Sean Amos Bran Nue Dae experience is nothing but hunky-dory and It indeed presents a memorable experience. The delivery is pleasant, tight and often hilarious with a toe-tapping soundtrack. A story of self-discovery and exploration yet, it clearly hints the importance of freedom and human experiences. While being salubrious with spontaneous dance-acts, it also delivers some clever Broadway or Fred Astaire style footwork and fancy vocals. The nut-shelled coming of age story of fifteen-year old Willie also interjects a message about the hardships of Australian Aboriginal lives, their involvement with religious beliefs as well as their social problems as alcoholism and poverty. However, the success of Bran Nue Dae lies in the fact that it can be viewed both as a pleasant story of love, dance and music as well as a sociological journey into Australia, her history and the elements of her society. Either way, the audience is bound to love the light-hearted pace of this 85 minute production.Bran Nue Dae was screened at the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, with kind courtesy of the Australian High Commission on 12th June 2012.~ Sean Amos

blackfirepro The past decade has seen the revival of the American musical. We've had Chicago, The Phantom of the Opera, and of course Sweeney Todd. Now here we are in a new decade, and musicals are still going strong. I loved this movie. Bran Nue Dae is an absolutely pointless film with an over-the-top plot and useless characters. But it's just so much fun. How could anybody not like this film? Rocky McKenzie is Willie, an aborigine boy in the late 1960s who is made to leave his home town of Broome to go to boarding school in Perth. The school is a Catholic School that trains its students to be priests. Willie is highly favoured by the school's headmaster, Father Benedictus (an eccentric "villain" played wonderfully by Geoffrey Rush), until he is caught stealing Coca-Cola from the school's kitchen. When Father Benedictus tries to punish Willie, he runs away on a journey back home to Broome. But Father Benedictus is hot on his heels, and Willie must then team up with some want-to-be hippies and an alcoholic old man to reach his goal.This is a film much in the style of 1976's Bugsy Malone, a film that I absolutely adored. The story is pretty week and the plot has no point whatsoever. But it's just a wild, fun roller-coaster of a movie. The songs and comedic and catchy (especially a number called "Nothing I Would Rather Be" which takes place in the school's chapel), and the film moves along at a swift but pleasurable pace. It's a pretty corny movie, but then again, why shouldn't it be? It's a musical, and a pretty good one at that. Every scene is filled with an exciting dance number, a tender romance, or some loopy and hilarious joke of some sort. Of course, the story can't hold up to much scrutiny, but it's not supposed to. This film isn't interested in deep spiritual ideas or commentary on the human condition. It exists for no other reason but to entertain you, which I'm sure it will.While I was watching this, I wasn't thinking about the convenience that almost everybody in this movie is heading to Broome, or that most of the characters (except maybe for the old man) are pretty shallow, or that for some reason when one person starts singing and dancing, everyone else somehow knows exactly what to do and organizes themselves into neat little dancing lines. I was just taken along for the ride, and I was loving every minute of it. I loved watching numerous Aborigines dancing on Church pews and somersaulting over the altar. I loved watching Geoffrey Rush attempt to do dance steps while disciplining people in a rather ridiculous German accent. I loved watching all these corny and ridiculous stereotypes interact before my eyes. And by the way, this film is filled with stereotypes. Stereotypes of Germans, Aborigines, old men, prostitutes, Priests, preachers, and hippies. Even so, this is far form a stereotypical film. It's one of the most original I've seen in a long time. There isn't one scene here that you would find in another film in the same context. It's goofy and weird and illogical, but who cares? We're having a great time.Now, this isn't one of those musicals where the singing and dancing flow seamlessly together with the dialogue. In fact, sometimes when the characters suddenly start singing it's laugh-out-loud ridiculous. The musical numbers are in no way subtle. They stick out like a sore thumb. But does it really matter. Did we come to see this for an opera of some sort? No! We came to see Aborigines dance and Geoffrey Rush try to fake a German accent. And if we came expecting just that, you'll be more than impressed. However, if for some reason you want this film to explore some deep meanings, search elsewhere. This is not for you. At no point in this rather short movie was I bored. I was always waiting to see what happens next and what crazy misadventure young Willie will encounter. This movie entertains. That's what it does. It entertained me like I haven't been entertained in a while. Now I'm not saying I don't like serious films. I probably even prefer them to this sort of thing. But every once in a while, I just want to be entertained. That's what I got from Bran Nue Dae.From a technical standpoint, the film is also pretty impressive. I am extremely fond of the photography in this film. Every shot has a meaning to it. There is one particular scene in which two lovers are swimming with each other under water. It's so perfect and simple. There isn't a flaw in that scene. The colours in the movie are rich and the shots memorable. Andrew Lesney (The Lord of the Rings, King Kong) has outdone himself this time. The overall colour scheme of the film seems to be yellow orange and blue, and it works exceptionally well. It's a shame that this film won't get much notice up here in America. I find it extremely unfortunate that we must search clear over to Australia to find descent entertainment these days. American films form Hollywood are becoming more dumb and generic every year, while the independent and foreign films make a come-back. Unfortunately, the general public will hardly see any of these alternatives, but instead will continue to go to these mind-numbing, Hollywood CGI fests. Last year's Best Picture winner, The Hurt Locker, only received a fraction of the recognition it deserved. Well, enough of these sentiments.In a decade full of new and exciting musicals, Bran Nue Dae is one of the most original and creative. The songs are catchy and the characters witty and the photography striking. I liked this movie a lot, and I wish it the best of luck when the awards season comes around later this year.www.colewebbharter.com

Pawn12 Bran Nue Dae is an honest attempt at providing us with a light-hearted Indigenous-fueled musical comedy, that instead of dwelling on the wrongs and injustice that have been bestowed upon their culture and past by white society, decides to celebrate everything Aboriginal. This is an enormous shift in tone from previous films such as Samson & Delilah, in which the protagonist sniffs copious amounts of petrol, and at one point is living homeless under a bridge in Alice Springs (though it does feature one of the most beautifully minimalist relationships I have seen – Samson only speaks a single word during the film). It is also a far cry from Rabbit Proof Fence, which deals with the whole "Stolen Generation" debacle (probably not an appropriate word choice). So it is nice to see a more joyful film coming out of the Aboriginal community. But, even despite its best intentions, Bran Nue Dae is in no way a great film, and in fact actually teeters on the edge of being a bad film.Bran Nue Dae tells the story of a boy named Willie (Rocky McKenzie – cinematic virgin), who lives in Broome, and is destined for priesthood. Despite his supposed destiny, Willie feels a lustful urge towards a young girl named Rosie (Jessica Mauboy). Before he is given a chance to fully explore his feelings, Willie is sent back to a Christian boarding school, ruled over by Father Benedictus (Geoffrey Rush – Shine, Pirates Of The Caribbean). After an incident involving a few Cherry Ripes and a paddle, Willie runs away, attempting to make his way back up to Broome with the help of a drunkard named Uncle Tadpole (Ernie Dingo), a hippie named Annie (Missy Higgins), and German man named Slippery (Tom Budge – Round The Twist) who is looking for his father. So they travel, they endure conflict, and it all gets resolved, etc etc.BND is essentially a feel-good movie, but being so leads it to take route down a never-ending display of cliché avenues. Most of the characters are built entirely on stereotypes – the hippie, the bad-boy, etc. And so little character development takes place that the characters are merely shadows with names. The acting, however, is decent. McKenzie gives an overall solid performance, and though his speech does often falter, he is steady enough to be warranted watchable. Mauboy just mostly stands there and looks pretty with hardly anything to do – can she act? After this, I sure as hell don't know. Then the Rushinator comes in to spice things up, and you can almost see the rest of the cast looking over at him and taking notes. Not much can be said about Missy's performance other then that she tries her best, and though I didn't find her particularly appealing as an actor, I was thankful that she wasn't particularly painful either. And then there was Mr Dingo – the film's savior. He has a comedic air and sense of timing that is not prevalent for most of the other actors in the cast. He is charming whether he be getting drunk, singing along to Rolf Harris, or just smacking a snake against a tree.Magda Szubanski shows up for a cameo, which can only be said to be rather pointless, other then giving Dingo something more to work with, or if you like her jiggling her breasts around. Actually, that was the problem with a lot of the film – most of it just seemed far too pointless.It's a musical, so I guess something has to be said about the music. The music was okay I guess, despite the fact that every single song seemed to be launched into rather awkwardly. Most added very little to the plot, but their was a particularly appealing song about wanting to be nothing but an Aborigine. Other then that I wasn't particularly impressed with the music the film had to offer. The vocals were fine, Ernie Dingo once again being an obvious standout, but that is really just a mater of personal preference.I guess, cutting it to the core, what I didn't like about the film was just how corny it was. Everything was smothered in cheese, resulting in it playing out much like a Bollywood film. I do have to applaud it for that though. It never attempts to be anything more then a big hunk of happiness, and occasionally the happiness can be really quite infectious. It's incredibly cheesy, but often the lyrics of the songs are actually incredibly smart. It' s a mixed bag really, because despite being a bad film, you can't really exit the theater feeling anything but happy. So it succeeds in its goals, though it aims lower then it should have. The ending though? Brilliant. Terrible, but brilliant. It is just one big "stuff you" to rationality, and believability. They want you to feel good, so why not just tie everything together in the most ridiculous way possible? Bran Nue Dae is based on the stage production of the same name, and is Rachel Perkins 3rd movie. I will neither recommend it, nor suggest you don't watch it.

brimon28 This might just have been another road movie. It could have been another Broadway-style musical. It could have been another Priscilla or La Ronde. Or, perhaps, an expression of black freedom. Who cares, really, because what we get is a load of foot-tapping laughs. Plot? What do you expect in a musical out of Hollywood? Story? Yes, there's a story stitching the episodes together. Rachel Perkins does a fine job, with tight direction, and a clever choice of leads. How many films rely on all of the cast for top performances? We get Ernie Dingo, as sharp as ever in his characterization. We get Deborah Mailman, one of the most fetching faces on film. And we get Magda Szubanski, a comic who seems to be able to step into any role. Here we have her handling a Lee Enfield .303 rifle with ease. I expected to see another Annie Get Your Gun, but Magda is no crack shot. Luckily, she misses. I thought Magda might turn out to be the token white in a black movie, but she and the black Deborah Mailman are equally libidinous in an hilarious way. Is this black equality or an expression of female power? Perkins doesn't go overboard with the Australian landscape, even though her cinematographer must have been tempted. When you see it, make sure you get the full-width screen. The empty distances are just that. I love the way we get groups of dancers springing out of nowhere, choirs appearing as if by magic, and the entirely predictable ending. OK, Hollywood thought of it first. With all its flaws, this is a fun hour-and-a-half.