Review of Bran Nue Dae (2009) by Nayeli G — 27 Jul 2011

Anyone who knows me know that I'm not the biggest fan of musicals by a long shot. So was quite suprised that I enjoyed parts of this patchy musical comedy adaptation of the successful Aussie musical of the same name.

Lord of The Rings DoP Andrew Lesnie shoots the late sixties period with an almost day glo pallette which really makes the colours zing and pop. Geoffrey Rush is on hand hamming it up as the draconian Catholic priest tasking himself on converting the 'heathen' Aborigine boys of his parish.

The film, considering the seriousness of the subject has some light and breezy song and dance numbers tinged with anarchy which propel this very short film along at a heck of pace. The main drawbacks for me were the lead Rocky Mckenzie was pretty weak and over shadowed by other performers in the pack, such as Ernie Dingo.

Tonally it bounces around from serious comment on how Aborigine people were treated upto such a late period as the sixties to light slapstick farce, to Baz Luhrman style musical numbers, which doesn't always quite work.

And the ending is a bit too much for my liking. Rachel Perkins should be commended for her bold and striking vision and also making a musical which actually held my attention in parts.