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Siam
Sunset
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Release
Date: November 10th 2000
Distributor: UIP
Certificate: 15
Starring: Linus Roache, Danielle Cormack,
Ian Bliss, Roy Billing, Alan Brough, Rebecca Hobbs
Director: John
Polson
Running Time:
91 mins
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| Offbeat
Aussie humour is an acquired taste, which we in the U.K have taken some
time to get acquainted with, but once you've got it, you never lose it.
Of course there are the films from down under that have really grabbed the
public's attention, such as the mainstream 'Crocodile Dundee' and the more
left-of -centre, 'Strictly Ballroom' and 'Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert'.
But as a whole we do miss out on that sense of humour that is so quintessentially
Australian - if you want an example, rent out 'Idiot Box' (1996) - and thankfully,
'Siam Sunset' is a prime example of what I am talking about. |
| Linus
Roach stars as jinxed widower, Perry, a sad (embarrassingly so) pommy whose
wife has only recently died in a totally freaky accident and who, in an
act of frantic desperation, decides to take a bus trip across the Outback
in a vain attempt to escape the bad luck that seems to be doggedly pursuing
him. But this is easier said than done as it appears that Mr. Jinx has hitched
a ride along with him and the other unfortunates who get on the same doomed
bus, including another of life's victims, Grace (Danielle Cormack) who is
on the run from her violent and genuinely deranged boyfriend. But then again,
she's decided to make a new life for herself by making off with his drug
money, so he's probably going to be just a tad miffed with her. |
| It is
only as the journey progresses that we realise how accident-prone Perry
really is, not just because he gets the odd cut, scratch or trip, but due
to the ridiculously silly and dangerous situations that he continually gets
himself into. If the name 'Perry' had been mentioned in the Bible, he would
have been the first plague that God would have sent down upon the Egyptian
Pharoah to free the Israelites … and there wouldn't have been any
need for a second. Life can be cruel … and then some But there is
always a light at the end of the tunnel … but it is a train coming
full pelt towards you It's always darkest before the dawn … but when
dawn breaks you are going to face a firing squad |
This
movie ranges from the farcical to the downright weird but it never gets
boring, with a self-mocking style that all good Aussie movies have and an
ending that is as unexpectedly dramatic and astonishing as it is daft. A
great film to go and see if you think that your life is so terrible and
a brilliant one if you love to laugh at other's misfortunes.
BY DARRELL FINN |
