Burning Man

Initially I was dazzled. I didn't mind that I was being toyed with, because watching this brilliant piece of manufactured cinema-conjuring was exciting. I was always aware that I was watching a clever movie, rather than being immersed in an emotional experience. But once I'd worked out what was going on and who was who I become tired of the repetitive backwards/forwards structure, and the lack of anything to say, apart from the fact that the smarty-pants hero finds grieving a tough call. The central character - played with about three expressions by Matthew Goode - suffers a tragedy and tries to cope by behaving like an adolescent on a bender, which, I assume, is supposed to be endearing, but is mostly tedious and repetitive. He and his beloved wife are well suited, as she is equally pleased with herself. Their son, the only character I really cared about is worth watching; as is Essie Davis, as his aunt. There are a few touching moments, but they are far outweighed by scenes that you've seen before, in better and worse dramas on TV and in other movies, and even already in this film... on and on and on with no progression. The Script Editors should re-train. This would make a terrific short; unfortunately it's a long.

"Burning Man" is one movie which can be tagged under Art-house. Stories about grieving men ain't that novel nowadays, yet Burning Man slaps at the very thought of giving us yet another clichéd piece, this one with all its brilliance is indeed refreshing a watch for the story it deals with.

The drama which unfolds in reverse chronological order - just like in "memento" - goes deep into the lives of the characters, all shown so roughly with incoherent fragments from the story that we feel like watching digged out incidents from the protagonist's memory. It did irk me at first, and i really had to be patient to get the hang of it. Its awfully slow at times that you would start hating it or, the worse, might stop watching it just like my cousin :D - I hate to stall in between. After I finished watching the movie, was amazed by the simplicity of the plot, which was fed to the viewer in a rather unconventional but powerful manner.

The pain the characters go through was brilliantly acted and shot. With some absorbing performances - my first Mathew Goode movie and am already a fan - amazing locale and soulful background score, this drama easily gets into my top Art-House Movies list - stressing on the term "Art house", for it might not be enjoyable outing for all. A good watch for serious movie buffs. 7/10

Burning Man – CATCH IT (A-) The Australian BURNING MAN is a reckless, sexy, funny, moving and ultimately life-affirming story of Tom (Matthew Goode), a British chef in a Bondi restaurant, who seems to have decided there are no longer any rules he needs to obey. The movie follows Tom's life as he descends into darkness and fragments of a different story begin to emerge. It shows different kind of women in Tom's life who are trying to put him back together. Burning man is a beautiful movie about love, lose, anger and grief. Jonathan Teplitzky has chosen a beautiful story and presented in a beautiful slightly reverse chronological manner. There are various moments in the movie which will simply leave you speechless. The movie is fragments of short scenes, which sometimes is really hard to compile in head in chronological manner. The Grey shades into Matthew Goode's character allowed him to act tremendously well. It won't be wrong to say that "Burning Man" is Matthew Goode's best and sexiest performance till date. Bojana Novakovic is stunningly beautiful. Her performance as sickening women unwilling to die is simply amazing. Essie Davis is impressive. Rachel Griffiths and Jack Heanly are fine. Burning man is amazing Australian movie which leaves a strong impact once it's over. The cinematography and color combination in scenes are simply brilliant. The movie has everything except its little too long, more than 2hrs. still its worth watching and Highly recommended.

We didn't stick around to find out what was eating Jessica Chastain in "Eleanor Rigby," but in "Burning Man," the big reveal isn't delayed too long, and the opening barrage of short, very intense, non-sequential flashbacks—a car crash, a dreary sex scene, a rugby game colliding with a kid's birthday cake—really got our attention. These memories belong to Tom Keaton (Matthew Goode), a tightly wrapped Sydney chef who's blocked out the unbearable crucial fact of his life, so it takes awhile to figure out what's really going on. Even before that though, we were riveted.

Despite its tricky, timeshifting structure, the film's perfectly paced, and after the storyline levels out, "Burning Man" gets to the heart of things in an affecting, unsentimental way. Great cast — good work by MG and lovely Bojana Novakovic (Frank Gallagher's latest paramour on "Shameless"!); too bad Rachel Griffiths was only available for a day's shooting, or so it seems.

This one reminded me of another Aussie film, "Adore," which also could have come off as gimmicky and contrived but had real dramatic impact. "Burning Man" provides a fine emotional workout, though there are a couple of rowdy comic scenes as well—including an haute cuisine version of the french toast bit from "Road Trip." Great soundtrack ("ethereal singing," the CC calls it) by Lisa Gerrard of Dead Can Dance fame.

When we first meet Tom, we see a rude, selfish, out of control guy engaging in some pretty self destructive behaviour. Unsympathetic to the core, it's not until this unconventionally told story reveals more about him that we find out why he is this way. By the end of the film, your feelings about this guy will do a complete 180. You may even shed a tear or two.

The way this film is constructed is either going to deter you, or capture you hook, line and sinker. I'm in the latter group. It rightly won an award for Best Editing at the 2011 Film Critics Circle of Australia. The Australian vocalist from Dead Can Dance, Lisa Gerrard, does most of the soundtrack which also scored awards. From a budget of 9 million we have a beautifully shot, artistic and emotional film, with strong acting by the leads. It takes an unconventional look at what it would be like to lose someone close, and the process of grief, especially for men, who are not known for their outward displays of emotion.

Some of the transitions between scenes may seem a little contrived. I think the intention was to reveal the story in much in the same way that our memory works .. by association.

It loses a point for a few rather silly scenes. Burning Man deserves a much bigger audience, especially outside Australia. Looking forward to Jonathan Teplitsky's next feature.