Heaven's Burning
Directed by Craig Lahiff
Screenplay by Louis Nowra
REP Film Distributors
Opens nationally November 6
Review by Marina Carman
Humour, excitement, romance and violence — all the essential elements are there in this action-packed road movie by director Craig Lahiff, based on the original screenplay by Louis Nowra.
The story itself can seem frustratingly far-fetched at times, but the central theme shines through and quickly establishes itself as the most important thing in the film — the search for freedom.
The story revolves around Colin (Russel Crowe), a tough and aimless, but essentially decent, Aussie bloke, and Midori (famous Japanese actor Youki Kudoh), an outwardly meek Japanese bride bursting to assert her strength.
She fakes her own kidnapping to get away from her husband and a traditional Japanese culture she finds stifling. He gets involved in a bank job because of financial pressures. It goes wrong and he shoots one of the Afghani mobsters he's working with.
Pursued by her furious husband and the family of the dead youth, Colin and Midori find each other and a degree of escape from boredom and the confines of society's conventions.
Along the way they encounter an entertaining array of characters and well-known Australian actors: a used car salesman (Ian Turpie); Jonah (Colin Hay), a belligerent wheel-chair bound drunk and accordion player; Sharon (Susan Prior), a junkie hairdresser who reads palms; Gloria (Kate Fitzpatrick), a "tough-as-guts" barmaid at an outback pub; a blind shopkeeper (Norman Kaye); Colin's philosophical and depressed father, Cam (Ray Barrett); and the sardonic Detective Sergeant Bishop (Anthony Phelan) and his sidekick Moffat (Matthew Dyktunski).
Unfortunately, freedom and defiance have their flip side in tragedy and vengeance. Eventually fate catches up with Colin and Midori, to the strains of the opera Tristan and Isolde (a story which strongly influenced the film). The soundtrack is a original and wonderful blend of Japanese, Afghani and classical music which complements the film.