It's great that an Aussie film from so long ago remains well remembered - I mean, a 2009 cinema re-release, how good is that? And it's definitely a work of quality - some stunning photography and acting. But is it over praised?
Maybe it's one for the baby boomers. That's definitely what Gary Bond is - a school teacher stuck out in a small town, and bitterly resenting it, like a good old entitled boomer. While waiting for a flight home he gets too drunk and is drawn into a two up game and loses all his money, like an idiot. The locals are actually friendly - Al Thomas invites him to his house, where his daughter Sylvia Kay offers to seduce him and mates take him out on a kangaroo shoot. But Bond can't get it up for the girl, and gets all shaky about shooting the roo - he could have said "no". Then later he's taken to Donald Pleasance's place and Pleasance has sex with him but it doesn't look un-consensual. Bond continues to whinge, tries to kill himself but doesn't, and winds up a broken man.
Maybe it's because I'm a Queenslander and this stuff isn't foreign to me but the outback and its people here aren't terrifying or scary - they're actually hospitable. Boorish, yes; misogynistic, absolutely; brutal in a way - of course. But they aren't mean. Bond is free to go his own way, he just doesn't wake it. He's offered beer, company, sex (straight and gay), hunting expeditions, hospitality. He doesn't have the guts to have a cup of coffee, and read a book, or seek out sober companionship.
For me, this is a film about a weak whinging person determined to prove he's a man but he can't - he can't even kill himself. I'm not saying that's not dramatically valid - I just don't feel it's a classic or an indictment on our nation.
Jack Thompson's charisma bounces off the screen, it was a fantastic role for Chips Rafferty to play (the kind but nosy police chief), Donald Pleasance is effectively creepy as always. I didn't mind Gary Bond even if his character was a dick. Stunning photography and Tony Buckley's editing of the roo sequence is deservedly famous.
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