Paradies in Flammen

I first saw this movie in a late night slot on a satellite movie channel. The movie has a more than interesting cast of quirky and disturbing characters that appear throughout is length, in some respects quite similar to a Coen brothers film. The two central characters meet in the most unusual of circumstances and have more than one reason to hide themselves from their respective pursuers. The film portrays a different side to Australia, especially with the mixture of cultures presented. There are enough action scenes within film to keep the pace up and is accompanied with a good soundtrack. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and would recommend it.

It takes a while to figure out where this movie's headed, but you'll probably be hooked by the time it gets there. Mix "A Life Less Ordinary" with "Reservoir Dogs" and throw in a dash of "Mad Max" and you'll come pretty close. It starts out looking like a drama, quickly turns into a crime thriller and frequently delivers elements of black comedy - with a nice little love story running through the middle of it all. The funny walk-ons (especially Colin Hay and his accordian) make the movie, and once you realise that you shouldn't take it seriously it's highly enjoyable. Wierd but worth watching.

I picked this up at the local video store recently as I am always looking for something that might not have been first run but still might turn out to be interesting. I wasn't disappointed with this noirish little flick that featured a rather sweet love story between Russell Crowe (Colin) and Youki Koudoh (Midori)as the lovers on the lam from just about everyone - the cops, the Afghan gangsters and Youki's husband Kenji Isomorua (Yokio).

The film is essentially a road movie as the two ill-fated lovers come together after Midori leaves her husband and Colin becomes a driver for the Afghan gangsters in a robbery that goes awry resulting in Midori been taken as a hostage. What follows is chase across the Australian Outback as the naive Midori falls for the quiet Colin and they try to elude their chasers to reach their paradise on the beach.

There is some lapses of logic as the chasers find the ill-fated lovers as well as some jarring violence but this tidy little Australian film is a worthy addition to the noir genre. Worth seeing.

Well, I watched this again after seeing Russell Crowe in The Insider.

THE reason to watch this movie, in my mind, is the last five minutes. If you've read the title, I don't think I'm giving anything away when I say that it's the sort of poetically cataclysmic ending you'd expect from the best of film noir...bringing to mind a vague connection with Kiss Me Deadly...and the only way to end any good road movie. That said, the rest of the movie is pure B...true to the noir roots...and whether or not the mistranslations and boom mike shadows were intentional is somewhat irrelevant. You may laugh, you may not, but at worst it's a quirky, passably interesting vehicle to the "good" part.

As for Crowe, well, fans may enjoy, but no one's really given enough time or lines to shine in this movie. Or establish believable relationships for that matter. They're grim characters on a silent march to their doom, leaving a path of carnage and (I must insist quite relevant) dead bystanders in their wake.

Ok, so this isn't your typical shoot them up movie or a romantic comedy or drama in any way. It's a combination of everything, and for me it is quite effective. The story is told very well. There are funny moments, touching moments, and enough action/violence to keep the viewer interested throughout. I didn't expect anything before I saw it so I was pleasantly surprised. Obviously it is no Gladiator, but as a Russell Crowe fan I gotta say once again he does not disappoint.