L'uomo del fiume nevoso

I must confess that I watched this film because I am a Kirk Douglas fan and I certainly was not disappointed in the dual performance he gives as two brothers, one an owner of the Australian equivalent of the Ponderosa and his hermit brother who lives up in the mountains among the wild horses and befriends young Tom Burlinson who becomes the man from Snowy River.

The film is a dramatization of a wild horse roundup such as you would have seen in the American West although American fans might be first thrown by use of the Aussie term 'brumbies'. What the origin of that idiom is I don't know, but for us Yanks just think 'mustang' and it will all become clear.

In fact I just finished a book on Australian general Sir Thomas Blamey and it is mentioned that during his boyhood in Wagga Wagga, he broke and rode 'brumbies.'

And of course the title and part of the plot is based on A.B. "Banjo" Patterson's poem. Patterson himself appears as a passing character in the film and presumably he was inspired by the incidents to write that poem.

Patterson for Australians is sort of a combination of Bret Harte and Mark Twain for Americans. That poem has a nice style and hopefully the poem The Man From Snowy River will be come as known in the western world at large as say Tennyson's Charge of the Light Brigade or Kipling's Gunga Din. In fact like in this film, Rudyard Kipling appears as a passing character in George Stevens's Gunga Din and fulfilled the same function there.

If the Australians felt they needed someone with the international star status of Kirk Douglas to open up the foreign market for this film, all well and good. I just hope Kirk's presence in the film did just that for this fine piece of entertainment.

And this review is dedicated to a couple Australian bull riders from the Professional Bull Riders whom I happened to meet, champions from the land down under, Jared Farley and Brendan Clark. No doubt descendants of the men who rode and broke those brumbies back in the day.

This movie is both perfect and imperfect. Perfect because it has amazing horse riding scenes, beautiful cinematography and music, wonderful acting from Jack Thompson who captures the quintessential Clancy of the Overflow of Australian legend, and a great performance from Tom Burlinson, and showcases the skills of the 'real deal' cattlemen of the high country who acted as extras in the horse chase scenes, and finally because it can bring a tear to the eye the way Banjo Paterson's poem has for 120 years. This film was clearly a work of love and that is wonderfully conveyed.

However it's also imperfect because Kirk Douglas simply doesn't work in this context, and his two roles seem at times ridiculous. The storyline also meanders around at times, mostly in relation to one of Douglas's two characters, and it just seems a pity that an otherwise wonderful film has these flaws.

This is a movie to stir the heart, and well worth watching, and the horse chase scenes in the movie are now as much a part of Australia's culture as the original poem.

Clint Eastwood and Unforgiven be damned. This is by far the best western of the modern era. Its an Aussie tale, but that does not disqualify it in my books. Lonesome Dove has its group as does Unforgiven. But George Miller's The Man from Snowy River is downright majestic.

There are no stagecoaches, revenge killings, poker games or joking jail hands. There isn't even a climactic standoff in a dusty old town. But there is the hand of a maiden to win and inner demons to slay. The climax isn't a shoot out with a band of criminals, but with a stallion and a lonely ride down a rocky mountain.

Director George Miller draws clear characters and honest human situations. He understands what a camera can do. Scenes of great power play out not in a tired miasma of gunfire or hokey soliloquies, but in the striations of muscle from a horse powering through rock in slow motion. George Miler is a poet. And the Man from Snowy River is a story that will stand the test of time. See it.

It is hard to believe that so many years has past since I first saw "A Man from Snowy River." I was young and borrowed it on Betamax (yes Betamax) from a friend. Although I wish that I could of seen a full screen version of it, I will have to settle with the still fantastic small screen version.

The story is fairly simple. After his father dies, a boy tries to prove he a man worthy enough to live on his beloved Snowy Mountain. In order achieve this prize, he finds work on lower ground on a big ranch. A sweet romance is set between Jim, the boy, and the Rancher's daughter, Jessica, who is a feisty and strong female. There are wild horses, a sympathetic-but-bad-guy rancher, and beautiful scenery all which are an integral part of the story. (I don't want to give too much of the movie away).

I recently saw this movie (this time on VHS)with my niece and nephew. I could not believe how much I enjoyed it again. The thrilling horse riding scenes kept me at the edge of my seat. It is an ultimate family film one that has no foul language, gratuitous sex or violence. Nothing is dumbed down, the viewers being treated with the respect we deserve. GO RENT IT NOW!

The Man from Snowy River may not be the best acting, the best directing or the most exciting movie around, but it is one of the most magical. I loved it when I first saw it as a child and it is still one of my favourite movies at 31 years of age. I think the thing which makes it so special is that it doesn't have violence, nudity or profanity that so many movies have now in order to make them exciting. It is simply a nice old fashioned family movie that has a timelessness about it, like any of the classics. They simply don't make them like this anymore - unfortunately.