Review of Van Diemen's Land (2009) by Ivan D — 06 Feb 2010

The film's main theme that is explored throughout was cannibalism, and yet it does not contain exploitative blood and brutal mutilations, whether it was budget restraint or style, it is much more effective and proved once again that "less is more".

The Tasmainian wilderness colors was played between the hues of black, gray and brown, allegorically representing a never-ending limbo, a place where the convicts found their inner hell. "Van Diemen's Land" was built mainly in silence, the rest of the scenes was either sounded by the rush of the waters or the cries of anguish.

Near the end, there were almost no dialogue uttered, and there were instead long shots of scenes of nothingness and despair, and a climax that leads to a hollow nowhere in the corners of humanity, as Alexander Pearce's sanity, after the contemplative chaos that they've waged against each other, snapped under terrible, and distorted reality.

The director, Jonathan Auf Der Heide, played ironic wonders between the tranquility of the wild, and the inner screams of survival, which led to an exposition of the darkness of the human soul.