Making a film set 200 years ago, about a group of escaped convicts in a remote part of the world, and who end up turning to cannibalism is not an easy task, quite obviously. That this film succeeds to the degree it does is a testament to the people behind it.
There must have been a lot of time spent by the writers and director trying to work out the right approach for Alexander Pearce. Depicting him as a psychopathic cannibal from the outset (as per 'For the Term of His Natural Life') would have been wrong, he was surely more nuanced than that. This was a man transported to the colonies for the theft of six pairs of shoes, not any type of violent act.
The need to eat your fellow escapees would have been a slow dawn of horror, and that is captured quite nicely here as these uneducated men stumble off into a world they knew nothing about. It's instructive to remember that most of us would be scared if dropped into this remote wilderness to find our own way out, even if equipped with provisions, warm clothing and a working knowledge of the geography and local flora/fauna. To imagine traversing what was completely unknown to any of them, and literally a world away from their birthplaces, dressed only in old prison rags and with food limited to some flour, is very frightening indeed.
The cinematography is great, with the washed-out colours emphasising the alien nature of this wilderness. The acting is good as well, and the use of Gaelic for the occasional introspection of Pearce helps to prompt the viewer to think of just how someone can end up so far from home, and in such a horrific situation.
Unfortunately there are a few stumbles as well, forgivable as this is the director's first feature. Some of the imagery is overdone - I'm thinking of the guard chewing at the beginning (yes, we know what's coming ...) - and the characters could probably be better distinguished through a little more talking than they actually do. As there is no back story or wider explanation of their predicament, the film does feel slightly repetitious in the middle section. There was also no attempt to show the men hunting for food, even though there would have been native wildlife all around them. To be fair, though, the depiction of cannibalism as the inevitable outcome of tackling this terrain with limited supplies is the main story, and given the limited budget of the film they were probably wise to focus on that aspect exclusively.
All up, congratulations to the filmmakers for tackling such a tough subject and making it watchable. This is a very grim part of our history, but it needs to be known and discussed more than it is. The film is not easy to stomach (pun intended!) but you cannot watch it and not be affected, and is that not the aim of any movie? Pearce was not a wronged hero, he was a person who twice turned to cannibalism. But this film makes you think about your own response to landing in such an awful situation as these men. If the difference between civilisation and barbarism is three square meals, then these escaped convicts were in a place none of us would want to go.
There must have been a lot of time spent by the writers and director trying to work out the right approach for Alexander Pearce. Depicting him as a psychopathic cannibal from the outset (as per 'For the Term of His Natural Life') would have been wrong, he was surely more nuanced than that. This was a man transported to the colonies for the theft of six pairs of shoes, not any type of violent act.
The need to eat your fellow escapees would have been a slow dawn of horror, and that is captured quite nicely here as these uneducated men stumble off into a world they knew nothing about. It's instructive to remember that most of us would be scared if dropped into this remote wilderness to find our own way out, even if equipped with provisions, warm clothing and a working knowledge of the geography and local flora/fauna. To imagine traversing what was completely unknown to any of them, and literally a world away from their birthplaces, dressed only in old prison rags and with food limited to some flour, is very frightening indeed.
The cinematography is great, with the washed-out colours emphasising the alien nature of this wilderness. The acting is good as well, and the use of Gaelic for the occasional introspection of Pearce helps to prompt the viewer to think of just how someone can end up so far from home, and in such a horrific situation.
Unfortunately there are a few stumbles as well, forgivable as this is the director's first feature. Some of the imagery is overdone - I'm thinking of the guard chewing at the beginning (yes, we know what's coming ...) - and the characters could probably be better distinguished through a little more talking than they actually do. As there is no back story or wider explanation of their predicament, the film does feel slightly repetitious in the middle section. There was also no attempt to show the men hunting for food, even though there would have been native wildlife all around them. To be fair, though, the depiction of cannibalism as the inevitable outcome of tackling this terrain with limited supplies is the main story, and given the limited budget of the film they were probably wise to focus on that aspect exclusively.
All up, congratulations to the filmmakers for tackling such a tough subject and making it watchable. This is a very grim part of our history, but it needs to be known and discussed more than it is. The film is not easy to stomach (pun intended!) but you cannot watch it and not be affected, and is that not the aim of any movie? Pearce was not a wronged hero, he was a person who twice turned to cannibalism. But this film makes you think about your own response to landing in such an awful situation as these men. If the difference between civilisation and barbarism is three square meals, then these escaped convicts were in a place none of us would want to go.