Well, it’s been a while since I’ve looked at an Aussie film,
so let’s rectify that by looking at today’s film by that fabled Australian
filmmaker… Ben Elton. Okay, to be fair, this is a primarily Aussie production,
full of premier Aussie actors and it’s set in the outback; it’s just directed
by a British guy. But not just any British guy but one of the UK’s foremost
satirists. Behind such classics as The Young Ones and Blackadder, Elton’s bombastic
and scathing approach to satire is genuinely impressive. Whether it was looking
at 80’s punk culture with Young Ones or basically the whole of history with
Blackadder, the man had a definite knack for the work, which considering how
fiddly true satire can be is commendable. It also helps that he had a hand in
the greenlighting of Red Dwarf, not only a strong force of sci-fi satire in its
own right but an all-out classic piece of British pop culture.
With this kind
of pedigree, and taking into account what Australian media is often best at
(cultural examination), this should turn out pretty good… right?
