Corroboree
- Rating:M
- Release Date:May 26, 2009
- Distributor:Valarc Films
- The Film:2.0
For better and for worse, this odd Australian offering has the vibe of a film...
For better and for worse, this odd Australian offering has the vibe of a film school project. It follows young actor Conor (Conor O'Hanlon), who's been called out on a "job" to a remote house in the bush. He's been employed, as it were, by Joe - a dying writer/theatre director who wants the young actor to play out various scenes from his life for a video camera. With a cast of mysterious women, Conor becomes Joe, as the script (handwritten on yellow paper) and reality begin to overlap.
Deliberately stagey at times, Corroboree is interesting to a point, but there's no tension or drama, and no emotional hook to snare you. Being a DVD, the temptation to flick forward is enormous. You watch this as a detached observer while co-writer/director Ben Hackworth plays games about how much of the story he's going to reveal. Compared to the recent Australian film, Beautiful, which also plays with its audience's head, Corroboree seems to be made as an exercise in self gratification (i.e. it's a wank). Apparently the result of auditions that were captured on camera and developed into a feature, Corroboree keeps its audience at arm's length.
