Starring: Tom Budge, Guy Pearce, Emily Watson, Ray Winstone, David Wenham, John Hurt, David Gulpilil, Leah Purcell

Directed By: John Hillcoat

The sun bakes each and every one of the characters in this extraordinary film. This is another Guy Pearce film so make sure you’re prepared for some mindless persistence that is usually associated with his films. In this one the heat of the Australian deserts takes its toll on the characters. It also influences each of their decisions. The movie is set in 1880s in the Australian Outback. It follows the lives of the Burns brother’s gang.

It works on a more subconscious level when the two brothers meet. The killings executed by the elder brother who they call the Dog man are brutal and extremely affecting. The film begins with a shoot out between the Burns brothers and the police. In which very few people survive but after this the sheriff gives a proposition to the younger brother which forms main crux of this story. The film explores age old Western techniques but something that works in its favor is the adding of the Sun as another character. The whole desert comes to us as a symbol of absurdist art. This gives some scenes some ethereal beauty. The desert plays on the minds of each character and you can see how it makes its presence felt on the bodies of these actors.

But the heat could have taken its toll on the actors. This did not deter anyone of them because of the faith they had in the treatment. All these men and women who acted in this movie submitted themselves to the treatment of the film.

But all this treatment is almost covered by power of the violence in this film. The violence is unforgiving and relentless make you wait for some solace by the end of all this. But this film provides us with a maniac vibe that reads into the violence and produces some rally gritty images. There are also whispered voice overs with poetry written into them while some of the characters are riding their horses. It creates an eerie feeling like someone is talking to the wind and the wind is carrying these sounds to distance places.

But in all this mayhem there is one rational being that is Charlie played by Guy Pearce. The reason why he is added into this equation is to give the audiences an aid. I don’t think I could imagine the film without him. Danny Huston who is fast becoming one of my favorite character actors plays the role of the Dog Man with a stroke of sadism on his face.

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