Burning Man (I) (2011) User Reviews

getting tired of temporal roulette

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 31 July 2013]

Tom Keaton (Matthew Goode) is struggling with a mess of sexual encounters with various women after the death of his wife Sarah. He is estranged from his son Oscar. He's a top chef in a chic restaurant.

The acting is good here. The reason for his dysfunction is compelling. However, many movies nowadays think they need the added tension of shredding the time line. They think they need to confuse the viewers so they have the added tension of trying to figure out the storyline. Instead, they should have the confidence in the story to allow it to unfold. Sure flashbacks may be preferable to a strictly linear time line but there's no need to put the film thru a blender.

HK Neo Reviews: Burning Man

[webmaster-3017 · 7/10 · 4 December 2011]

Burning Man is a different film that goes the route not taken. It is works in the same manner of films similar to Memento. It requires the audience to invest into the film and with the effect of constantly solving a complicated life puzzle. It is an unique experience that will stay in your memory for a good while. It is a essentially at its core a film about dealing with loss, moving on, grieve, the love of your life, cancer and the aftermath of a tragedy. It is what you call a smart film that let the audience work it out for themselves. The film also constantly uses sex as a symbol, motif, and metaphor and to depict the passion with the relationships. Shot in the backdrop of Bondi Beach in Sydney, the location is almost unrecognisable and the cinematography is mostly excellent. Although the film is shot and edited in a creative manner, meaning that nothing happens coherent and the director is clearly playing with time and memory, it is exactly this aspect that the film fails to connect with the audience and ultimately feel for the characters deep involved in their respective situations. Still, for an Australian film, these is an admirable effort and along with a wonderful yet conflicted performance from British import Matthew Goode and the screen stealing beauty in Bojana Novakovic. Although I have not since any of director Jonathan Teplitzky's previous works, with Burning Man, one can only say that this man is filled with potential.

All in all, The Burning Man is not a film for everyone; it can be am torture to sit through and also rewarding at the same time. In essence it is very much an independent film, but for what it is worth, The Burning Man is a fine effort and deserves some much needed credit for the Australian Film Industry…

Neo rates it 7/10

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burning drama!

[bonzybino · 7/10 · 6 July 2012]

"Burning Man" is one movie which can be tagged under Art-house. Stories about grieving men ain't that novel nowadays, yet Burning Man slaps at the very thought of giving us yet another clichéd piece, this one with all its brilliance is indeed refreshing a watch for the story it deals with.

The drama which unfolds in reverse chronological order - just like in "memento" - goes deep into the lives of the characters, all shown so roughly with incoherent fragments from the story that we feel like watching digged out incidents from the protagonist's memory. It did irk me at first, and i really had to be patient to get the hang of it. Its awfully slow at times that you would start hating it or, the worse, might stop watching it just like my cousin :D - I hate to stall in between. After I finished watching the movie, was amazed by the simplicity of the plot, which was fed to the viewer in a rather unconventional but powerful manner.

The pain the characters go through was brilliantly acted and shot. With some absorbing performances - my first Mathew Goode movie and am already a fan - amazing locale and soulful background score, this drama easily gets into my top Art-House Movies list - stressing on the term "Art house", for it might not be enjoyable outing for all. A good watch for serious movie buffs. 7/10

bright spark gets pants on fire.

[ptb-8 · 10 November 2011]

BURNING MAN is possibly the shiniest wildest and most dazzling new Australian film this year. Absolutely modern in tone and emphatically heartless this is the jigsaw-puzzle depiction of one very confident handsome man imploding and emotionally fracturing. I could suggest it is emotional Inception requiring 2 viewings to slot it all together. However you might not want to because, as gorgeous a leading man as he is, and as sexually magnetic as every woman he meets finds him, and as slick as the film making clearly is, he is not a very nice person for 108 of the 109 minutes on screen. BURNING MAN is a heterosexual version of Matthew Goode's own recent film A SINGLE MAN which won an Oscar last year for someone else. Set in Bondi Sydney this chef with a lonely egg beater and a bewildered son gets mangled in a car crash to jiggle himself through his life flashing by long enough for us to know he actually fell in love (hence kid) ... perfect performances, confusing casing and in need of an edit, BURNING MAN is terrific and annoying all at once. Great film making and aggravatingly modern. Imagine Jamie Oliver played by Tom Hardy. Hump on the hotplate, anyone? wanna watch? All that and more.... then there's the wanking scene.....

Decent Australian flick that deserves a wide audience.

[JimmyCollins · 6/10 · 29 November 2011]

I love Australian films and I usually try and see as many as I possibly can as the Australian film industry is a struggling industry, usually Aussie films are either good or bad, no in between, and this is a good one. Matthew Goode puts in a rather excellent central performance as a man struggling to overcome the grief of a loved one passing, I'd love to know what attracted him to an Australian project, whatever it is I'm glad because he is a very fine actor and very nice to watch.

The way the story unfolds is non linear and at first it takes a bit of time to get your head around it but once you get the hang of it it's easy to keep track of, and when everything comes together in the end it all makes sense. :) The city of Sydney is used expertly in this movie, so many times I was trying to guess where it was filmed, it's always fun trying to guess, and the cinematography is terrific.

Bojana Novakovic is exceptional in the later parts of the film, she is simply amazing in her portrayal as a woman loving life but facing death, just exceptional, i put money down that she's nominated at the afi's next year.

The only criticism I would have is that Matthew Goode's character come so close to being hated so many times, I kinda had to stop myself from hating him, and also it's about 15 minutes too long, but it all pays off, its certainly worth seeing. Let's hope lots and lots if people go and see it, I would certainly recommend it.

madness or grief?

[dragokin · 6/10 · 3 July 2014]

Burning man tells a story about coping with loss and fighting inner demons. Although the topic might not be appealing to everyone, the authors chose an approach that might alienate a lot of possible viewers. Here i mean the non-linear storytelling and characters potentially seen as egoistic.

There were no surprises in Matthew Goode delivering an exquisite performance. The treat of the movie is Bojana Novakovic. Virtually unknown, or only if you've seen obscure movies such as Skinning (2010), was at every moment on par with Matthew Goode.

I was unsure whether the main character's struggle has been coping with grief or his own descending into madness. Either way, this wasn't a light topic to handle and might add to aversion of some viewers.

Not about the story but this is about the movie

[madx666 · 7/10 · 17 September 2012]

The emotions, the characters, and the story line is perfect. It really hit the spot. "Burning Man" the sound tracks gives the right fleeing at the right time. And the most impotent part in this movie is the camera scenes. They are changing to give us some thing to think.

First it look very complicated crap, but when the movie rolling it shows the pattern which life can have. It also give us an idea about the man's inside view. even the characters which selected by the director is very perfect to the story. "Tom" character in the movie is looks like very angry and selfish man but when the film running it show us how soft he is and why he turns.. The actor gives all the expectations he can to elaborate the movie character.

The end part (last scene)Tom's kid asking about the lunch and the answer "lets make a pizza" was the most outstanding part of this movie.

(The story part is also perfect but I was look for those cinematography parts only)

Rating 7/10 perfect

Madx666

Big ideas little everything else

[michellefox60 · 1/10 · 9 June 2013]

What do you get when you have a thoroughly disagreeable main character, every other character one-dimensional, a clichéd, predictable, near non-existent plot, a pretentious choppy attempt at non-linear storytelling that fails miserably because it's boring boring boring!!! You get this mess, one of the worst films I've ever endured.

Get the tissues out, the film tries to wring every drop of pathos out of the tear-jerker setting, but it just doesn't move fast enough, slow slow slow. I'm guilty of cheering quietly when something else bad happens to the guy, that's the only humor I found in it, all else yawn.

Some nice shots, but nothing exceptional. Ooh, some shadowy artsy stuff, some angles, film-school stuff, again, double-yawn.

Dull dull dull. Don't be fooled by the Aussie fan-boy/girl reviews save two hours of your life and do anything but sit through this dreary dog.

Real portrayal of a mans grief

[mtalty22 · 10/10 · 26 November 2011]

this is a great movie. One of the best portrayals I have seen of a man experiencing loss and grief. The burn he is acting and the way it is expressed is portrayed in a realistic way. Men can grieve in the arms of others and to the soft well intentioned actions and ministrations of those around them. I find most men do work through the issues with space to brew and rage, talk is important but space to work it out is better.Sitting on the kitchen floor with a bottle of red wine at 2 in the morning nutting it out with someone who cares is where the healing starts. A real visceral portrayal...thank God the only therapist in sight was an ex-shag. The redemption of this guys sad state is due to something greater then himself, his son and the need to carry on. OK, there are a few tears to be had.

Grief

[nogodnomasters · 6/10 · 2 September 2017]

The film starts off with Tom (Matthew Goode) masturbating while looking at a naked girl (Rachel Griffiths) dressed as a nurse. We then see him bleeding out from an auto accident and the 90 minutes later we are back to where we started with a seriously disjointed film with flashbacks within flashbacks within flashbacks. Not too terribly hard to keep up, it just didn't add anything to the film. We find out Tom is a successful chef whose wife Sarah (Bojana Novakovic) has died from cancer, but is alive for half the picture. They have a son Oscar (Jack Heanly) and Aunt Karen (Essie Davis), who wants to help out while Tom grieves and has sex with his therapist and then later we see him meet her for the first time.

The film is about Tom dealing with grief in his own disjointed way.

Guide: F-word, sex, nudity.

Movies like these give Australia a bad name.

[jane_dutoit · 1/10 · 16 November 2012]

Seriously. This movie was beyond bad.

I understand that some movies are non-linear and do that whole fragmented thing, but this literally just was so embarrassing to watch. It was like it was trying to be Adaptation or P.S. I Love You but it just failed miserably. And there was an incessant and unnecessary amount of nudity.

Everything about this movie sucked - the acting, the cinematography, the scriptwriting, the directing, the music.... I couldn't find one good thing about it. The storyline went nowhere and the characters were extremely annoying and unlikeable.

Just don't waste your time. I have no idea how this movie got a 6.something on IMDb because it is honestly one of the most badly executed movies I have seen in my entire life.

Nonlinear storytelling peels back the layers of grief

[imagineda · 9/10 · 29 November 2012]

When we first meet Tom, we see a rude, selfish, out of control guy engaging in some pretty self destructive behaviour. Unsympathetic to the core, it's not until this unconventionally told story reveals more about him that we find out why he is this way. By the end of the film, your feelings about this guy will do a complete 180. You may even shed a tear or two.

The way this film is constructed is either going to deter you, or capture you hook, line and sinker. I'm in the latter group. It rightly won an award for Best Editing at the 2011 Film Critics Circle of Australia. The Australian vocalist from Dead Can Dance, Lisa Gerrard, does most of the soundtrack which also scored awards. From a budget of 9 million we have a beautifully shot, artistic and emotional film, with strong acting by the leads. It takes an unconventional look at what it would be like to lose someone close, and the process of grief, especially for men, who are not known for their outward displays of emotion.

Some of the transitions between scenes may seem a little contrived. I think the intention was to reveal the story in much in the same way that our memory works .. by association.

It loses a point for a few rather silly scenes. Burning Man deserves a much bigger audience, especially outside Australia. Looking forward to Jonathan Teplitsky's next feature.

Tedious and annoying.

[kimjohnsonnow · 1/10 · 16 July 2017]

Other reviewers have said it....tedious and annoying. Trying to be too clever by half, this movie jumps through the time zones almost frame by frame. The unifying factor being that the main character is a caricature of a male chef, you know the Gordon Ramsey type who are arrogant and think that the world worships them because they can cook seafood. With complete disregard, the main character has total disrespect for everyone in the story including himself. Wow, if this is what someone thinks grief is like then it's pretty extreme. The rest of us mix in being normal human beings with grief and continue our lives learning that life is for living. This being the gift that those who pass away leave us. I thought that it was portraying an ice addict such was the extreme behavior shown. Sorry guys trying a bit too hard...where is the subtle portrayal that Australian movies do best

Gorgeous photography and tricky structure can't hide meagre, overlong story and dull central performance.

[BOUF · 21 November 2011]

Initially I was dazzled. I didn't mind that I was being toyed with, because watching this brilliant piece of manufactured cinema-conjuring was exciting. I was always aware that I was watching a clever movie, rather than being immersed in an emotional experience. But once I'd worked out what was going on and who was who I become tired of the repetitive backwards/forwards structure, and the lack of anything to say, apart from the fact that the smarty-pants hero finds grieving a tough call. The central character - played with about three expressions by Matthew Goode - suffers a tragedy and tries to cope by behaving like an adolescent on a bender, which, I assume, is supposed to be endearing, but is mostly tedious and repetitive. He and his beloved wife are well suited, as she is equally pleased with herself. Their son, the only character I really cared about is worth watching; as is Essie Davis, as his aunt. There are a few touching moments, but they are far outweighed by scenes that you've seen before, in better and worse dramas on TV and in other movies, and even already in this film... on and on and on with no progression. The Script Editors should re-train. This would make a terrific short; unfortunately it's a long.

Unsympathetic Lead

[darrenrobinson-58980 · 1/10 · 25 March 2020]

This is a really poor movie. With multiple woman being objectified and really no explanation why they would fall for this creeps charms. Tom is a totally unsympathetic character and he believes because of his private grief he can treat others like dirt. Really poor movie that even fails in it's titillation because he is so unlikable.

Artitic masterpiece delivers Matthew Goode's sexiest finest performance till date

[saadgkhan · 8/10 · 8 May 2012]

Burning Man – CATCH IT (A-) The Australian BURNING MAN is a reckless, sexy, funny, moving and ultimately life-affirming story of Tom (Matthew Goode), a British chef in a Bondi restaurant, who seems to have decided there are no longer any rules he needs to obey. The movie follows Tom's life as he descends into darkness and fragments of a different story begin to emerge. It shows different kind of women in Tom's life who are trying to put him back together. Burning man is a beautiful movie about love, lose, anger and grief. Jonathan Teplitzky has chosen a beautiful story and presented in a beautiful slightly reverse chronological manner. There are various moments in the movie which will simply leave you speechless. The movie is fragments of short scenes, which sometimes is really hard to compile in head in chronological manner. The Grey shades into Matthew Goode's character allowed him to act tremendously well. It won't be wrong to say that "Burning Man" is Matthew Goode's best and sexiest performance till date. Bojana Novakovic is stunningly beautiful. Her performance as sickening women unwilling to die is simply amazing. Essie Davis is impressive. Rachel Griffiths and Jack Heanly are fine. Burning man is amazing Australian movie which leaves a strong impact once it's over. The cinematography and color combination in scenes are simply brilliant. The movie has everything except its little too long, more than 2hrs. still its worth watching and Highly recommended.

Confuse ? Don't be...

[gurubesar · 4/10 · 4 May 2012]

Like a normal British movies, the story is not very clear. The story is jumping between reality and imagination or based on the memory of the chef. You really have to concentrate to understand the story line. Even then you still may not be able to follow it.

The actor and actresses are not to blame. They are very convincing in playing their part, but having a good actor/actress will not help to make the story believable if you can not follow it. The grieving husband act is very good.... but you have to watch the movie until the end before you know what is he grieving about....

If you are looking for something to pass your time lightly, forget this movie. This one is not something that you can enjoy without much thinking and definitely not to pass the time in blissful enjoyment.....

WOW what an awesome movie

[fionaonei · 10/10 · 2 May 2012]

At the opening of the movie I was unsure of what was happening this did lead to some confusion as to what this movie was really about, but hang in there as half way through the movie things start to get put into place and the jigsaw comes together, like the above reviewer some sex scenes were not warranted but the intimacy between both Matthew and Bojana (as husband and wife) were what brought this movie together.

The sadness of what happens to the family left behind and how they struggle through grief and loss is heartbreaking, the hospital scenes which were portrayed in a dignifying and honest way are the sad reality of what really does happen to somebody who is terminally ill.

This move in my view is better than my sisters keeper and shows what real Australian Talent is about I recommend it to everyone - but warning bring an open mind and plenty of tissues.

aweful

[geekerr · 2/10 · 9 November 2019]

Terrible terrible movie an example of terrible acting , maybe the worst I have ever see, The script was a joke, ... cheesey and cheap ..absolutley nothing to say ...was obviosuly made to make a quick cheap buck By far the best part of the movie was the fainal musical; score namely John Lennons Instant Karma

Brilliant!

[richardeek · 9/10 · 13 March 2012]

Could not stop watching this drama. Recommend as a must see to all!! Matthew Goode and Bojana Novakovic at their best. Incidental view of this non-linear narrative while flying back to Australia on Qantas. Fairly close to home for me personally, but showing the common emotion of grief up close and very intimately personal. I give this a higher score than Descendants, addressing similar issues. Hope this is available in other countries, and should be high on the recommended viewing list for friends (perhaps not families) of people dealing with terminal disease. It's not the typical suffering of a cancer victim that is portrayed here, it's the distress of the carer, a very busy chef, and his son. And of course Bojana is a jewel in the crown!

Timeshifting Aussie drama tells an affecting story without going over the top

[The_late_Buddy_Ryan · 8/10 · 24 April 2015]

We didn't stick around to find out what was eating Jessica Chastain in "Eleanor Rigby," but in "Burning Man," the big reveal isn't delayed too long, and the opening barrage of short, very intense, non-sequential flashbacks—a car crash, a dreary sex scene, a rugby game colliding with a kid's birthday cake—really got our attention. These memories belong to Tom Keaton (Matthew Goode), a tightly wrapped Sydney chef who's blocked out the unbearable crucial fact of his life, so it takes awhile to figure out what's really going on. Even before that though, we were riveted.

Despite its tricky, timeshifting structure, the film's perfectly paced, and after the storyline levels out, "Burning Man" gets to the heart of things in an affecting, unsentimental way. Great cast — good work by MG and lovely Bojana Novakovic (Frank Gallagher's latest paramour on "Shameless"!); too bad Rachel Griffiths was only available for a day's shooting, or so it seems.

This one reminded me of another Aussie film, "Adore," which also could have come off as gimmicky and contrived but had real dramatic impact. "Burning Man" provides a fine emotional workout, though there are a couple of rowdy comic scenes as well—including an haute cuisine version of the french toast bit from "Road Trip." Great soundtrack ("ethereal singing," the CC calls it) by Lisa Gerrard of Dead Can Dance fame.

This Movie was Incredibly Put Together

[burkymgea · 9/10 · 3 September 2015]

I am not a professional movie critic, by any means, but I like to think I have good taste in movies. This movie is touching in a way I didn't expect. The portrayal of grief thru disjointed sections, moving backward in time, with sudden forward movements through time so you are still wondering what time you land in is so true of the grieving process. Days seem good, where you feel like you've moved forward in your grieving process, and then, all of a sudden you have moved back half a dozen steps and you can't explain why. The thing I appreciated the most was how he never was able to feel two emotions at once. In the grieving process I experienced, I felt the same way. I couldn't be sad AND angry at the same time. I thought Matthew Goode was incredible in this movie. I had always respected him in everything I had seen him in, but NOTHING prepared me for the caliber of acting he showed. The range of emotions he portrayed as well as the numbness he showed at times were so spot on for what the grieving process feels like for most. A truly beautiful movie. Different, difficult if you are hurting, but decidedly worth watching.

Depressing but emotional and engrossing film

[KineticSeoul · 8/10 · 23 March 2013]

This one sort of reminded me of the movie "Rabbit Hole" but I liked this one better. It gives more of a engrossing image that actually has believable emotional moments in it. If you lost a loved one recently it can really leave an impact. In fact one of the person I spoke with that recently saw this movie had a wife who passed away from cancer. I thought it was messed up. So to some it maybe better to stay away from this flick for a while. Matthew Goode is just excellent in this role as a father who is dealing with grief and going into a downward spiral. Who is angry, bitter and goes around sleeping with any women. His character starts out dis-likable but I started to feel somewhat sympathetic towards the character near the end. Overall this is a emotional movie that gets more engrossing as it progresses, it's one of those depressing of engaging movies. Oh and one of the female actress in this slightly reminded me of Rachel McAdams.

8.3/10

Touching and heartfelt. An Australian classic

[eddie_baggins · 9/10 · 1 December 2015]

Unconventional and confronting, Jonathan Teplitzky's 2011 Australian film Burning Man is one of those rare movies that possess a disquieting power over the viewer that brings them in and just as easily crushes them as it does charm them. That this power has been so rarely experienced by viewers with this film by fact they've either bypassed or simply not known about this stunning drama is a mighty shame, as fans of uncompromising film-making are missing out on one extraordinary ride.

Jonathan Teplitzky announced himself as a filmmaker to watch with his 2003 Aus crime caper Getting' Square and while it took him the many years in between to deliver Burning Man, it was both worth the wait and an incredibly leap in ambition in a pure delivery sense with Burning Man far removed from Getting' Square's rough charms in almost every sense of filmmaking craft.

Told in a non-linear fashion, Teplitzky's tale unfolds in an at first off-putting fashion that unravels slowly but surely to create something more powerful than a more conventional example could've ever achieved. It's done by an assured hand, the film looks gorgeous (highlighted by a stunningly realized car crash) thanks to DOP Garry Phillips, is scored movingly by Lisa Gerrard who rose to fame from her work on Gladiator and features a cast of performers who deliver all at once, career best turns. It's an Australian production that puts many of its counterparts to shame and was duly recognized by both critics and local awards ceremonies but never truly resonated with local audiences which is a real shame and most likely did so due to its touchy subject matters.

To say Burning Man is an easy watch would be wrong, it's a no holds barred look at grief, illness and love, staples of cinema that are common but never delved into the way in which they are here. It's a tricky subject to get right but Teplitzky and his actors handle it with aplomb thanks to considered humour and a beating heart.

The heart and soul of Burning Man is exemplified by Brit Matthew Goode in the lead role of Tom. So good as a support in both Watchman and A Single Man, Goode shines here as the grieving chef Tom. His world class turn in paramount to Burning Man's successes and finds able support in the never better Bojana Novakovic and Essie Davis. Both the rawness and frankness of these performances are elements you rarely find in motion pictures today, both Australian and afar off.

Unforgettable despite some minor flaws, Burning Man is quite frankly one of Australia's finest ever dramatic motion pictures that manages to be both heartfelt and affecting and never once played to cheap emotional touches, and the less known about the stories nuances the better. A grand achievement for all involved and a film worthy of your time, Burning Man is the underrated classic sought by all those who appreciate cinema at its most poignant and original.

4 ½ lucky lobsters out of 5

First film I've ever hated for the first half, and then wept all the way through the second half

[hughman55 · 10/10 · 9 June 2019]

This film is told in a non-linear mess throughout the first half of of the this film about loss and grief. It's confusing and ineffective. Somehow, though, I kept watching into the second half as it unfolded into a raw and gripping portrait of a family struggling through the worst possible situation. Matthew Goode and Bojana Novakovic are finally freed from this messy screenplay in the second half to give compelling and effective performances. I don't need to say much more other than it's worth gritting your teeth through the first half in order to experience sad beauty of the second.