Beautiful Kate is a beautiful movie albeit a difficult, challenging movie but one that will remain with you long after leaving the theatre. Diane and I saw this film yesterday at SX Luna and as we waited to enter a lady exited and said she did not like anything in the film and we thought she had seen another film. Now I realise what she meant although I would vehemently disagree with her. Beautiful Kate takes place in a 30s house on a small farm with South Australia's Flinders Ranges as a backdrop: it is kind of dilapidated, very dry and probably hugely depressing to people coming from more salubrious surrounds. Bryan Brown who plays a pivotal role has been made-up perfectly to fit his part as the father of his family that must live out the mental re-enactment of long past deeds. I mention Brown because his appearance (a wonderful tribute to the makeup artist's skill) is, to me at least a metaphor for the lives of the children gathered at their families' farm. This film is raw; the title may have given the woman who so disliked it the wrong idea of its substance because the movie is exactly opposite of beautiful. Personally I thought Rachel Ward, director and writer, examined the emotions of the players brilliantly. I cannot speak highly enough about this film. We have developed a movie genre that is unique to Australia and conveys ranges of nuanced emotion that can only be dreamed about in other countries. Hollywood came close with The Last Picture Show but that was almost 50 years ago and they seem not to want to return to the genre. Make every attempt to see this movie but be aware when you walk in that the vehicle is not fancy.
Review of Beautiful Kate
