Beneath Clouds

There are very few movies that I will want to watch more than once, but Beneath Clouds is definitely one of them.

The majority of movies I have seen over the past years were very much focused on plot development and I think most viewers will expect a movie to be heavy on the storyline.

What I expect from a movie is something totally different, though. None of my favourite movies have a a memorable or particularly well developed storyline. However, they all have something in common. All of them have a very powerful and gripping atmosphere, and it is this atmosphere that comes to my mind whenever I think back of these movies. Not a particular scene, a particular quote or a masterly twist in the storyline, not the visual effects or the sophisticated sound.

This movie would be just as enjoyable watching it from a low quality videotape on a black and white telly with low sound quality.

Beneath Clouds instantly became a favourite with me, from the very first moments I started watching it. I love this movie, simply because it gives you an experience, a combination of vision, sound, thought and emotion that cannot be described with words and that is exactly what I expect from a movie.

If you think what I am saying here is b.ll.cks and doesn't make sense - well, it's up to you. But if you know what I am blathering about you will understand and LOVE this movie. Wochit.

This is a small film but the cinematography is beautiful. The performances of the two main actors is also wonderful and it quite deserves the awards it won. This film tells no big stories of the interaction between the white and aboriginal communities (although it shows the inherent racism of the mainly white police force). What this film does leave me with is a sense of two real, marginalised, teenagers trying to make sense of their place in the world and willing to undertake what journeys are necessary to find those places.

I have little to add to the excellent reviews above. Tarkovsky? Tykwer? No wonder I loved it. I shall go away and have a good think about those connections.

My contribution is a bit of information about Australian aboriginals that may help non-Australians appreciate this exquisite movie.

1. It is normal for Australian aboriginals to take a while to speak to each other (or anyone) if they are strangers. When thinking about this I compared the film to Eric Rohmer and to Iranian films about young people. Iranians and Rohmer characters chatter endlessly about trivia but the powerful effect of the movie creeps up on you in the same way.

2. It is easy to miss the moment in which Vaughan discovers that Lena is Aboriginal. This is an important turning point in the film. To avoid spoiling I'll only give you a tip. An older person is involved and there is no discussion. If you watch for it you will see it.

With the concept of what Australian is being challenged and revised in contemporary Australian society, this film hits home hard. A challenge for a connection with the great geography of the Australian landscape and an identity crisis. It reinforces the Aboriginal context of Australian history and the effects of what modern Aboriginality deals with. Fabulous movie! Emotive, raw and definitely Australian! 'Beneath Clouds' also captures the spirit of Australian youth and the mateship that had underpinned almost every friendship of every Australian. The Australian spirituality of inextricable connection to the land is also emphasised through the scenery filmed. A personal journey is also presented: beautiful, intimate and detailed. Though the characters share dissimilarity, it is the force that brings them together and reinforces the Australian notion of mateship, identity and spirituality.

I thoroughly enjoyed Beneath Clouds, and thought it was a fantastic film all round...especially since it is part of the rise of Aussie films dealing with Aborigines (both historical and contemporary). The main thing that struck me with the film, however, was the similarities it had with Tom Tykwer's work (specifically The Princess And The Warrior, and to a lesser extent Heaven). I thought the mood, depth of emotion and the manner in which the story was told was almost identical to Tykwer's work. I mainly am writing this to see if anyone else shared my thoughts on this. Considering that Tykwer is one of my favourite directors I guess this was the only aspect of the film that disappointed me (there's nothing wrong with either mimicking or coincidentally sharing stylistic aspects, it's just that I couldn't stop thinking 'this is a Tykwer film' when watching it).