The best Australian film in a long while, KANGAROO ISLAND is a rich, multi layered story, intelligently written, deftly directed and beautifully acted.
Director Timothy David and writer Sally Gifford have combined, conspired and created a world class film, rich in texture and characterisation.
In a cinematic garden besieged with weeds, KANGAROO ISLAND puts forth roots that sustain sturdy story, enriched by fertile imagination and integrity, to bring to fruition a film that speaks to the soul and the heart.
At its heart, KANGAROO ISLAND is a family saga, of prodigals returning, of filial friction and sibling rivalry, hereditary and inheritance.
Estranged daughter Lou, an actress whose career has not taken off in Hollywood, returns to her hometown on Kangaroo island, upon request by her father. Lou and her sister Freya, who has married, got kids and found Christ, have a complicated past relationship involving Freya’s spouse.
During this reunion, the two women try to repair their differences and make peace for the sake of their father, when a number of other issues and revelations raise and rear and buck and bronc.
Rebecca Breeds as Lou gives a knock out, powerhouse performance of world class proportion, flawed, feisty but five fathoms deep and ready to fight for what is right against the slings and arrows of a past littered with inflicting flings and indelible harrows.
Adelaide Clemens’ is pitch perfect push back, a crafted contrast to the prodigal sister, presenting a piety rippling with tumultuous undertow.
As their father, Erik Thompson exudes a quiet wisdom, stoic and strong with a heartfelt desire for harmony in his heirs.
Ian McCarroll’s cinematography is sublime, especially the capture of the local flora, fauna, land and sea-scape and the music score by Ariel Marx is intrinsic without being intrusive.
Please, please don’t let KANGAROO ISLAND fly under your radar. Target it as a must see film.
Love this.