‘Red Dog’ brought back the film Industry’s dignity and produced a film that represented Australians in a successful manner. This movie displayed our true blue traits such as mateship, humour, the famous red dirt, telling stories of the good ol’ days and of course beer. The genre is a drama/comedy, in one scene you are laughing untill your belly hurts and in the next crying. This movie had it all, from amazing cinemetography to down to earth actors making it an award winning film. Based on a true story, written down by Louis de Bernieres (in his book Red Dog), this movie took place in the small town of Dampier on the western coast of Australia. The first scene shows a truck driver named Thomas arriving at a small pub in Dampier late at night. Spotting a silhouette of a gun in the back room, mistaking it for a murder, he rushes to help. Thomas discovers the men are only trying to put down a poisoned dog (Red Dog) but they don’t have the guts to shoot him. They all retreat to the bar and the bartender, Jack …show more content…
starts to tell Thomas Red Dog’s story (set in the 1970s). The dog befriends most of the employees of the Hamersley Iron mining company but still has no master. Then John Grant arrives from America and Red Dog’s whole life was about to change. The lead actors delivered a seamless performance.
They gave off a natural and relaxed vibe, creating down to earth characters going about their day to day lives. Loyalty, well trained and cute are all the dog gone qualities that complete Koko (Red Dog), thus making him outshine all his two-legged friends on the big screen. Josh Lucas played his role paw-fectly! His love for animals shone through when he was with Koko making the interaction during the film more realistic and heartfelt. Rachael Taylor, the city girl, definately made a statement in this film with her clean cut look and trade mark smile. She showed the right amount of emotion and didn’t look awkward in any of the scences. The soundtrack tied in exceptionally with each moment in the film making you laugh, cry, or smile. When the charaters were happy, the music mimicked this feeling and visa versa. Most of the songs played in this film were from Australian singers/bands accomplishing the outback
feel. Kriv Stenders (director and owner of Koko) displayed just the right amount of humour in this movie. The lines didn’t seemed forced and had enough appeal to send tails wagging anywhere the film was viewed.
As a nation, the Australian people have respected the “underdogs” in many events throughout history, an example is KERRYN McCann, the 38-year mother of two from Bulli, winning the 2006 Commonwealth Games marathon, two years before dying from cancer. Now in 2017, The Australian people have the chance to celebrate the work they have contributed to the film industry and to show the world what it means to be Australian, and with the Australian Film Festival coming up they can do that. Personally I am not of Australian nationality, but I have come to notice the importance for the Australian people to acknowledge their work in the film industry, as it gives them a chance to
The movie depicts what it was like to be Australian in the decades of the 50’s and 60’s and the decisions of the Australian government over this period, through the journey of four Aboriginal women and one Irish man. The movie explores the treatment of indigenous people living in this era in comparison to white Australians. The unique ways in which the characters made their living provided for scrutiny, judgement and vulnerability. In the movie you see just how differently the Aboriginal community was treated compared to the white Australians during these era’s.
The 2014 Walkley Award winning documentary, "Cronulla Riots: the day that shocked the nation" reveals to us a whole new side of Aussie culture. No more she’ll be right, no more fair go and sadly no more fair dinkum. The doco proved to all of us (or is it just me?) that the Australian identity isn’t really what we believe it to be. After viewing this documentary
In Australia the Aboriginals face discrimination daily. The film opened with four young Aboriginal girls singing on a makeshift stage facing their community. When the camera panned to show the smiling faces in the crowd it gave a feel of unity and love. Later it showed two sisters who were trying to hitch a ride into the city from the main road. Yet every vehicle passed them by; once they saw who they were, frustrated the older sister. Gale stated it was because they ‘were black’. When in the town playing their song on the stage in a bar, the youngest sister turned up and took
The theme of mateship is shown throughout the entire film of Red Dog; through the friendships of the Dampier workers, but most significantly shown through the bond that John and Red dog
All three authors recognize that difference constructs discrimination. The concept of othering (Hall 1997) and Anglo dominance presented by Moreton-Robinson (2015) help understand Judith Butler’s findings as to why oppression and exclusion cannot be reduced completely. It is same fear of the ‘other’ and white dominance in Australia that keep Australian institutions from reaching integration and equality—film being one these institutions. The filmmakers of The Sapphires attempt to tell the Aboriginal narrative. The scenes mentioned in the previous paragraphs, educate a diverse audience about Aboriginal discrimination in Australia in the 1960s. However, even though the filmmakers reveal some truths of Aboriginal discrimination, they do it in a way which the Aboriginal narrative is suppressed and Anglo dominance is maintained. “The Sapphires” plot is not centered on Aboriginal discrimination, rather a story of how four Aboriginal girls learn about love and friendship. Aboriginal discrimination in the 1960s forms only a small part of the journey to entertain American Troops in Vietnam. By presenting a musical comedy-drama film, the filmmakers sugar coat Australia’s dark past. The movie also ends on a good note. Cousin Kay who at some point rejected her Aboriginal roots, overcomes her prejudice and gets more in touch with the Aboriginal culture by partaking in an Aboriginal ceremony. By the end of the film the audience barely recalls the discrimination scenes and only remembers a happy ending. This is dangerous, as the film deceives its white Australian audience to believe that racial inequality in Australia is an issue of the past not the present. Therefore, promoting the idea that the Australia does not continue to privilege white people over Aboriginals
This movie is based on a true story, about four extraordinary Aboriginal women. Sisters Laurel Robinson, Lois Peeler and their cousins Beverley Briggs and Naomi Mayers. They were part of an extended family of brothers and sisters who regularly sang together during the 1960s and 70’s. Laurel and Lois toured Vietnam in the late 1960s singing to the American troops which was an amazing feat, considering that Aboriginal people had only just gained the right to vote. All four of these women still live in Australia and all have important roles within the community.
In the New Yorker article “Offensive Play,” by Malcolm Gladwell, he makes a comparison between dogfighting and football, claiming that they tend to be more similar than people may conclude. Gladwell argues this because they both develop a negative effect on one’s body and brain causing several physical and mental changes that could possibly lead to death. However, some of these events that cause injury go without notice until later on in life when they have retired from their “glory days.”
Aboriginal history and family values have been an integral part of Australian history. Radiance is a fresh influence to sensitive Aboriginal political issues that were overdue for addressing. For someone to state this movie has a strong cultural and political underpinning would be appropriate in relation to the film. In the perspective of this submission, it is my opinion that there was definitely an abundance of issues concerning the structure of Aboriginal culture and politics in this film.
acting the same way. The song also talks about how the hound dog still comes around
The 2009 film “Precious”, based on the novel “Push” by Sapphire, tells the tragic story of sixteen-year-old Claireece Precious Jones; an overweight, illiterate who is now pregnant with her second child. Her life at home is a complete nightmare; her mother, Mary, verbally, emotionally and physically abuses her daily. Her father, Carl, molested her on multiple occasions and impregnated her twice then disappeared. Precious was kicked out of public school and took an offer to attend an alternative school where she meets her inspirational teacher Miss Blu Rain. Precious begins to believe in herself and prepares herself for her future. She becomes engaged in class and learns how to read and write; she was called stupid and dummy all her life and
While waiting for the movie to play there was lots of laughter and chatter. Everyone, including myself was excited to see this particular movie for many reasons. For me I had heard that it was a good movie for other friends, also I had previously viewed the trailers and was excited to see the actresses together in a movie. The theater instantly got quiet as the movie began. The sound track
Social class, as defined by the film, is something that affects who you are as a person. In the film, the people saw class as the defining factor of a person. They saw class as a barrier between people. If one person is in a different class than another person, then obviously, they are not supposed to associate. They allowed their social class to dictate their action each day. It was amazing to me just how much the people in the film allowed their class to truly define them and really serve as a boundary in their life. The people in the film lived their daily life with their social class as the most influential factor. Their worth and value as individuals was not determined by anything else except the amount of money they had. It was really interesting to see how the amount of money a person had somehow equated with their worth in society. The same is true within our society today, but in the film, this aspect was especially evident. The film really shed a light on just how impactful social class is and just how much we allow it to
American Beauty is a fantastic film that encourages viewers to "look closer." Sam Mendes directed a film about American Beauty and foolish things that Americans do to keep up with appearances. He is urging us to find beauty in our lives, and to forget about having the perfect garden and home. He effectively uses the color red; as a central motif to accentuate mood and theme, to contrast families, and to reveal characters personalities and feelings. "Mere colour, unspoiled by meaning, and unallied with definite form, can speak to the soul in a thousand different ways."--Oscar Wilde
Released in 1976, the screenplay is set in a post-Vietnam War America. Robert DiNiro, the main character in the movie by the name of Travis Bickle, claims to be an ex marine and a Vietnam War veteran who drives a taxi at night in NYC. In his screenplay, the Taxi Driver, Martin Scoses suggests Travis Bickle a main character who undertakes the role of a cowboy, to be someone who embodies the masculine and violent traits in pre counter culture America, but also someone who represents elements of western mythology. In order to support his argument Scoses uses Travis need to fulfill his masculine cowboy persona, by making him the hero of his own life.