100 Bloody Acres

Every now and then you stumble across a really awesome movie that surprises you in all the right ways. That gives you a really good feeling and you leave the cinema excited and optimistic about everything. Even when it is a horror movie. In this case it's a great little genre bending horror slash comedy from none other than my own country. There is nothing like coming out of a cinema after seeing an Australian movie and being really proud that your country was actually responsible for making it. Pride swells up in your chest and you take a good deep breath of that good old Australian fresh (air-conditioned cinema) air, a smile spreads across your face and there is a spring in your step.

But then the good feeling wears off as you remember that you live in Australia and no one in Australia gives Australian films a chance. If ever you mention that a film is Australian, all of a sudden no one wants to see it. People judge Australian films before they even see them. It's a shame because you can miss out on some really great stuff. Among the greats; Griff the Invisible, Not Suitable for Children, Looking for Alibrandi, Bran Nue Dae, The Sapphires, Somersault, Wolf Creek, Samson and Delilah, The Proposition, Ten Canoes, and (dare I say...) Bait. 

There is a lot to love in Australian film and there is a lot of variety too. The saying goes, "Don't judge a book by its cover," so I believe that people shouldn't judge a film just because it is Australian. I mean there are certainly films that you shouldn't watch (Tomorrow When the War Began, Red Dog, Australia...) but people should watch a trailer to these things before you just go and see it. Regardless, if you are willing to sit through awful Hollywood films like Iron Man 3, Star Trek 2, Pacific Rim and The Wolverine (even if there was some Australian involvement like in wolverine...) then you should be willing to sit through bad movies from your own country too.

100 Bloody Acres is a great film. It is really quality with good writing and great acting, a soundtrack suited to the film and good camera work. It's just an all round quality film. It was made on a budget of $2million which is nothing compared to the last few Hollywood films with their budgets of $200 million. The biggest problem is that no one is going to see a quality movie of $2 million but they are lining up to see a less than average or in other words terribly awful and insulting $200 million film (see list of awful movies above). If no one goes to see these movies, then it will not be possible to continue making them. That would be a sad, sad day. For everyone. Ever.

So before you pass off a movie just because it's Australian, think again and at least give it a chance. It might surprise you. Before cheat the Australian film industry and download an Australian movie, think twice and maybe go and see it on the big screen. Things are always better on the big screen. And that way you can come out of the film with all that pride puffing up in your chest and you can say with confidence that Australia does make good quality films.

100 Bloody Acres; What went wrong?