both original and in its own way, quite a daring one.
Further comments
DAVID: Margaret?
MARGARET: David, I actually wasn't as impressed by this as you are and I watched it and I went, "When is the second act going to kick into this film?" And like it never happens. It's like it goes forever, this monotony of life on the island.
DAVID: I don't think that's...
MARGARET: Because what you want to get at is the relationship between Fleet and Miranda Otto's character.
DAVID: Which you do get to.
MARGARET: Which you do get to for the last half hour in the film and, really...
DAVID: Well, there's your next act. What are you talking about?
MARGARET: No, well, that's act 3 and actually I wanted...
DAVID: Well, there is an act. ...
MARGARET: No, there's no - there is an act 2 and the act 2 actually alienates your young heroine from your audience because she does something that is enormously and weekly and selfishly and pathetically destructive and I just don't understand why the filmmaker - why Shirley Barrett didn't make that central event something that was made up so that we would continue to have sympathy for her.
DAVID: Oh, I continued to have sympathy with her all the way through. ...
MARGARET: I wanted...
DAVID: I think she's obviously a woman who has made mistakes before and she makes mistakes again and but...
MARGARET: How pathetic is that?
DAVID: We all...
MARGARET: You don't learn from your mistakes?
DAVID: We all make mistakes and we sometimes don't learn from them. I think that's a bitter truth in life.
MARGARET: Well, I just feel it's a shame that that relationship between her and Fleet wasn't entered into much earlier in the film and teased out much more.
DAVID: I don't share that view at all.
MARGARET: I'm giving it three stars.
DAVID: I liked it very much. I'm giving it four stars.
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