Reviews

I was living in Hong Kong through the 1980s and 90s, so missed some fine Australian movies and television dramas. However, one morning in 2002 I caught Janus on the ABC at about 3.00am and was totally blown away. I then set up my recorder to tape every episode, even while I was once again overseas. But Dubya invaded Iraq and the resulting non-stop coverage for several weeks pre-empted Janus and my taping went all awry.

Since then I have been able to watch Phoenix (from the same team) on DVD and been highly impressed.

Now Janus has been released on DVD and I have been able to watch the entire first series, including episodes I have not seen previously. It is even better than I recalled. Realism, subtlety, grittiness, the underhanded behaviour of both prosecution and defence lawyers are all there, along with some seriously menacing crims.

What a series. But a word of warning; if your attention span is limited to just ten or 15 minutes, forget it.

I think I must have seen a different version from that viewed by ptb-8 and reviewed on IMDb. In mine, Spring is depicted as the gentle season, set among the blossoms of Japan - where else?. Then we move to the "sunburnt country" - Australia where the summers are long and savage. Here we see and hear the extraordinary talent of the wonderful Niki Vasilakis of Classical Destinations fame, before crossing the Pacific to North America. Fall (autumn)is celebrated in New York's Central Park,with the predictable feast of images from this always vibrant setting. Finally we move to winter in blisteringly cold Finland and marvel at the good humour of people who are not going to see sun for several months. Since first seeing this I have intended to buy the DVD. I'm glad I waited because the one I bought also has a CD of the sound track, so I can double my enjoyment of this superb production and its imaginative interpretation of Vivaldi's delightful music.

Although I lived in Australia in 1975, I moved overseas not long after, fed up with constant industrial unrest, the general worship of mediocrity - unless one is a sportsman! - and the complacency of so many Australians who chose to ignore the breakneck pace of change taking place in countries to their north.

Consequently I missed The Dismissal, along with many other Australian-made TV dramas of the '80s and '90s, such as the superb Janus and Phoenix series, which I have since seen, along with Wildside.

To me the filmed story of The Dismissal is fair and, as far as I am aware, accurate. However, as to public "outrage" it only shows one side of the picture, not how families were riven by the controversy. I know, as my two brothers would not speak to me for months afterward.

But the commentary is, in my view, very one-sided throughout. The inescapable fact is that, notwithstanding fiery expressions of rage from a substantial proportion of the community, the Australian electorate chose - and chose decisively - in favour of Fraser, as they did again two years later.

This apart, a historically accurate and superbly well acted docudrama.

Initially I wondered how good a series must be to earn the approval of hexa-2. Then I realised that such erudite comments as "Ho Hum" meant that mindless American action fare is probably more to his (or her) taste. As for me, fine characterisations, excellent acting and thought-provoking stories have all come together in this superb package.

However, hexa-2 should be happy because the ABC, as part of its inexorable dumbing-down process in the chase for meaningless ratings has declined to commission a third series.

And the viewers who did bother to watch are the poorer.