Burke & Wills (2006) User Reviews

Two new house mates form a strange bond that never really develops into a friendship and will end up taking them to some very dark places.

[erinfree · 8/10 · 13 June 2006]

This is the first film made by the young Australian directing-writing-acting team of Matthew Zeremes and Oliver Torr, who are also the founders of the Sydney theatre group Cake. Boasting brilliant moments of awkward realism, sharp, imaginative dialogue and a rich, tightly focused line in dark humour, this low budget wonder announces two very exciting talents to watch. As the lazy but spirited Wills and depressed loner Burke, Zeremes and Torr, respectively, give dynamic performances, while both their script and direction are top notch. And no, it has nothing to do with the famous Australian explorers.

burke and wills

[requiemforadream13 · 8/10 · 4 November 2006]

Fantastic little film from two very talented australians. so lucky to have seen it at this years sydney film festival. the black and white photography suits the story and budget well, the script is great - you can tell the leads who are also the directors and the writers (WOW!) have come from from a theatre background, having such control with dialogue. Darkly humorous, confronting at times, well performed by most. One particular character, the phone-store owner was a scene stealer. I was a little unsure about the ending, but this does not mean i disliked the ending, just a little unsure. Both leads are perfect but most notably zeremes who is fantastic in every scene as the slacker/roommate who is attempting to make changes to his life. His delivery is perfect and so representative of the typical Aussie male but with depth. I believed him all the way and its great to see him popping up in a little cameo in the recent film "solo" (with the beautiful bojana!) i hope for a wider distribution for the film but given the current nature of independent film in Australia it looks unlikely. Nonetheless it was a great achievement from the young filmmakers.