Burned Bridge is a brave and confronting 13-part series about the mysterious death of an Aboriginal girl in (Brooklyn Waters) a small coastal town. Burned Bridge is a love story involving two people convinced of the innocence of the prime suspect. Cate Blanchett, & Ernie Dingo are the lovers, this was very controversial when this film was made. Ernie Dingo heads a fine cast in Burned Bridge. He plays Vincent Burunga, the Aboriginal Liaison Officer at Brooklyn Waters who lives on the razor’s edge between loyalty to his people and and his official Government job as Liaison Officer. Cate Blanchett plays Beth Ashton, while recovering from divorce she inherits her grandfather’s estate in Brooklyn Waters. She arrives as an outsider but discovers more about her grandfather’s life. She finds out that her grandfather has had several children by Aboriginal women. Beth is now a blood relative of several inhabitants of Brooklyn Waters. The growing relationship between Burunga and Ashton is put to the test, having to survive the hostility between the Aboriginal and white communities as well as the obstacles of their very different backgrounds, attitudes and cultures. Cate Blanchett gets a challenging and confronting insight into his background when she travels with him to his home in outback Western Australia where traditional law is still strong within the community. Ernie Dingo must deal with her urban white environment when they pursue the accused youths case in Sydney. The third piece of the mini-series concerns the people of the Binbilla Aboriginal community just outside of Brooklyn Waters and its battle to reconstruct their community in their own way and restore their self-esteem. This is a strong and very satisfying series, Cate Blanchett before she was Cate Blanchett. She later Starred in Elizabeth, and the rest is history, as they say. I highly recommend it. well worth renting.
Muriel, played by Toni Collette, has trouble keeping up with her snobby girlfriends. Her girlfriends are (Modern) they keep up with the times, Muriel, on the other hand listens to 70’s music, she listens to ABBA. The girlfriends kick Muriel out of their group because, as they say (”You Bring Us Down”). Muriel is unemployed and a constant daydreamer, she sits in her room all day listening to ABBA music and imagines what it would feel like “Getting Married”. Muriel has never even had a boyfriend. Muriel’s Wedding is basically a comedy, but it also deals with issues such as a friend being struck down by cancer, and the suicide death of a parent. Toni Collette is wonderful playing Muriel, her acting is so good, she makes you care about this character, you cheer for Muriel as she finally gets her wish, her wedding. Muriel’s friend Rhonda is played by Rachael Griffiths, they leave the fictional town of Porpoise Spit which actually is (Tweed Heads, New South Wales) for the big city, Sydney, the city of brides. Muriel must deal with her low of self esteem, her honesty, or lack thereof , and she deals with a seriously dysfunctional family. And through it all you pull for her, this movie is a tearjerker, a heartwarming portrait of a wonderful young lady who just wanted to get married. Rent this movie and get a box of Kleenex. This movie makes me cry at the end, no matter how many times I watch it. I just really love this movie. I Give it 5*****Stars.
Recent Comments