Review by proword

When this movie was first released about 12 months ago it had only a very limited distribution along the eastern seaboard, and never came out in Perth. I was annoyed with this because many of the reviews had been quite glowing.

SBS TV, after much fanfare, broadcast Night late yesterday evening. I had waited so long to see this, and when it was over I felt rent asunder.

The pluses. The cinematography was, in some places, so good I couldn't credit that I was seeing it and still be awake. Unlike many overseas movies (of all types) I was looking at locations that I had personally visited, or even grown up in, but looking at them through completely fresh eyes. There were very few BADLY shot interludes. Some were pretty bland and perhaps over-long, but only by seconds.

I thought the most spectacular view was the show with the aerial artists floating under "balloons". A dreamscape if ever there was one.

The music an excellent complement for the most part but there were one or two jarring elements.

Now for the negative, and a BIG negative. The totally irritating interviews and voice overs. These ruined the film for me utterly. Some of the comments were downright inane.

It seemed as if the maker was trying to plough two different furrows simultaneously and succeeding in neither. As a documentary, it lacked depth both in any sort of story and interaction with the characters. But as an "art-flick" it was spoiled by the intrusive interviews.

If this movie is ever released onto DVD could the director PLEASE offer an alternative soundtrack WITHOUT the voice overs.

I don't think I could watch this movie again, at least with the sound on, and that means I would miss the music which was so integral to whole experience.

Cannot recommend it in its present form.