Little Oberon

Excellent TV-drama with an exceptional cast. Sigrid Thornton as cancer-stricken Lola Green has less screen time than she deserves - her presence is spectacular. The stilted relationship between the proud and unapproachable Lola and her daughter Georgie (Tasma Walton) is played to perfection and produces some of the most bittersweet moments of Little Oberon. Little twists along the way add to the mystery and keeps the plot from dragging into the average small-town story. There are some unexpected scare-scenes that will give you a shock! Following in the footsteps of The Alice, Little Oberon's courage to step away from the conventional drama format into the realm of modern fantasy is a welcome relief in a flat year for Aussie shows.

I was lucky enough to stumble across this one night in Sweden whilst channel hopping. TV movies usually leave me cold but this was very different.

Being largely Wiccan myself, I enjoyed the story line and found it easy to empathise with both Mum and daughter but my praise doesn't end there. All the cast do a splendid job in their roles. Tasma Walton oozes sensuality mixed with a confident cheekiness making her utterly desirable.

Sigrid Thornton wonderfully underplays the cancer-stricken mother with n hint of sentimentalism that Hollywood would probably have told her to do.

But for me - and this in NO way detracts from the other actors - the most outstanding performance is by Brittany Byrnes playing Natasha. There are good actors .. and then there are those who ARE the character they are playing in totality. Very few manage this. I'm thinking of Cate Blanchett, Daniel Day Lewis and Mercedes Ruehl.

This category of actor is a small one but I think Brittany Byrnes belongs there if Little Oberon is a typical example of her acting.

I have been waiting for a long time for an Australian drama that tells a great story but isn't bogged down by trying to be typically Australian. In "Little Oberon" I think I've found it. What an interesting cast of characters and the pilot movie only left me wanting to find out more about these people and how their lives unfold. My personal favorite's was the character of Natasha played by Brittany Byrnes. Not only is she beautiful but acted the role with great sensitivity and confidence. For me at least it was her show. I hope, like 'The Alice' last year that this drama is serialised so that we can learn more about this quirky and quaint village of Little Oberon and the people who inhabit it.

This was a good little television feature, which I viewed last night. As a film generally this wasn't so great, however, as a made-for-television film it was actually quite top-notch. Some characters tended to suffer from becoming stereotyped, and often acting in supporting/extra roles was quite dull, much to be expected from a Television film. It was enjoyable to watch, however, as it was quite well paced and captured my attention for the duration of the film. I found the religious theme perhaps became an oxymoron; the young girl seemingly turning to Christianity while embracing her more "wiccan" psychic visions and mother. Perhaps a little more thought towards aspects of believability would have made this film better, along with better directing.

This was a fantastic film, I was lucky enough to see them filming in Marysville, a gorgeous town just 20 minutes away from the snow at Lake Mountain. Some of the scene were also shot in Healsville as I specifically recognize that graffiti train in the background he-he. I hope it comes out on DVD some time soon!

If you ever get the chance to stop over at Marysville, I strongly recommend the town as it is just so cute! Be sure to stay the night, maybe at Falls Cottage? As I go there very regularly!!! The lolly shop in the town is great and make sure you try the Dutch Chalk Licorice!

Have a good day, From Jade