shirlag This movie and it's concept reminded me very much of a children's book I wrote and I wondered if the writer and makers of the film struggled as much as I did with how to tell a story with a message. I kept wondering if I had at least succeeded in telling an environmental sci-fi story without clobbering readers to death with my message. I also wondered if it's possible to tell the truth about a terrible situation without being all about the message.I found the film interesting enough to stay with it to the end and I was never bored. There were times when it seemed so professionally done and I found the acting more than satisfying but at other times, it seemed a bit amateurish. Visually, the cinematography is good and it's an enjoyable film to watch. For it's message, I very much want people to see it. I agree with an earlier review that the narrative wasn't needed and didn't add anything to the story. There were some inconsistencies with the narrative that bothered me also. The story is told by a grandmother to her two young grandchildren. The narrative drops off and the viewer begins watching the actual story unfold. I wondered if the grandmother in her telling of events to the children, edited the story for parts where the two main characters of the film work out their sexual relationship.On another note, I could see a correlation between the native music that opens the film and its theme. I assume the music was aboriginal but felt it could have been better at setting the mood and laying down some subliminal connections between the native people of Australia and the mystery surrounding the alien and the truth of her message.All in all, I would recommend it. I wish it were more polished and thought out a bit better at the end but at the same time, it has beauty and worth few films bother to convey.

Rich La Bonte (flatrich) I'll try, but this is a very unique film with an outstanding cast. It really needs to be seen. Let's just say that had Nick Roeg's The Man Who Fell To Earth worked this well back in 1976 it would be known today for content rather than David Bowie.A&E is showing Epsilon under the title Alien Visitor late at night with a few little censorship blurs to hide Ullie Birve's brief nudity, but if they put it up in prime time unmasked for all the world to see I'll bet they wouldn't get one nasty letter.The plot is similar to TMWFTE or Starman or a dozen episodes of a dozen sci-fi TV shows. A woman from the star (or perhaps planet - we never really know) Epsilon drops in on a lad hiking out in the Australian outback unexpectedly and they fall for each other, but that's where comparisons to most alien visitor plots fade away.The visitor (Birve) is not happy to be stuck on Earth, a planet reviled throughout the universe for its inhabitants' inability to see their inevitable self-destruction. The Earthling (Syd Brisbane) is just an easygoing guy living a simple life and doesn't really register the reason for her distain. Especially after she illustrates her point by jumping him around on his own planet in the wink of an eye and without even the celestial special effect of a Star Trek transporter.Director Rolf de Heer uses fixed camera positions to record time passing rapidly mixed with gentle cuts into long fluid pans that effortlessly move the viewer with the main characters as they explore the Earth. It is a wondrous device, only possible in a movie, and we immediately share the Earthling's sense of amazement at the visitor's power over nature's physical laws but also learn with him that magic is the least important aspect of their encounter.The underlying ecological discourse between the two hasn't lost one bit of relevancy since the film was made in 1995. If anything, the message has become more urgent in the 21st century.Humans are killing the Earth and something must be done about it - by humans.Epsilon is beautifully edited and shot by Tania Nehme and Tony Clark. Director Rolf de Heer also played with sci-fi in Encounter at Raven's Gate (1988).Personally, I'm buying the DVD!

_t_ Epsilon is the story setting in the outback Australian. "She" is naked, lost when accidentally lands on earth from her planet, Epsilon. Then, she meets "the man" who is camping in the bush. She learns from the man that she is on earth which she has heard that it is the worst planet in the universe. In the conversation, she tries to show the man that why the earth is not a good planet to live. Their relationship develops quite quickly during their journey. They try to find their common to live together. Finally, she decides to live on earth with the man although she did not like living on this dirty earth at first.The film is very rich in the cinematography. I think Australian nature is already beautiful and this film makes it more wonderful. And I really love the plot that does not directly teach people how to treat the earth good. The writer uses an old woman to tell the story of "she" and "the man" to two little girls. I know that this film is teaching me something but I do not feel like I am taking a lesson. I also like this film because of the well done story-line leading by just two main characters and three story tellers.

Sadim This film had the potential to be a truly great flick .. but was let down badly by its 'sledgehammer' approach to environmental issues, and the appallingly bad acting in the closing scene.As an armchair greenie, I was pleased to see a film that brought the issues of sustainable resource development to the forefront .. but the continuous hammering on a single issue became annoying.There are, however, some excellent moments in the movie.The concept of "You breathe the foul air" as a dismissive insult is particularly evocative, and the ever-changing scenery does far more to draw attention to Ullie Birve's 'alien-ness' as She than all of Hollywood's FX could ever do.Unlike most science-fiction of the 90s, this was not a chance to show off technological whizz-bangery .. and Rolf de Heer has, with just a few camera angle & location changes, done a masterful job of showing us changed perceptions.Syd Brisbane, another de Heer favourite, plays the role of The Man with just the right combination of wide-eyed wonderment and plodding suburban pig-headedness .. but there needed to be more made of his Saul-like conversion if his later, unseen role was to be believed.Which brings us to the final scene.Althea McGrath's narration was quietly brilliant throughout the film, and her on-camera acting in the final scene was OK, if not outstanding. But oh, her grandchildren ...Chloe and Phoebe Ferguson got quite good reviews for their roles in another de Heer film, "The Quiet Room" .. but unfortunately in Epsilon, their minor (but crucial) roles as "Child" and "Child" in the campfire sequence don't work.In fact, the closing scene makes the entire movie like the fire itself: it casts light, it crackles and flares .. but eventually the wooden performances in the dying embers of the film leave nothing but ashes .. and the mood that de Heer has tried to conjure up blows away like so much smoke.Which is a pity because, as I began, this movie could have been so much more.