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Mad Bastards

Mad Bastards (Brendan Fletcher, 2010) prod. David Jowsey, dp Allan Collins; Dean Daley-Jones, Karla Hart, Alex Lloyd; drama set in remote Kimberley Indigenous communities; Sundance

With a film about Indigenous ppl made by a wadjila, you look for the exploitation: I couldn’t see any. So, having relaxed, I was able to enjoy seeing the Pigram brothers doing what they do so well: it’s almost a concert film – in their backyard!

All the performances are solid, many of the cast members are not professional actors. The writer/director was Brendan Fletcher, it's his first feature and if there is a flaw with the film it is that the narrative is at times a bit confused. Despite that there's something very affecting about these Mad Bastards. Margaret Pomeranz, At the Movies, ABC TV.

I had a problem with the way the film began and it's not only this film. I've seen two or three Australian films lately where it seemed that the director is uncertain how to start the film, how to establish the characters, how to establish the place, the settings, and do so in a lucid way that's audience friendly and I felt that very much with this film because in the early scenes I didn't know. It's cutting back and forward between the Kimberley and Perth. It wasn't clear to me exactly who was where; what the connections were. David Stratton, At the Movies, ABC TV (transcript).

It's perhaps supercilious of white audiences to make pronouncements about the lives of indigenous Australians in remote areas and a world away in many ways, but the film offers such a clear window it enables everyone to see inside. Andrew L. Urban, Urban Cinefile.

References and Links

Lorraine Mortimer, 'Poetry in the Air: Mad Bastards and Toomelah', Senses of Cinema.


Garry Gillard | New: 23 October, 2012 | Now: 15 January, 2020