Cinema Nova, 1/2/2010
Status: Behind, still!
Although I am on principle dubious about musicals, I had been curious about Bran Nue Dae since last August when it closed the Melbourne International Film Festival. Sometimes I see Australian movies in the cinema because I feel like I should. An aboriginal musical, though, was something I was glad to spend my hard earned clams on.
Bran Nue Dae’s plot is paper thin: Willy (ROCKY McKENZIE) runs away from his Perth boarding school. On the way home to Broome and his girl (JESSICA MAUBOY), he picks up Uncle Tadpole (ERNIE DINGO), two hippies (MISSY HIGGINS and TOM BUDGE who both embrace the ridiculous beautifully) and a crazy lady (a saucy DEBORAH MAILMAN). In hot pursuit is the school’s principle (an excellently hammy GEOFFREY RUSH). And there’s songs.
It’s a fairly classic set up that has worked well in the past, but here the hero is slightly too damp and the drama slightly too, well, slight. Everything culminates in a tangle of connections that is way too over the top and stretches disbelief to breaking point.
Despite this, the music was energetic and some of the scenes had a great slapstick feel about them. It’s a shame director Rachel Perkins didn’t have more confidence (or perhaps more budget) to arrange the musical sections as big set pieces. Bran Nue Dae started life as a stage musical and it feels like Perkins is desperately saying "Look, look, not a stage show anymore, it's a movie! So let's have a dance number on the back of a moving ute!" With all that amazing talent in the room (including choreographer Steven Page and the Chooky Dancers) it’s a shame they didn’t have room to properly show off.
Although I enjoyed it well enough during the running time, I remain, as ever, dubious about musicals.
