Strangerland – Film Review by Frank L.

Directed by Kim Farrant

Writers: Michael Kinirons, Fiona Seres (story)
Stars: Nicole Kidman, Joseph Fiennes, Hugo Weaving

In a brown, brown landscape somewhere in the outback of Australia, (shooting took place in New South Wales and the Northern Territory) in an inward looking, one horse town called Nathgari, Matthew (Joseph Fiennes) and Catherine (Nicole Kidman), a married couple and their teenage daughter Lily and younger son Tom have come to live. The reason why they have come to this dead beat place is not made clear initially.  In an early shot Tom is seen walking aimlessly around the back lots which includes perturbingly a rack on which kangaroo carcases are drying. There is little pleasant to arrest the eye in the town. However Lily finds there are some attractions and it is exactly for what she is yearning…boys.

On the surface they seem to be a normal family with nothing unremarkable about them other than where they have chosen to live. But behind their front door lies a myriad of problems. Tom it appears has had a habit of disappearing from time to time. He and Lily one night walk out into the brown land. During the day is blisteringly hot. This disappearance exposes gradually the dysfunctional relationships within the family and the presence of the local police officer David Rae (Hugo Weaving), who is in charge of the search for the two kids, intensifies the tensions which lie between Matthew and Catherine. In addition there is a distrustful attitude shown to the aboriginal inhabitants by all the Caucasians even though it is the aboriginal community who demonstrate at least once some neighbourly spirit.

Nicole Kidman is as Catherine a convincing mother of two far from easy children.  In the dullness of Nathgari she finds that she needs to keep her sexual life alive which creates its own tensions. Meanwhile Joseph Fiennes as Matthew is an uptight pharmacist who has a short temper and seems to have lost interest in his wife. He is highly suspicious of his daughter and her coquettishness. It is a challenging role and he conveys well the different currents of emotion running through Matthew.

The script is co- written by Trinity graduate Michael Kinirons with Fiona Seres and they have created a series of interconnecting stories, none of them happy, in the blistering heat of Nathgari. While it retains the attention at all times, the interweaving of the relationships and events in this small town becomes like a ball of wool after a cat has played with it for a while. There are just too many strands to the story.