Ahoy, squirts! Quint here to quickly post up the lovely (and super about-to-burst pregnant) Annette Kellerman's thoughts on an Australian cannibal flick called VAN DIEMEN'S LAND. I am actually in the process of writing about this one myself, but I just got beat to the punch by pregnant woman! Damn, I need to train up, I'm getting slow!

I find that I agree pretty much on every level with Annette's review, but I'll go into specifics in my Day 1 report, which will go up before I sleep. Until then, here's Ms. Kellerman!

Hello all! It's Annette Kellerman back with my first review from this year's Fantastic Film Festival here in Austin, Texas.

VAN DIEMEN'S LAND

Based on a true story, VAN DIEMEN'S LAND recounts the infamous Australian legend of a band of escaped prisoners in Tasmania in the 1820's. It is established early on in the story that their internment as slaves clearing land in utter isolation in the furthest reaches of the British Empire is due to multiple convictions, and there is no pretense that any of these men are innocent. While working away from the main camp, a group of eight prisoners sabatoge and kill the prison guard in their charge and hatch a plan to escape to the nearest settlement. What unfolds next is based upon a confession of the sole survivor of the group, Alexander Pearce, who not only survived the freezing, wet cross country trek itself but also prevailed through the paranoia, murder, and eventual cannibalism that the others did not.

The performances are outstanding. Each player shows incredible emotional depth as their minds and bodies are put to the ultimate test. In the Q and A after the film, two of the actors admitted that the conditions while shooting were less than ideal and that scenes of endless hikes through freezing rain and frigid rivers were authentic and were paramount in extracting the stellar performances that may have otherwise been impossible.

The film is beautifully shot. Macabre subject matter aside, the movie is a visual love-letter to the uninhabited land in which the story and acutal shoot took place. Though much of the color is washed out for dramatic effect, the beauty of the untouched, drenched landscape is still dazzling.

While the performances are riveting and this "Australian Donner party" legend is a compelling tale, the film is actually a bit arduous to watch. Director Jonathan Auf Der Heide tells the story at a painstakingly slow pace that allows for an appropriate sense of bleakness, but at the expense of my attention span in some areas. I love films that take their time, but there has to be some balance there, and unfortunately for me the numerous campfire scenes, river crossings, and forest trudging overshadowed other terrific sequences of psychological struggle and well-executed violence and gore. While I totally appreciate this film, I have a hard time recommending it to just anyone.

So, if you are in the mood for a slow, psychological journey into the deterioration of men in isolation, then VAN DIEMEN'S LANDS definitely fits the bill. If not, don't say I didn't warn you.

Well, I hope to check in tomorrow with my look at the festival's opening night film GENTLEMAN BRONCOS as well as my first midnight flick of the fest, the scary as shit PARANORMAL ACTIVITY.

Until then,
Annette Kellerman