By Luan Minh Nguyen
The sold-out theatre burst into applause as the credits rolled, signifying Warwick Thornton’s triumphant endeavour, bringing Australian cinema to the next level of international recognition.
Sweet Country entered International Film Festival Rotterdam this year under the ‘Limelight’ category, a section dedicated to cinematic highlights of the year and award-winners, alongside Academy Awards nominees such as Lady Bird (Greta Gerwig), The Shape of Water (Guillermo del Toro) and Phantom Thread (Paul Thomas Anderson). The premiere screening took place on January 27, with no seat left in the theatre.
Throughout the screening, the audience breathlessly followed Hamilton Morris’s runaway through the Australian outback. Soft whispers of discussion could be heard during the masterly edited flashbacks and flashforwards. There were also moments of laughter as the whole theater cheered at Sam Neill’s Christian song, a rare humorous scene. In between, there were occasional gasps at the sounds of gunshot, or disturbed reactions at the violence. But as the film ended, there was momentary silence before the theater gave Thornton’s film a big ovation, though neither the director himself nor the team were there to witness the successful promotion of this country’s cinematic identity to the world.
As the crowd slowly exited the theatre, comments and thoughts on Sweet Country were easily offered. “I really like the film and its themes,” said Dimitra, “Though I don’t know too much about Australian history but through the film, I could imagine that difficult time and all the hardships the Aboriginal people had to face. I also really like Sam Neill’s character, as he was the only person standing up for justice.”
Sam Neill’s portrayal of Fred Smith seemed to be the audience’s favorite due to his acting and being the sweetest character among countless brutal Australian males in the film.
For an audience member like Mr. Gerendo, who has visited Australia and stayed for 5 months, Sweet Country had been in his must-watch list at this year’s festival. “It’s a fantastic film!”, he said. “It talks about something that happened and maybe still happens today. I especially like Hamilton Morrison’s portrayal of Sam.”
When asked whether the ending of the film is too brutal, many viewers answered honestly; though they were shocked, they had seen it coming all along, such as Mrs. Gerendo, who admitted that “the flashbacks and flashforwards somehow foreshadowed the ending for me, but they did not really spoil it, it’s a very creative way of storytelling that I rarely see.”
Another viewer named Lukas added that “there’s no escape for these characters, that’s the reality in such a harsh society that bears so many similarities to the world we live in today.”
Last but not least, all interviewed viewers stated that they would definitely recommend Sweet Country for their friends and families.
The film will have 2 more screenings during the International Film Festival Rotterdam, on Feb 1 and Feb 3.
