I can't believe that it wasn't obvious at the first reading that the script was letting it down. Basic idiosyncratic transitions and poor dialogue abounds. Hugo Weaving (something of a fixture in Australian films) manages to make the best of his scenes, and gives a good credible performance throughout. Nicol Kidman works wonders to give the other credible performance. Mr Fiennes is miscast and struggles from his first frame to his last, to even convince us that he belongs there at all.
The rest of the great problem with this film is down to the appalling direction. Basic character relationships are ignored, logic is ignored, some the smaller roles seem to have been left to tag along by themselves, dramatic tension is frequently killed in its infancy by casual happenstance, and there are too many red rock dessert shots, that look for all the world, like stock footage.
It no doubt made great headway as it stood the test of the template during the funding process, as it was labeled a feminist story (it even failed at that) it was to be directed by a woman, it was to be set within a sand storm in country Australiana, and it even featured a smattering of indigenous characters and folk law.
It's a shame that the piece could not have been saved by skillful work shopping during the early stages of production, and good film making throughout.
The rest of the great problem with this film is down to the appalling direction. Basic character relationships are ignored, logic is ignored, some the smaller roles seem to have been left to tag along by themselves, dramatic tension is frequently killed in its infancy by casual happenstance, and there are too many red rock dessert shots, that look for all the world, like stock footage.
It no doubt made great headway as it stood the test of the template during the funding process, as it was labeled a feminist story (it even failed at that) it was to be directed by a woman, it was to be set within a sand storm in country Australiana, and it even featured a smattering of indigenous characters and folk law.
It's a shame that the piece could not have been saved by skillful work shopping during the early stages of production, and good film making throughout.