Review of Donovan's Reef (1963) by Dawdlingpoet — 28 Nov 2021

This is very much a film challenging social issues of the time (and still relevant issues now, to be fair), with themes including sexism, racism and the American class system and more. I liked that at least one of the adult female characters (some of which being natives of the land, Polynesia) was forthright and sassy. I like the setting of the film - it certainly looked pretty idyllic. I also liked that we got to hear some of the local peoples songs and greetings. There are undoubtedly some socially unacceptable dialogue but I suppose it highlights the way things were, the almost commonplace racist/sexist comments made by some. There is a high and mighty sense to the main character, 'Guns' Donovan, played by John Wayne. I didn't especially warm to him as such. At times its a relatively thoughtful film and its fair to say that its quite slow, in terms of plot (although there are storms depicted which do appear somewhat dramatic) but with the important themes and the setting it does ok overall. It is categorised online as a romance (adventure/comedy/romance) but I'd argue that its less a romance and less a comedy (although there are elements of both present at times - perhaps slightly moreso a comedy) and more a mild drama perhaps. I thought it was interesting to see how such a foreign place celebrated Christmas, with locals singing Silent Night in a church and the local vicar proudly tending to the Christmas decorations displayed outside. I found it an interesting watch, in terms of the social commentary aspect, the performances were pretty good and there were some amusing moments, so its an alright watch. I'm not sure its one thats particularly memorable as such but it has some nice moments and as an older film I thought it was alright. One of the main scenes that did stand out, compared to the rest of it, was a bar fight scene involving a number of sailors somewhat drunkenly singing Waltzing Matilda. Make of that what you may.

Would I recommend it? Its not a bad watch, not a really brilliant one as such but if it sounds of interest, I'd say its worth a watch, yes.