The Shiralee

I saw this "movie" again about ten years ago on television. It had been turned into a two part series and had a different ending ! It was not a movie, but bar that I thought the whole lot was fabulous, Bryan Brown of course shines like the gorgeous Aussie actor he is and the rest of cast are wonderful in their short but important roles. Unfortunately, we do not see nearly enough of the wonderful part of South Australia where it was filmed. But like all good Aussie films, you could pick it out pretty quickly - the country homes, sheds, shearing sheds. It is a great pity that the film has been changed, but maybe Netflix did that !

My kids & I watched this movie on the Disney channel I believe about 16 or 17 years ago and we still talk about it today. Bryan Brown was excellent and so was the little girl who played his "shiralee". We love Australian movies (at least the ones we have seen) and would love to see this one again and again.

My father loved the relationship between Macaulay and Buster so slightly altered the spelling so I would not be a burden all my life and called me Sherilee! I have the book and have read and re-read it but would love to see the film! How do I get to see it? No one I have asked has ever heard of it before!

I first saw the Shiralee on the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Company) when it came out in 1987. It deeply moved me and has been my favourite movie since then. I have desperately wanted to see it again and found it at the video store, then to my disbelief, found that the entire plot had been edited out to fit it onto video. The Shiralee is about a man named Macaulay who travels around the country and shears sheep, brands cattle and boxes for a living. He has a wife and a daughter, named Buster, who he sends his earnings to. He returns to visit and finds his wife romanticising with the town bookie and his daughter asleep in bed after being fed alcohol. Macaulay is outraged and takes his daughter on the road with him. As they travel Macaulay and Buster both become very attached to each other and go through much together, including illness, separation and the mothers plea to get Buster back, for the mere purpose of hurting Macaulay. The Shiralee is a very emotional movie and Rebecca Smart and Bryan Brown are very convincing actors.

I saw this movie for the first time when I was eight years old. It was on the Disney Channel. It is the best and sweetest movie I have ever seen. I wish now that we had a copy of it. If you can find a copy of it, I would definetly recommend watching it!