Better Late Then Never

Absolutely Fantastic

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Thank you Shirley Barrett for writing and directing this movie because you have created a masterpiece. I begin to live in 1928 when I watch this movie. I feel I can step into the screen, help Meredith unpack her belongings and set-up my room in that lovely old house, put the kettle on, and walk outside in that bitterly cold air. I wear the scratchy woollen coat that Meredith wears, the hand knitted woollen vest, the skirt, and loose thick stockings bunching up at the ankles. I look at Mr Fleet (the exceptional Marton Csokas) and am drawn to his shy wounded persona, his awkwardness, and his pain. This movie is astonishing because It draws me into the time of these characters (like no other movie can). I have watched this movie about 8 times and I never tire of it. It was in this movie that I first saw Csokas. I couldn't believe how surpub his performance was. I asked, who is this incredible actor? I have since watched him in many movies and his capacity to express vastly different personalities in every role is just stunning. What an observer of human behaviour and non-verbal communicator! The isolation, the cold, the children, the lonely residents, and those who choose to be alone - the depiction is so real and so true, you feel like you are intruding in conversations. The pace is right, and the music so suited to the telling of the story, and so sublime, that I bought the soundtrack too. I wrote this review because there are so many award winning movies that are appalling, ('la la land' comes to mind), yet masterpieces like this one are overlooked. If you enjoy a love story with warm, gentle characters who are very real (imperfect), if you enjoy the thought of isolation and staring at the wind-swept seascape like in a Bronte novel, and if you like to gently explore the personality of someone you find increasingly fascinating - this movie is truly for you.

South Solitary is an Australian story told on a small canvas - a lighthouse off the Victoria coast. The cast of isolated characters makes for often intense, often comic, interactions overlaid by the propriety of 1920s manners. The domineering father and lighthouse keeper played by Barry Otto tries to impose his will on his niece and domestic servant Meredith (Miranda Otto) and on the two assistant keepers. The story revolves around Meredith as her back story is slowly revealed. Her growing friendship with the war damaged assistant keeper, Fleet, consumes the second half of the film but there is no Hollywood ending here. There is superb acting even among the children. The Ottos are two of Australia's finest actors but don't get the recognition overseas they deserve because they do not seek "stardom". Miranda did, however, play in the Lord of the Rings. The music is a character in the story on its own setting the mood without overwhelming.We were playing the CD long before we saw the movie.

D and I watched this terrific film yesterday afternoon and we both shared similar thoughts about its quality. This film, about a young woman sent with her administrative uncle to "clean up" the operation of a very remote lighthouse is truly an iconic Australian film. I am reasonably familiar with the world's cinema and can therefore (modestly) make judgments about the types of film produced by various countries and South Solitary is a movie that is Australian through and through. Our movies are gutsy, perhaps rough, slice-of-life movies. The big budget Hollywood types (like Australia) are exceptions to this rule and do not easily sit well with the norm or at least the norm as I see it. Films like Japanese Story, Jindabyne, Oyster Farmer, Beautiful Kate and Last Ride are just a few of the many introspective movies that our film industry produces and that Diane and I anticipate eagerly and now we can add South Solitary to this list of, dare I say, brilliant movies. I know of no other country that produces films of this nature; films that are strangely uplifting in their context. The film's ending, with no Hollywood tears, is perfect. See this film and do not judge it by the standards for which we have been smothered by a foreign culture. South Solitary is rich with feelings that all of us can recognize and I would unconditionally recommend it.

If you don't mind watching a film populated with flawed but easy to identify with characters, then I urge you to check out South Solitary. I enjoyed this film very much, particularly the performance of Miranda Otto as Meredith, as it would be very easy to find this character unlikeable if it had not been handled as beautifully and sympathetically as Miranda does. It was also interesting to see the inner workings of an operational light house from that period as I new very little of the life of a light house keeper going into the screening. The sound design is also brilliantly weaved throughout helping to add a lot of emotion within the probably smallish budget. I found South Solitary both wryly funny and human in just the right proportion and for the right audience it will be a pleasant surprise.