Patricia Farrar

I'm always up for a bit of self-indulgence, particularly a movie about white, middle-aged, middle-class Baby Boomers. But at some point I found this movie tiresome. Perhaps the screenplay should have been written by David Williamson but he'd already done this with "Don's Party". I felt as if I was at a party to which I'd not really been invited: I knew the other guests but they were so wrapped up in themselves that they failed to notice anyone else. It didn't even have a frisson of voyeurism. But I loved recognising the landmarks around Palmie and the birthday party at the Boathouse made me put it on the list of venues for my next Big One if I haven't died of boredom beforehand. Oh, and BTW, the Dementia Crowd was out in full force again today for the $8 Golden Oldie tickets. Yep, they 'oohed' and 'ahhed' at every sexual reference and found it particularly funny when the older female lead removed her breast prosthesis. Unfortunately I forgot to bring my Mini-Mental tests with me, although they could be forgiven for being unable to answer, "Who is the Prime Minister?" The last time I asked this, someone replied:"Gough Whitlam". After they'd seen this film, they could be right.

I loved this excellent Australian film. It presents the horror and rawness of the treatment of convicts and Aborigines in Tasmania against a backdrop of the Tasmanian wilderness. I've always found the Australian bush creepy, especially at night and this film captures that eeriness. The juxtaposition of the Irish language with the Aboriginal, while it could have been contrived, is authentic and superbly done. The only thing I found disconcerting was that the female lead, Aisling Franciosi, reminded me of Jaquie Lambie. Then I remembered it was set in Tasmania.