Review: Van Diemen’s Land


Taking a different approach to the true story of Alexander Pierce than the horror flick “Dying Breed”, this film is by and large a straight account of the so-called ‘cannibal convict’. Set in 1822 in winter, eight convicts including the quietly intense Pierce (Oscar Redding) and Robert Greenhill (Arthur Angel), escape a penal colony from what was then called Van Diemen’s Land (now known as Tasmania, Australia). The convicts (Irish, Scottish, and English among them) face both the increasingly and unrelentingly harsh conditions, the fear of recapture, and the onset of starvation. Needless to say, the men, desperate to survive at all costs, start to turn on each other, in ways you just don’t want to think about! Mmmmm, who’s hungry?


Unsettling 2009 true account from first-time feature-length film director Jonathan auf der Heide (who apparently previously delved into the subject in a short film) is certainly a very commendable and quite effective Australian film that is unlike any convict tale you’re likely to find. It’s also a helluva ordeal, one that many might not wish to endure. I can’t say I enjoyed watching this film, and the lack of strong characterisation or indeed likeable characters might keep one at a slight emotional distance from the characters. In fact, I found it a little hard to tell some of these rather unseemly people apart, except that one of them was a bit more chomp-happy than the rest. However, this film is still pretty hard to shake off afterwards, so on some level I must say it did work. It’s definitely a gruelling experience.


It’s also brilliantly shot by cinematographer Ellery Ryan (“Spotswood”), one of the better examples of a muted, grim-looking palette that I’ve seen, aided immeasurably by the Tasmanian bush scenery. It’s not a fun film, but if you can stomach it, I believe it’s quite an achievement. It’s certainly the most realistic depiction of cannibalism I’ve encountered in a film, despite not being overly gory. The screenplay is by the Tasmanian-born director along with star Redding, this is a harsh and harrowing film about what must’ve been a pretty harsh and harrowing time.


Rating: B-

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